Galaxias is yet another space adventure (as you might guess from the title) but after hearing from Global that it was programmed by the same gent who produced Bored of The Rings (something of a classic by Quilled standards) I was prepared for something above the average, even if the scenario didn't look too promising. I wasn't disappointed either. First, this is an unusually large Quilled game - most Quillers run out of space after about eighty locations but Galaxias runs'to just over ninety What's more! the programmer has adopted the sensible design tactic of splitting the game into several component parts, with each set of locations having its own atmosphere and identity. Although the notes on the copy I had didn't make it plain what the aim of the game was, I gather that the objective is to retrieve a valuable crystal from a security vault on the planet Zagro. On the way you take in Akrol, Graflon, and Septule, leading you to hope that if ever space exploration really takes off someone will be able to come up with more attractive names for the places they visit. What puzzles there are are extremely logical, but the strength of the game lies in the design of the map which has a satisfying number of interesting (though not necessarily important) locations to explore. There are also some graphics which while not of the highest standard do make something of a difference ~ though 1 wasn unable find the command to redraw them once Pd snapped over to the text-screen to input my commands. Galaxias suffers slightly in my opinion by belonging to a category of game in which it is very difficult to be both original and of high quality. I'm told that it is in fact quite an old game (though not previously published) and this I can well believe many of us have a small universe of our own making lying around on tape somewhere and space adventures tend to be the first to suggest themselves to people just starting programming. Nevertheless, it far surpasses the Vidipix game reviewed elsewhere in this issue, and must therefore rate as good value for money when included in a collection like this one. AMSTRAD ACTION |