Producer: Compass
Retail Price: £2.50
Author: Jon Lemmon

Oh yes, good old Compass software. We last bumped into Compass in December '86 with a game called Demon from the Darkside. Well, don't be fooled by the title, even officially, this is that game - Part Two. Like its predecessor, this makes full use of every utility under the sun, including the precursor to PAW, the Press text compressor addition to the Quill suite of aids. Any regular reader will know that I'm a sucker for innovation, no matter how small, and here we have a simple deviation from the norm, where exit directions from a location are marked by little arrows. Simple enough, and not altogether easily followed, but I'm a sucker for novelty and you do get used to the things after a short while.

Looking back to Part One in December, there was Morrack (your character), the apprentice to the wizard Ashmeard, he being the brave chap who banished Drakon to the cave of Illindel whilst at the same time relieving him of the Golden Mask. It was your task to add insult to injury and lighten the bad guy's load even further by snatching the Falcon Staff from him. Well, did you do it? If so, this is how the story now stands…

Having defeated Drakon and travelled back up the secret path of hell, Morrack once more stood in the lands of Dral. As he looked up at the bright sky, Wise the owl flew down to him. They talked for hours and it soon became apparent that Drakon had not died - nor for that matter had Stodge the dwarf. Now there was a new danger. Ashmeard the wizard was dead and with him died the knowledge of where the Golden Mask had been hidden. If Drakon found the mask before Morrack, he could once again summon great armies of demons and with Ashmeard dead, no-one could stop the evil which would devour Dral and all of its inhabitants. Your quest this time is to find the Golden Mask while avoiding Drakon's demon forces.

Visually, this game is goodlooking with a demon's mask prettying the text border for should that be uglying?), detailed pictures - even if they do display a somewhat eccentric choice of graphic styles - and a character set which is 'olde worlde' yet still attractive and clearly readable. A good choice of colours keeps things bright, and more decoration accompanies the items in the inventory list, this time small token graphics.

Getting involved in the game reveals a very playable adventure where your character gets carried along in the smoothly flowing action. You might say the game is not too difficult in the sense that everything meshes together easily in a short space of time, but further into the plot you might find the limiting nature of the vocabulary slowing you up (as at the boat). The vocabulary on the whole isn't bad though, with both L and R bringing about a Redescribe. Examining things is best done once you've picked an object up, otherwise you meet an unpreposessing reply. Exceptions are large objects like the boat which can be examined when first met. Apart from the crucifix (where EXAM CROSS delivers the goods with no allowance for EXAM CRUCIFIX) examine always seems to get a response, even if it's just the who are you looking at?' from Wise the owl in the first few frames. He also says 'Morrack, time is short. Stodge told me to meet you here and to tell you that Drakon has sent five demons to seal off the mountains of the moon. Travel east and you may be able to cut them off'. Not everything is completely clear in all of this, but at least the owl tells you which way to go.

Golden Mask is a very competent adventure. The game has 85 locations, 25 of which display pictures, and has over 160 messages. It makes good use of spot effects, with lights and noise when moving certain items and falling down holes. The game looks good and plays well and you can't ask for more than that. Compass live at 36 Globe Place, Norwich NR2 2SQ.

Difficulty: not difficult
Graphics: sometimes simple, other times detailed with unusual shading
Presentation: good use of colours
Input facility: verb/noun
Response: fast Quill

FAX BOX
Title: The Golden Mask
Publisher: Compass Software, 36 Globe Place, Norwich NR2 2SQ
Price: £2.50

Readers with memories or back issues that stretch as far back as January will remember a review of Demon From The Darkside, Compass's earlier effort, and I wasn't the only reviewer to have a wee rave about that one. Now comes the follow-up, and it's even better, looking a whole lot more stylish and using The Quill, The illustrator, The Press and Art Studio to the full.

Yet again, not surprisingly, you play the part of Morrack, apprentice to the wizard, Ashmeard. In the first game you defeated Lord Drakon, or so you thought, for when you return to the lands of Dral your advisor and travelling companion Wise the Owl tells you that Drakon is alive and kicking - and probably kicking you if he gets half a chance. That's the bad news. The even worse news is that Ashmeard has snuffed it in the meantime, and with him has gone the knowledge of where the Golden Mask can be found. Can you find the Mask and defeat Drakon before his evil works its effect on Dral and its inhabitants? Course you can! Here we go, here we go, here we go...

Watch out for Drakon's Demons, many of which are at large in Dral already, but with a bit of searching somewhere near the start of the game you should find something that helps a little there. Various magic spells are handily lying around, up trees and in Demon encampments, and these can be cast later in the game in the right places. What I like about the game is that it doesn't take a dead straight line from start to finish. Right from the beginning you can go off in two different directions and have fun exploring those areas, and there are also several things you can do which might seem right at the time but turn out later on to have been a bit hasty of you.

If you just like playing adventures then you'll get your money's worth from this, but if you're into writing and selling your own then you definitely ought to check it out as it shows you what you're up against!

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
SUPPLIER: Compass Software
PRICE: £2.50/Mail Order only

The story begins once more in the lands of Dral, where you have returned after defeating the evil Lord Drakon. Reunited with Wise the Owl, you listen intently as the old owl tells all of what has happened during your absence. At first you are overjoyed upon hearing that your companion Stodge the dwarf is not dead, as at first you feared, by the hands of Drakon.

It was soon apparent that many unsavoury things had happened during my absence. My first move in the game led me to a fire with the smouldering body of a demon on top of it. However this was no had thing as quick examination revealed a demon mask which would serve me well during the forthcoming adventure.

Making my way to a cave nearby I happened once more to be stopped in my tracks by a statue which moved and blocked my way. A quick read of the strange symbols on this animated piece of stone soon revealed a word I remembered from my first encounter, and all was revealed. Once through the caves, a quick spot of DIY on a boat, and I was sailing across a lake and found myself beside a deserted church. Here was the first of many encounters where the demon mask would prove useful.

An argument with a giant left me feeling a little awful by having to give away a friend as the main course for this carnivorous monster, until the obvious struck me in the thrill of the chase.

Although The Golden Mask is a "Quilled" graphics adventure, the author John Lemmon, has somehow managed to surpass even the quality of Demon from the Darkside with this one. In fact the only thing which prevented me awarding it a personal rating of 10, was the irritating way some descriptions were erased from the screen before I had half a chance to read them. Apart from that, The Golden Mask is an excellent adventure and well worth digging into your pockets for.