Hold on to your stomachs, it's...

Waxworks logo

ACCOLADE * £25.99 * 1 meg * Mouse * Out now

If I had any say in what should have been number one in the games charts last Christmas it would have been Waxworks in a joint first with Darkseed. But I think there would have been a serious outcry from the parents of young children if they had all rushed out and bought Waxworks.

Seeing your five-year-old child bursting into fits of giggles on seeing the semi-severed head of one of Jack the Ripper's victims is probably not how most parents would like to spend their Christmas.

I think it should be stressed that although Waxworks is an excellent game it won't appeal to everybody and some people will find it completely offensive. Many of us in the office are still baffled as to how the game got on the shelves without it having an age certificate attached to the box.

But who are we to decide what should and should not be available to the public? I wouldn't wish Biffa on any unsuspecting member of the society.

The composition of Waxworks is brilliant. The programmers have taken basic elements from adventure and arcade games, combined them with some truly inspired graphics programming and come up with one of the most devilishly hard games I've seen in well over a year and a half.

It's basically an adventure game but it's split into four different scenarios instead of one huge one. This serves to keep the gameplay fresh and the graphics interesting.

In each scenario there is one large monster you have to kill - this monster is actually the evil spirit o your twin brother which has over taken the waxwork which you have chosen to enter.

The first of these scenarios is an Egyptian pyramid which you have to explore. As ever there are various things that are there to hinder your progress, in this scenario it is the pyramid guardians who will hack your bits off an any opportunity.

There are lots of rooms and things to explore and there are always lots of other items like weapons and so on that will help you but it all boils down to a maze game so it's always a good idea to keep a map.

In the next scenarios it turns out that you are Jack the Ripper. It was in fact your evil twin brother who had killed the little girl lying in front of you but the police don't know that and they have seen you near the body so you are a hunted man.

Again it's a bit of a maze. Belting round the streets of 18th century London you're bound to get a bit lost now and then aren't you? This section is probably the most graphically stunning part of the game. You can even climb up on of the roofs and look out across the Thames.

The main thing you have to worry about is the police - stay in the same place for too long and that's it, to the gallows with you. That's why the first thing you have to do is to find yourself a disguise.

And it is not just the police you can run into, you can also get beaten to death by the angry mob which the daughter's father has put together. If you get really stuck at any point in the game you can call on your deceased uncle who communicates to you through a crystal ball which you have in your possession.
I know it sounds a bit silly but it really is done very well - you even have that animated face of your uncle's mush talking to you.

The next scenario is mine-infested with killer plants and mutations which are dying to give you horrible infections that will kill you in seconds flat. To protect yourself you have to find a plant sprayer filled with insecticide which I found quite hilarious. Then you have to take tools and other equipment from the bodies of the ex-mine workers who were unlucky enough to get tangled up with the rouge plant and its friends.

The final scenario is the graveyard scene - you have to find your way around the maze of gravestones and into the crypt of your ancestors. This would not be too hard a task but of course this is a graveyard so you have zombies by the dozen chasing you and trying to rip your limbs off.

I can find little fault with Waxworks apart from the fact that most of the scenarios involve some sort of maze or other which can get a bit annoying.


Waxworks logo

Accolade * £34.99

You're fifth in the long line of twins and you've discovered, after your Uncle's death, that one twin has disappeared at four points in your family's history. Before he died your Uncle made a wax exhibit of the location where the four disappearances occurred, such as Ancient Egypt and 1888 London.

Each exhibit holds the key to a curse on your family, and you must enter into each waxwork and solve the four different mysteries. Each exhibit has excellent graphics, and the locations are viewed in a first-person perspective, 3D style.

Interaction with the game's characters and puzzles is similar to that of a role-playing game, with objects to pick up and use and nasties to slay.

Waxworks is packed with atmosphere which is enhanced by wondrous graphics. Some of the scenes are gruesome, so think twice before buying it for kids, but for someone who's partial to a bit of schlock-horror it's not bad at all - if a tad overpriced.


Waxworks logo

Mike Woodroffe ist immer für eine Gänsehaut gut - auch wenn er bei seinem neuen Grusel-Adventure auf die Dungeon-Domina "Elvira" verzichtet hat, lauert der Horror wieder hinter jeder Ecke!

Die Ecken gehören zum Wachsfigurenkabinet von Onkel Boris, einem kürzlich verstorbenen Mitglied Deiner unglücklichen Sippe.

Der ganze Ärger begann mit Deinem Urur-Opi, der einst einer Zigeunerhexe die Hand abhackte - die revanchierte sich daraufhin mit einem Fluch, der seither von jedem Zwillingspaar in der Familie ein Kind zum Bösewicht werden läßt.

Du hast Schwein gehabt und bist die gute Hälfte. Dein Bruder Alex ist der Pechvogel und unter ungeklärten Umständen verschwunden. Damit endlich mal Schluß ist mit der Unglücksserie, begibst Du Dich in Onkel Boris' muffiges 3D Labyrinth, in dem die bereits verblichenen übeltäter der Familie mit ihren Greueltaten verewigt sind.

Das praktische Problem dabei ist, daß die Ausstellungsstücke teilweise doch noch ungemein lebendig zu sein scheinen und daher für die Action-Komponente bei diesem Adventure-Rolli sorgen. Das riecht schon alles sehr nach Busenwunder, und dem ist auch so; Rein technisch haben wir es hier mit einer Art "Elvira" ohne Elvira zu tun.

Die Gemeinsamkeiten ziehen sich wie ein blutroter Faden durch das gesamte Spiel, angefangen von der pflegeleichten Maussteuerung über die meist logischen Rätsel bis zu den schauerlichen Sterbeszenen. Ja, das erstreckt sich sogar auf Details wie das hübsche Inventory, in dem all die Waffen und sonstigen Sammelobjeckte in Icon-Form landen; aber auch das hektische Mausgeklicke bei den Kampfen kam uns merkwürdig vertraut vor.

Es gibt also nicht allzuviele Unterschiede zu den Vorgängern, doch es gibt sie - z.B. wurden neben den bereits bekannten Hit-Points nun auch "Psy-Points" eingeführt, mit deren Hilfe man Onkel Boris im Jenseits kontakten kam. Der antwortet im Multiple Choice Verfahren und erteilt dem Helden gute Ratschläge oder leistet ihm gar Erste Hilfe.

Außerdem hängt hier die Bewaffnung des Familienretters davon ab, in welcher Abteilung des Gruselmuseums er sich gerade aufhält, was optisch auch durch das wechselnde Heldensymbol ausgedrückt wird. Im alten Ägypten muß er sich etwa mit einer Schaufel gegen einen Hohepriester zu Wehr setzen und erscheint im passenden Kostüm am Bildschirmrand. Wir überlassen es Eurer Fantasie, womit im viktorianischen England gekämpft wird, wenn Jack the Ripper auftaucht - dasselbe gilt für den monsterverseuchten Minenschaft, den Zombi-Friedhof und schließlich auch für das finale Showdown mit der fluchenden Hexe.

Grafik, Animation und Soundkulisse sind mit den Worten "schön schrecklich, schrecklich schön" eigentlich ausreichend beschrieben, was die Handhabung angeht, kann man nur sagen: Schafft Euch zunächst eine Festplatte an und dann erst diese zehn Disks umfassende Gruselorgie. Dazu am besten starke Beruhigungstropfen, denn trotz gelegentlicher Längen bekommt Ihr es wieder mit einen Schlocker der blutrünstigen Sorte zu tun! (C. Borgmeier)


Waxworks logo

Madam Tussaud's was never anything like this.

Not that I'm trying to sound tough or anything, but I honestly don't believe I'll see the day when I'm frightened by a computer game. (With the possible exception of The Med Conflict - Battleset 3). Scariness and computers simply don't go together - something I think Horrorsoft are going to have to take on board at some point. (I just don't want to be the one that tells them, that's all).

To their credit they've tried very hard indeed to make Waxworks frightening, sticking in lots of zombies, blood and horribly mutilated corpses, but the game's only ever really scary in a Hammer Horror film sort of way (i.e. not actually all that scary).

In fact, the most frightening thing about Waxworks is that it comes on 10 (eek!) disks. (When I first opened the box I wondered if maybe something had gone horribly wrong at the disk duplicating factory).

Although playing Waxworks off floppy disks is just about feasible - the disks are organised sensibly to minimise swapping - the game ideally wants a hard drive if it's going to be enjoyed to the full. And, of course, it might be a bit more frightening if sudden encounters in dark tunnels with horrific monsters weren't preceded by fifteen seconds of disk accessing.

Anyway - Monsters? Tunnels? Horribly mutilated corpses? I'm afraid I didn't quite make it to the end of the novella-type-thing that vies for space in the box. (I had to stop when I got to the bit that said: "There were teeth marks on the bone. Human teeth marks!") But it seems that you're in a waxworks, trying to rescue your twin brother who's been possessed by the devil. There are four horrific exhibits which you can step into and spookily find yourself transported to other worlds.

Everything is generally slick and fuss-free

There's the Ancient Egypt exhibit, where you're running around a maze of passages in a pyramid trying to evade the clutches of some Egyptian-looking baddies. There's the Victorian London exhibit, where you turn up to find you match the description of Jack the Ripper, and get chased round a maze of streets by the police. There's the cemetery, which is a maze of graves patrolled by ghosts and zombies. And there's the mine, which is haunted by dead miners and the monsters that killed them, and laid out in the form of - yes - a maze.

You probably spotted the common theme there: mazes. I've hated mazes ever since I got stuck in the one at Longleat for a whole afternoon. (Although I went back several years later - and several feet taller, so I could see over the hedges - and that took that sucker out).

And the overriding feeling when you're playing Waxworks is one of wandering round some 3D mazes getting chased by monsters. Much like 3D Monster Maze on the ZX81, in fact. This was quite depressing, especially in the cemetery, which is only a maze because it won't let you walk through the huge gaps between gravestones.

Luckily there's more to Waxworks than that, though. There's lots of picking-up-objects-and-hoping-to-find-uses-for-them-later to be done. And there's the rather less-than-successful fighting side of things, where you and your opponent jab hopefully at each other with weapons, with the one whose hit points run out first dying.

The graphics are pretty good (I particularly liked the Victorian London ones) and everything is generally slick and fuss-free. It's a bit sort of Dungeon Mastery in a way, only rather less action-point-and-spell oriented.

If you don't mind the heavy maze emphasis (you will,most likely, have to resort to pencil and squared paper in the end), you'll probably have a lot of fun with Waxworks. It's a big, absorbing game, and I've already allotted it its own extra-large pigeon hole at The Last Resort. It's just not very frightening, that's all.

Oh no, I think I'm getting a cold.


Waxworks logo CU Amiga Screen Star

Our very own House of Horrors star, Mark Patterson, puts quill to parchment once more.

I'M MELTING
Following the success of the Elvira games, Horrorsoft return from the pits of eternal damnation (or wherever they spend their hols) to feed gaming bloodlust with their unique brand of computer horror.

Like Elvira 1 and Elvira 2, Waxworks takes the form of an RPG. Although this time Horrorsoft have concocted a plot which lets them make the best cliches whilst including a few lesser known horror formats.

The game starts with your character receiving a message informing him that he wasn't, contrary to what his mother told him, an only child. It turns out that he has a long-lost twin brother who's intent on bringing Satan into the world, and could you see your way to sorting him out. It goes on to say that due to a curse, or bizarre genetic make-up, twins have been common in your family, and throughout time one has wandered off to commit every day acts of despicable evil, while the good one attempts to stop them.

Your uncle is the person responsible for this letter, which also contains an invite to his house. On arriving you find your host has turned up his toes some days before, and that he employs a servant more suited to the Hammer movies' costume room. What he failed to mention in his letter was that he has built a waxwork museum in his house, with the exhibits depicting gruesome scenes from history, such as Jack the Ripper going about his business.

SPIRIT GUIDE
Fortunately, your uncle wasn't on for taking things like death on the chin, and his spirit returns to explain exactly how you're supposed to rectify your ancestors' wrongs. Each diorama is actually a gateway through space and time, rather than a piece of sicko art, so that you can actually travel to the locations depicted.

In front of each scene is a plaque that tells you exactly what happened, with the story culminating with a mysterious stranger arriving in the nick of time to save the day. All you have to do to sort things out is step into a scene, instantly becoming the mysterious stranger, then track down and slaughter your homicidal relative.

To begin with only ancient Egypt, Jack the Ripper's London, an old mineshaft and a spooky graveyard are open to you. These can be entered in any order, as any objects you collect within are lost when you exit. When these are completed, other scenes open up, culminating in a show down between you and your nefarious twin.

Each stage has its own set of graphics, tricks, traps, and creatures. While the objective in each is to find and kill someone, the puzzles vary greatly. Although I only got about a third of the way into the game, I never found it repetitive, which is exactly what I had expected it to be.

CHARACTER CONTROL
The control system, as is common nowadays, is entirely point'n'click. To examine an item you simply double click on it, and to pick it up you drag it onto the inventory window. The only problem with this system is that it's very easy to overlook an important item, so it's essential to click on everything in the area. While this system works well for the most part, it can be fiddly if you need to change weapons, or perform a similar act, in a hurry, which leads to some very untimely demises.

Combat is very simple. When you've chosen your weapon you simply click on which bit of your foe you want to strike at. Depending on when you click, your character will either lunge or swipe. If you're facing a human-shaped creature, it doesn't matter too much, but when it comes to your everyday creatures from the dark side, you have to be very selective about which tentacle you're aiming for. The status of your enemy is shown graphically by the amount of wounds on their body. What's really neat is that the corpse is added to the game map, so you can use your victims as markers to help you find your way around.

You're not without help in your quest. Your character has a number of psyche points which can be spent summoning his uncle's spirit. When it appears you're given a list of questions to ask him, all of which are relevant to that scene and your current situation. I found this feature particularly useful, as it provides further background to your current quest as well as the odd life-saving tip.

DIGITISED GRAPHICS
The graphics are superb. Much of the time is spent looking at repetitive scenery, but when you come to a key location you're treated to some very smart graphics. The graphics artist must have received a video camera for his birthday, as there are a few bits of digitised animation, along with static digitised pics, to which he's added a variety of throat and facial wounds, along with generous amounts of blood. The music is a little clumsy at times, but there's a different piece for each level which compensates slightly.

Waxworks is set over a whopping 10 disks, which to my mind makes it to one of the largest games on the Amiga. While this could lead to all sorts of disk swapping malarkey, it appears that each individual scene has a disk of its own. While there is a certain amount of accessing when you enter a key location, the overall amount isn't much. If you've got a hard drive, though, most of the above problems disappear.

More than the technical excellence, what makes this game really special is the plot. I can't remember having played such an imaginative and involving game. Each one of the subplots is good enough to stand up as a game in its own right. Whether it's nineteenth century London or wandering around a third dynasty pyramid at Saqqara, the atmosphere is fantastic. It's really good to see a game which doesn't rely on hordes of orcs and trolls to provide RPG entertainment.

This goes down as one of my top three games of the year, and one of my all-time favourite game concepts. If you can handle the horror, you can't afford to miss this.


WATCH OUT MARY WHITEHOUSE With a name like Horrorsoft, you wouldn't expect this company to produce games with, say, fluffy lambs tripping across fields. No, if these guys were to feature anything four-legged and furry it would either have fangs and an insatiable bloodlust or they'd have someone setting a flamethrower on it. This brand of 'creative' imagination has lead to the inclusion of some rather colourful (i.e. red) graphics. For instance, examining the corpse of Jack the Ripper's latest victim and you get a pic of a young lady, with a large slit where her throat should be. Shortly after, if you don't make the right moves, the good old bobbies catch you and you're then treated to a close-up pic of your character hanging neck-first from 12 feet of rope.
Naturally this sort of thing isn't everyone's cup of tea, so if you're offended by the sight of maidens being shut in coffins and zombies stripping the flesh from twitching corpses, you'd be advised to stick to something that lets you drive cars or stomp on aliens with a fast-moving rodent.