This is the third speech adventure from Vulcan Software, the team responsible for the previous two Valhalla games, not to mention Timekeepers and Hillsea Lido.
Most people, especially other workers in our office, remember Valhalla, but not because of its excellent plot, smooth graphics and superb gameplay. It's simply the fact that it was extremely annoying. I think everyone know knows it featured a small bloke who just wouldn't shut up. Every time you picked up an object he'd gladly inform you "I've got it." Also, to make the things worse, if you turned the volume down it lost some of its appeal, so everyone just had to put up with it.

It looks like our staff are in for even more abuse because Valhalla - Fortress of Eve has arrived. Well, it had to happen didn't it. The actual plot takes a very strange turn because the King is getting sexually stimulated(?) and his attention is beginning to turn to some lovely ladies (and here's me thinking it's going to be a proper yawn fest).

So that's the plot. The little King is after a bird. That is, as they say, the bottom line. But he's in for a big surprise because his plan is going to be tougher than he thinks. Firstly, he considers himself handsome even though he looks remarkably like the back of a donkey and, secondly, his island is absolutely birdless. Consequently, his chances are looking pretty slim at the very least.

The evil Queen has kidnapped all the ladies off the island, leaving several of the peasants looking very unhappy indeed. The Queen has carried out his evil act because she wants you to marry her daughter, Ezmerelda. However, she's not the raven-haired temptress you'd expect, although I still think he's setting his sights too high.

Anyway, the game starts with a surprisingly new angle whereby the young Valhalla bloke doesn't have to strain his neck muscles to let you know what's happening. It's amazing - you can actually see his legs! The game is now viewed from a 3D side view.

As you'd expect, your job is to tour around solving puzzles along the way, gaining information by talking to everyone you see. You'll be given loads of clues throughout your adventure, but most of them won't make sense until you complete the first part.

The main display for the game is in the centre of the screen, as usual, your status bar is situated down the left-hand side of the screen, and your inventory is placed along the top of the screen. You can also scroll through the various action icons at the foot of the screen. You can view the map of the area, look at things, talk to people, pick up objects, use objects and save the game. The most effective method of moving the King is by using the mouse, with a pointer popping up to show you where you can move to.

As with the rest of the Valhalla series, you can't fail to be impressed with the amount of sampled speech - and there aren' t many Amiga games which take advantage of the Amiga's ability to do this.

Seit der junge König im ersten Teil sein Land von der Herrschaft des tyrannischen Lord of Infinity befreit hat, sind einige Jahre vergangen, in denen er mehr oder weniger friedlich vor sich hin regiert hat. Nun entdeckt er, daß es im Leben außer Amtsgeschäften auch noch das andere Geschlecht gibt - aber wie es der Programmierer haben will, sind plötzlich alle heiratsfähigen Frauen in seinem Reich wie vom Erdboden verschwunden.

Der Autor des Intros hält natürlich zu seinem Arbeitgeber Vulcan Software und macht deswegen die Hexe "Queen Eve" zum Sündenbock: Weil das böse Weib seine Tochter Esmeralda unbedingt mit einem echten König verbandeln wolle, habe es kurzerhand alle lästigen Konkurrentinnen entführt.
Der blaublütige Junggeselle legt sich jedoch quer und bittet statt dessen den Spieler, ihm bei der Errettung der gekidnappten Mädels behilflich zu sein.

Gesägt, tun, getan: Nur mit Hilfe der bequemen Maussteuerung und des natürlichen Charmes unseres jungen Regenten schlägt man sich nun durch dichte Wälder, das Dörfchen von Evesland, die Festung der Widersacherin und schließlich durch den Turm, in dem die vielen reizvollen Gründe für diese Reise schmachten.

Diese vier umfangreichen Levels sind auch beim dritten Teil wieder aus der Vogelperspektive zu sehen, allerdings hat man die vorher ziemlich gräuliche Grafik gehörig aufpoliert. Dabei wird zwar immer noch viel Platz für Inventory, Aktions-Icons und unnötige Verzierungen verschwendet, dafür tauchen in dem kleinen Spielfenster außer den sattsam bekannten Grautönen aber endlich auch andere Farben auf. Zudem wurde der Betrachtungswinkel leicht verschoben, was Landschaft und Akteure deutlich plastischer wirken läßt.

Optische Wunder sollte man sich deswegen freilich nicht gleich erwarten, denn die Animationen sind rar und (bis auf die Lippenbewegungen beim Sprechen) dilettantisch in Szene gesetzt. Zudem besteht die gesamte Umgebung aus einzelnen Blöcken, was überdies das Vorankommen erheblich behindert, weil so keine diagonalen Bewegungen möglich sind.

Zum Trost gibt's neben den sonstigen Soundeffekten und wenigen Begleitmelodien auch mit dem Untergrund wechselnde Laufgeräusche sowie die aus der Serie bekannte Sprachausgabe, welche den Spieler ständig über seine Fortschritte informiert. Die dabei benutzten Piepsstimmen gehen aber selbst dem härtesten Abenteuer bald auf die Nerven - nicht zuletzt, weil die Texte sich schnell wiederholen und trotzdem nur zum Teil abschaltbar sind.

Die eigentliche Handlung besteht vornehmlich aus dem Einsacken, Herumschleppen und wieder Verteilen vieler kleiner Gegenstände, von denen bis zu neun im königlichen Rucksack Platz finden. Die zahllosen Minirätsel sind jedoch leider bliß in manchen Fällen logisch, so leuchtet es etwa jedem Hobbygärtner ein, daß Schnecken kein Salz vertragen. Dafür erfordern die meisten Knobeleien aber überdurchschnittliche Kenntnisse der englischen Sprache, ein Wörterbuch oder einfach Glück. Und gelegentlich fragt man sich hier wirklich, ob man nun einen König oder nicht doch eher einen planlosen Laufburschen spielt, der sich bei seinen Botengängen verirrt hat.

Da trifft es sich gut, daß jeder Level per Paßwort zugänglich ist und der Spielstand jederzeit gesichert werden kann - allerdings auf Kosten des vorherigen, der dabei automatisch überschrieben wird. Na ja, zumindest braucht sich unser Held keine Sorgen zu machen, denn natürliche Feinde kennt so ein Blaublüter anscheinend nicht. Und sollte er sich doch einmal mit einem Stück Käse den Magen verdorben haben oder einem rotglühende Hebel zu nahe gekommen sein, liegen allüberall kräftige Pillen herum, die ihm umgehend wieder auf die Beine helfen.

Von Nutzen ist auch die jederzeit einblendbare Karte des Gebietes, die sich nach Belieben scrollen läßt und alle ortsfesten Objekte aufzeigt. Dabei kann man ohnehin viel verkehrt machen, da sich versehentlich abgelegte Gegenstände jederzeit wieder aufsammeln lassen. Trotzdem gibt es zumindest in den ersten Gegenden eindeutig zu viele unklare Passagen, die auch durch die einsilbigen und sich nie verändernden Kommentare der herumstehenden NPCs kaum klarer werden.

Als "Hilfefunktion" kann man sich zu seinen Sammelobjekten die Meinung seiner (verstorbenen) Eltern anhören, doch auch sie schweigen sich über viel zu viele Items aus. Apropos schweigen: Wer auf die nur von Hand mögliche Festplatteninstallation verzichten will, sollte die Bemerkungen seines Protagonisten nach Kräften einschränken, da bei jedem neuen Spruch der alte aus dem Speicher gelöscht und somit das nächste Mal wieder von Disk geladen wird. Dafür läuft das Spiel aber auch im Multitaskingbetrieb sauber, und Diskwechsel am Levelende an.

Wären die Aktionsmöglichkeiten des Helden also nicht so stark eingeschränkt und wäre der Schwierigkeitsgrad nicht gleich zu Beginn höher als in der letzten Ebene, würde das Spiel sicherlich stundenlang Spaß machen. So jedoch ist man ob der reichlich ermüdenden Sucherei bereits nach kurzer Zeit verärgert - und geneigt, seinem Protagonisten eine simple Heiratsannonce im Ausland ans königliche Herz zu legen. (mz)

Hormones and a woman's biological clock have a lot to answer for. The crusty old Queen Eve, obviously fed up with her own aging libido, is determined to deny the young virile King any chance of happiness. She's locked up all the eligible young ladies to prevent him finding a wife.

This is too much for our young hero to bear as anyone who has played the previous two versions of the Valhalla series will surely agree. Hasn't the poor lad been through enough in his quest to rule his father's kingdom? Now he's finally got there shouldn't he have the right to settle down and make some little Valhalla babies? Queen Eve doesn't think so, she's out to make it as difficult as possible for the boy to get his oats. He's got four treacherous worlds to complete before he even gets within earshot of an attractive woman.

Before the cynics amongst you start muttering "stop dressing it up dear, we know what to expect - same old hackneyed game with a bit of different plot behind it" - I must tell you you're wrong. Though, I would have forgiven Vulcan if they decided with to stick with a format that has already brought them great success (if you read some other magazine's reviews you wouldn't believe this though). For the third instalment in the Valhalla series, Vulcan, in my opinion, have changed certain aspects of the game radically - all to the benefit of the gameplay.

Cosmetics
The first thing you'll notice as you load the game is that the viewing perspective has changed from a top down one to a more sort of isometric type view. I think this is a Godsend. While I enjoyed the earlier versions of the Valhalla series it was very hard to actually find anything as objects and the Prince seemed to blur into one, leaving you trying to decipher where anything was.

With the new perspective you see a complete version of the hero, instead of the previous upturned pancake-like version. Objects and people are also easier to find. In particular, doorways are easier to distinguish. No more having to search for a minuscule marking on a square, they are now clearly marked out.

Another greatly appreciated cosmetic change is that each level is now more colourful than earlier versions. Vulcan seem to have waved goodbye to the awful boring brown-dominated colour palette of the two previous Valhalla games. They've injected a lot more colour to this version. Now there are lots of primary colours and each world is more distinguishable with its own indigenous graphics. Extra touches like changing the sound effects so that you can differentiate when the king is walking on different surfaces such as grass are also nice.

There are also background noises that you can either turn on or off for each level. These are here, I presume, to add some atmosphere to each world and vary from birds twittering away for the woodland scene (though it did sound very similar to the background music for Vulcan's business simulator, Hillsea Lido to scaryish organ-type music for the later levels.

Some of you might also be glad to know that there is an option to limit the King's dulcet tones. You can choose to turn the volume down and read the text explanations alone or you can click on the speech icon to limit the amount that the cheeky chappie says. While the option to limit how much he speaks may sound very appealing to these who can't stand to the whiny "I've got it" every five minutes. I found that you can miss out on vital clues if you pick this option.

For instance in the first level there is a chest surrounded by levers which if you try to operate will eventually kill you because you don't have the necessary potion before you can approach them. With the limited speech on you don't get to hear him saying "ouch that's hot". This message doesn't come up as text so it means that you miss out on the clue as to what potion you'll need in order to operate the levers. I think if the voice annoys you that much, turn the volume down on your Amiga, that way you won't miss out on any extra hints that are vital to getting on in the game.

Gameplay
OK tarting up the game's appearance is all very well but has the game itself changed much? Well, the essential elements are still there. It's still a walk-through adventure where you have to solve puzzles in order to get through each level.

The puzzles, though not dramatically different, seem a little harder, but it's still a case of find key, insert in chest to find some other potion or object that you need in order to progress. The puzzle solving element is still as strong as ever. However, the cosmetic changes made to the game make it different enough to make it, in my opinion, more enjoyable than its two earlier incarnations.

Word association and good general knowledge skills are required for this game. There's also a lot more characters in this version who have a bigger part to play. You get to try out your schmoozing skills with characters such as the milkmaid who will give you some milk if you tell her she's beautiful (works every time). I also found movement within the game much easier thanks to the new mouse-driven controls.

Slow death
It doesn't seem to be as easy to die in Eve. There's no instant death if you fall down a hole in the game. The only way to die is if you run out of stamina, or if you undertake to do something tricky like try to stand next to something like a bee-hive for too long without taking the relevant potion.

Yes the potions are still here, only this time you've got an extra helping hand in the shape of the ghost of your parents. There's actually a ghost icon which is your parents' ghost. If you have a potion in your rucksack click on this and they'll tell you what it is for.

There's also the option to load from the last saved version which saves on the frustration factor of having to trog through a level that you've already half way through. Though perhaps it would have been better to have introduced a save option like the one in Timekeepers where you had more than one point where you could restart from. This would help in case where you'd made a mistake but saved it at that point otherwise you've no option but to begin all over again.

A job well done
I think a pat on the back is in order for Vulcan Software. They could have rested on their laurels and stuck with a formula that seems to work judging by the amount of Valhalla fans there are. Instead they've improved an already good game and made it into a a very enjoyable game. OK I don't think that Valhalla is ready to compete against the likes of Beneath a Steel Sky but I don't think that it's trying to and the price of £17.99 reflects this.

The graphics have been improved within the constraints of a game written in Amos will allow. Whilst I wasn't a diehard fan of the earlier two versions of this genre I really enjoyed playing this one. The puzzle solving can become a bit tiring and repetitive after a while but there's still enough enjoyment there to last a few weeks at least. Needless to say fans of Valhalla will adore this latest version. Previous detractors, are advised to take a look, it might change your opinion.