Publisher: Interceptor Micros
Price: £5.50
Memory: 48K

Continuing in the magical vein we come to Warlord a text and graphic game from Interceptor Micros.

The scene is the Celtic upland of Britain in the early Roman period of its history. The imperial legions of the Emperor Vespasian have cut and burned their way up through the land, destroying hillforts and settlements in their progress.

As the red-crested cohorts reach what is now the Scottish border their advance is stopped by a powerful tribe led by a tough and resourceful warlord - that's you.

Even the gods join into try and influence the struggle until finally the two sides agree on a form of single combat. By divine means, the warlord and a selected centurion are transported to a Celtic otherworld. The first to travel through time and space back to the 'real' world will be the victor. Strange puzzles and creatures will confront you and the gods themselves may intervene at times.

There are about a hundred locations for your £5.50 although most have very brief descriptions. There are excellent location graphics, some of which show that the author or graphics designer had done some research into the history of the period. I was particularly impressed by the picture of the chieftain's hut in the hillfort. The pictures are few and far between, though, and the large number of one-line descriptions tend to reduce the atmosphere.

Examining things will bring little result except for important objects. I expected to be able to do more in locations than I was allowed to.

Nevertheless the game has a good feel of its period and the interpreter will allow more than the usual verb/noun combinations - 'throw meat to bear' is allowed, for instance. The vocabulary is rather bereft at times despite that, and it was very odd to find that the program would not understand 'tie' when you have a piece of rope in your hands - I expect a bit more verbal versatility than that.

Warlord, then, is pretty much in the middle ground of adventuring. More detail would have improved on a reasonably interesting plot and setting.

SUPPLIER: Interceptor Software
MACHINE: Spectrum, Amstrad
PRICE: £6.00

The Roman and Celtic gods have become personally involved in the battles taking place on earth, and both are trying to force a conclusion in their favour. Open warfare between the gods is imminent and fearing that the world could be destroyed, a truce has been called.

A mortal champion from each side is sought, and transported into one of the Celtic Otherworlds. The outcome of the war will be decided in favour of the winner.

The Romans have chosen their finest centurion, and the Celts have their Warlord - YOU!

As the adventure opens, it is an easy task to set forth from a mountainside and start to unlock the secrets of the Otherworld. Gods from both sides pop up all over the place, some helping with a gift and a smile, whilst others set about doing all they can to slow you down.

After a speedy start I quickly came to one of those spots that everyone experiences at some time or other in an adventure - the immortal words NOTHING SPECIAL HAPPENS. A quick plea to the Helpline (thanks, Adrian!) soon solved what turned out to be a truly salty problem, and I was on my way to the next meeting with the Gods.

One rather strange thing I noticed whilst playing this adventure was its funny habit of letting you solve a puzzle without letting you know!

For example, the first time I went through an enchanted wood, the path was clear and easy to follow. The second time, I was not carrying what I had taken to be a rather useless staff-like object, and without warning, some very strange things began to happen!

Warlord is a split-screen graphics and text adventure for the Spectrum and Amstrad computers. There are about 100 locations, but only a few of them have a picture. The Amstrad graphics are far superior to those cm the Spectrum version.