Greyfell

Copyright : Starlight Software | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The epic tale of Norman the Wise - a humble cat with more than a passing interest in spirits (liquid that is!) His friend, the great Wizard Histormis, has told him of the quest of the Orb of Life which would release the land of Greyfell from the dark and vile grip of the Evil Mauron.

Norman decides to take on the mighty quest for the Orb. Only if he is successful can Greyfell return to light and laughter. Now begins? the Quest.

Isometric 3D adventure starring Norman, the most unlikely of heroes.

Graphics

Yet another Spectrum clone darkens our door and with it bringing all the expected pitfalls - poor colours and clashing sprites, the usual really.

Owing more than a passing resemblance to Ultimate?s Filmation games, Greyfell was two years behind the times when released and although it may look like Knight Lore (a bit) it sure doesn?t move like it. Greyfell is one of the most sluggish games I?ve had the misforturne to play and Norman moves at a snail?s pace around his environment.

Slowly trudging around his unremarkable environment, Norman appears to walk with a limp that although amusing, I doubt that it was intended?

It?s a pity as some of the characters are fairly well drawn and with a bit more pace and better colouring, Greyfell might look a little better at least.

Sound

A vibrant tune plays upon loading and it takes a few seconds to sink in that it isn?t actually that good. In this case tempo and volume doesn?t substitute for quality. Granted at least they tried and it?s more than can be said for a lot of other software houses.

During the game there are plenty of sound effects and little tunes and again, while they?re not of superb quality, the effort has been put in and should be acknowledged.

Gameplay

Ultimate really have a lot to answer for you know. If it hadn?t been for them then this nightmare abomination starring a bizarre cat/human hybrid would never have been dreamt of on a crazed acid binge.

Crippled by the unbelievably slow movement, Greyfell never really gets out of the starting blocks as a game and it takes forever for the game to really get going and this is not just down to the speed of the game. You?ll spend the first few times you play the game wandering aimlessly and it can?t even be put down to exploration because you just don?t have a clue what?s going on.

The puzzles, when you do stumble across them, are quite taxing and, in fairness will provide a bit of a challenge but the arcade elements are pretty poor and you can?t help but compare Greyfell to other games in the same genre - the comparisons are not good.

It?s a real pity because the plot, although quite clichéd, has enough about it to make you think they could make a real go of it but it?s hard to look beyond the game?s glaring faults to find it?s few good points.

The humour, for example, is well pitched and the game is not taking itself at all too seriously using icons like baked bean cans to represent health and stamina. It?s all very silly stuff but you can?t help but feel it?s a game designed by committee taking bits and pieces from existing 3D games and trying to combine them all rather than thinking out of the box and coming up with anything innovative.

And therein lies the real problem, Greyfell brings nothing new to the table, the perspective, the arcade/adventure mix, the icons - have all been done before but the games that really meant something and left a legacy always brought something of their own and if Greyfell?s only contribution is some zany humour then it?s already been done better by Sweevo?s World.

Nowhere near good enough when compared to the classics of the genre, Greyfell was released a full year AFTER Batman and a couple of months after Head Over Heels both of which blow it completely out of the water.