FAX BOX
Game: Murder Hunt
Publisher: Bodkin Software, 16 Carr Lane, Hambleton, Nr Blackpool, Lancs FY6 9AZ
Price: £2.50 (mail order only, incl p&p)

Don't forget the small software houses, you readers scream at me regularly. Okay, I won't, I won't, I scream back at every opportunity, as I consider them to be very important, but just occasionally they have to take a back seat to the likes of Level 9 and Scott Adams.

This text-only Quilled game turns you into Father Paddy Murphy of St Ivan the Terrible's Church, with the task of tracking down a homicidal maniac who's escaped from the nearby nick. Watch out that the murderer doesn't throw any Domestos at you, or that would be a bleach of the priest.

First victim should obviously be me, after a joke like that, but instead it's the gravedigger, upon whose body is a ring with the intriguing inscription "George- Agnus". Should that be Agnes? I sincerely hope it isn't meant to be Angus. There are also lots of little faults with the game. EXAMINE anything that's examinable and you get the appropriate message plus the default message "I can see nothing out of the ordinary!" A signpost you come across tells you Keggly is to the west, but travel east and you're in Keggly's main street. One description also tells you that you see a lake to the west, but take the south-east exit and there you are by the lake, west taking you up a hill.

Too many of the dreaded sudden death routines as well, no less than three in the first twenty or thirty locations. That's a shame as I liked the general 'feel' of the adventure, and some trouble has been taken with the text and with making the locations believable. Even at this price you have to compete with the likes of Firebird and Mastertronic, and Murder Hunt doesn't quite do that.

Publisher: Bodkin Software
Price: £2.50 inc. p&p
Memory: 48K

Bodkin Software is the cover name for two young adventure writers, Craig Davies and Mark Hale. Using the old-style Quill they produced their first version of Murder Hunt sometime last year and got a short review in one of the weekly computer comics.

A few people bought the game, a text-only adventure, and Bodkin has now tried to sharpen the presentation with the aid of The Patch, introducing some sound effects and screen colour.

In the remote hamlet of Keggly dwells Father Paddy Murphy, stereotypical priest of St Ivan the Terrible church. One day, whilst the good-hearted pastor is fixing a hole where the rain gets in his church, the idyllic peace of this country backwater is shattered by a scream of pure terror.

In the graveyard below Paddy sees the body of his gravedigger George and goes down to investigate. George has been brutally murdered and a newspaper beside his body reveals that a "homicidal murderer" - well he would be, wouldn't he - has gone over the wall at nearby Studmore Prison. The last report was that he was heading in the general direction of Keggly.

Obviously he has now arrived and his bloody footprints lead away from the graveyard into the woods around the village. Paddy sets off in pursuit and the hunt is on.

The plot is straightforward but the game is reasonably complicated. You begin your search in the churchyard and, after acquiring a few objects of uncertain use, head off into the wilds of Keggly and its neighbouring parishes to find the dastardly and cold-blooded killer.

A second killing awaits your attention down the lane. A search of the victim's clothing will give you a useful magic charm but you will have to spend some time quartering the fields, farmhouses and stately homes to get through to the murderer's hiding place. There are locked gates to break through, stone circles to investigate and a number of red herrings and pitfalls - literally - to negotiate.

The inhabitants of Keggly are not all predictable either - the reclusive aristocrat who lives in Haley Hall is quite likely to do you in if you trespass on his property and his servants are just as violent if you don't mind your manners. The tenant of the windmill up on the hill is thoroughly unpleasant and the only really nice person is the deaf old lady who runs the village shop. When you're totally stuck just remember that she will sell you absolutely anything you need provided you've got the cash for it - otherwise forget it.

You'll come a cropper many times before you capture the murderer. When you do find him you will have to return him to a suitable place of imprisonment before the game is over - that too has its problems, so don't be over-confident.

There are about 75 locations with good descriptions and plenty of action in a non-linear scenario. The countryside has a real feel to it: "You are at the top of 'Satan's Footstool'. In the centre of the hill is one large stone which is surrounded by 20 rectangular stones which have stood there since prehistoric times. They are known as Hell's-End Stones and are laden with superstition."

Messages too are atmospheric: "The charm is made of silver and is suspended on a silver chain. It is shaped like a moon with a sword of sacrifice sticking in the left side. This insignia is often attributed to black magic."

Touches like this give the game a high level of playability. Clues and objects are scattered far and wide and the game is carefully written with a certain macabre relish for the subject matter.

All told this game is good value and certainly comes top when compared to the other budget software reviewed this month. If you fancy a Murder Hunt you could do a lot worse than sending your £2.50 to Bodkin Software, 16 Carr Lane, Hambleton, Blackpool FY6 9AZ.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
SUPPLIER: Bodkin Software
PRICE: £2.50

A murder is on the loose in the peaceful farming village of Keggly. Father Paddy Murphy (that's you) walks out of his church, into the graveyard, and finds his gravedigger stabbed to death, lying in a pool of blood. A trail of bloodstained footprints lead off, down the lane.

Father Paddy's quest is to find the murderer, and secure him before carting him away. A tour of the neighbouring countryside uncovers the maniac's tracks. Ripped clothing is found in the woods, and an empty bottle in the disused mine. More startling is a grim discovery in a cottage in the village.

This is a text only adventure, and the text is of a rather strange design, and not ever-so-easily legible. It has fairly lengthy location descriptions that convey the rustic atmosphere well, besides building up the tension in the game.

Input is by verb-noun, and, unusually in an adventure, there is a PAUSE command. This implies that the game is played in real time.

This is an interesting game, rather like exploring a detective story for yourself, and more adventures of the Rev. Murphy are promised.