<!--
	Title: (product reviews) Wishbringer
	Author: Harvey Bernstein
	Source: Antic, v4(9)
	Date: January 1986
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

Infocom, Inc.<br>
125 Cambridge Park Drive<br>
Cambridge, MA 02140<br>
(617) 492-6000<br>
$34.95, 48K disk

Welcome to Festeron, a quant little hamlet somewhere on the New England
coast. This is a real nice place to bring up your kids. Except...

Except that Festeron has its dark side -- a mirror-image town known as
Witchville where Evil rules, Magick abounds, and the Elder Gods dwell.
Even your boss Mr. Crisp, the town postmaster, is now the. . . .well, the
less said the better.

This is where the action takes place in **Wishbringer**, the latest in a long
line of excellent text adventure games from Infocom. As the game begins, it
is up to you to deliver a mysterious letter to the old woman who runs Ye
Olde Magick Shoppe at the outskirts of town.

Once she gets the letter, you are suddenly thrust into Witchville with
an important and dangerous mission -- rescue the old woman's cat,
which has been kidnapped by a sorceress known only as The Evil One.
Your only aid is the power of the stone known as Wishbringer. Once
you find it, you will be granted as many as seven wishes to aid you in
your quest.

In many ways, Wishbringer can be seen as a successor to **Sorcerer** and
**Enchanter**. Wishes take the place of spells, of course. But your seven
wishes only work if you have a proper item in your possession. In addition,
each wish can be used only once, so it is critical that you not misuse or
waste one.

According to Infocom, for every puzzle that can be solved with a wish,
a logical solution exists. The game could be concluded without using
any wishes at all. Well, if anybody has gotten past the Hellhound without
using a wish, please write me care of **Antic** and tell me how it's done.

Wishbringer is Infocom's second attempt at an introductory level adventure,
and as such it is considerably more successful than last year's
**Seastalker**. Although written for novices, the prose is not in the least
juvenile. Veteran adventure game players will not be challenged at all,
although they will enjoy the story line, the wit and inside jokes. Be
sure to open the mailbox next to the white house.

And there is the challenge to earn a perfect score by completing the
game sans wishes. But most of all, Wishbringer is an excellent attempt to
bring new blood into the fold -- those who previously have been unable or
unwilling to get the most out of Infocom's finest. If you've been curious
about Infocom text adventure games but never actually took the plunge,
Wishbringer is the game for you.
