Brief Summery Of Info For Updaters Your member name Frodo Complete review (no less than three paragraphs, preferably more). See below Game genre (Adventure, Sim, Action, etc.) Adventure Up to 3 positive points Gripping atmosphere, Brilliant sound effects, Creepy music Up to 3 negative points Cumbersome controls Rating, submitted as a decimal, e.g.: 3.7 3.5 Complete system requirements, including programs needed & system info, if available Windows 95 or above DirectX 6.0 Pentium 200 MHz 32 MB RAM Official game URL http://www.student.lu.se/~ihpv02tgr/index.html Download location URL http://www.student.lu.se/~ihpv02tgr/files.html Brief description of questionable content (violence, nudity, etc), for content rating purposes. 15+ Violence Blood Language If a multiplayer game, multiplayer methods (Hotseat, LAN, and/or Internet). Not multiplayer. FIEND REVIEW MADE BY: Fiend Team SIZE: 5.74 MB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STORY You are Nick Cane, a mineral expert. The mine company you work for has learned of a mine located in a little-known town called Lauder. You are sent to the quiet town in order to investigate the mine, and find out if there is any valuable minerals inside. You arrive at Lauder Town late one evening, and set out to look for George Smith, who owns the mine. As you talk to the locals, you begin to realise that something is VERY wrong in this town. The townspeople seem to be terrified of the mine, and warn you away from it. Since you are stuck here until morning, you decide to make the best of things, and start exploring the area. You eventually manage to find George Smith, and he takes you to the mine. Unfortunately for you, George soon vanishes, and you are left alone in this strange town. You gradually learn of a 'cursed' family that disappeared from here 20 years ago. But what is the connection between them, George Smith, and the mine? There's only one way to find out. GAMEPLAY Fiend is a horror survival adventure game inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft. The game is played using a top-down view (you see things from above) and is controlled entirely by the keyboard. To move forward or back, use the Up and Down Arrow keys. You can run simply by pressing the Up Arrow twice. Turn left or right by using the Left of Right Arrow keys. Pick up items by pressing Ctrl. Useful items start to flash as you get near them, so you know to pick that item up. I liked finding the various journals, notes, and letters that were scattered around, as they gave you clues for the game. Remember that some items are hidden in chests and boxes, so you must search everywhere. You are able to save your progress, but this is down in an unusual way. You must find a typewriter, and interact with it. This was something a bit different, and added some appeal to the game. I found the inventory controls rather fiddly. For example, to reload a weapon, you have to press Space to access the inventory menus, select the Weapons Inventory, select the correct weapon, then Reload it. This can cost you dearly, as enemies still attack while you are reloading. You must go through the same process when trying to unlock a door and an enemy is chasing you. I would have much preferred if the action was 'Paused' when you were accessing your inventories. Having said that, I loved the creepy atmosphere. You never know when a monster is going to jump out at you. Move forward \ back - Up arrow \ Down arrow Turn left \ right - Left arrow \ right arrow Run - Up arrow twice Pick up item - Ctrl Interact - Alt Inventory - Space Draw your weapon - Z Shoot your weapon - Ctrl GRAPHICS I thought the graphics were amazing. The whole story takes place at night, which gives it a very scary atmosphere. When a character is talking, they are shown at the top of the screen. Most of the area is in darkness, and you can't see very far ahead. As you explore, some bits light up, and other bits are thrown into darkness. The top-down view was refreshing to see, and it works well for this type of horror game. Blood pouring out of the enemies you shot was also very effective. Raindrops outside were lovely to watch. There are a lot of nice touches to this game that made this game very enjoyable. MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS There is a lot of brilliant sound effects in this game. Wolfs howling in the distance send a shiver down my spine. The rain sounded very realistic, as if you are really in a storm. Even the gunshots were very effective. The music is creepy, but doesn't overwhelm the game. SUMMARY If you like horror survival games like Resident Evil, you are bound to enjoy this. It's a good story, with Nick coming to a strange town, and discovering things are not what they seem. The graphics are incredible. Light and shadows change as you move around, and you can only see your nearby surroundings. I found the control system quite annoying, as you had to press several buttons in order to perform the simplest action. It may not sound like much, but when enemies continue to attack you, every mili-second counts. All in all, it's a great game that I enjoyed playing. It kept me on my toes, from beginning to end, and I never knew what was going to jump out at me from the darkness.