<!--
	Title: Micro-Reviews: Enchanter
	Author: Scorpia
	Source: Computer Gaming World v3(6)
	Date: Dec 1983
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/cgw-micro-reviews-enchanter/enchanter-screenshot.jpg" alt="Enchanter Screenshot">

<table><tbody>
	<tr><td><strong>NAME:</strong></td>	<td><strong>Enchanter</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>TYPE:</strong></td>	<td><strong>Fantasy Adventure</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>SYSTEM:</strong></td>	<td><strong>Many</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>FORMAT:</strong></td>	<td><strong>Disk</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>#PLAYERS:</strong></td>	<td><strong>1</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>AUTHOR:</strong></td>	<td><strong>Mark Blank<br>Paul Lebling</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>PRICE:</strong></td>	<td><strong>$39.95</strong></td></tr>
	<tr><td><strong>PUBLISHER:</strong></td><td><strong>Infocom<br>Cambridge, MA</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>

*You stand at a fork in the road, holding nothing but your spell book.
Your mind is dazed from the immensity of recent events: from nowhere,
you, a lowly novice enchanter, were summoned into the presence of the
august Circle of Enchanters, and charged with an almost impossible
task: to enter the domain of the powerful warlock Krill, and destroy him. As
the dawn sun rises over the land, you draw a deep breath, choose your path,
and trudge off along a dusty road.*

Thus begins THE ENCHANTER, the latest member of Infocom's stable
of winners. It has all the touches you have come to expect (even demand!)
of them: the great command parser, excellent text descriptions, intriguing
puzzles, and coherent story line, to name a few. The one difference between
this game and most of the other Infocoms is that you know exactly what has
to be done from the very start. No guesswork about the ultimate objective
is necessary, although that doesn't mean getting there is easy!

In this game, the use of magic is all-important. You start out with four
spells in your possession, and as you progress, you will find scrolls with
other spells written on them (one per scroll). Some of these spells you can
"write" into your spell book, thus making them re-usable. However,
some are so powerful and complicated that you can't transfer them
into your book, and so they can be used only once (the scroll vanishes
after use).

As you wander through this land of enchantment, you will come
across various creatures, some helpful, some not so helpful, and
some that are merely red herrings. You will have to determine in which
category each of these beings are, and act accordingly.

Also, your actions should be considered with great care: some situations
have more than one solution, and choosing the wrong one will put
the game hopelessly out of reach. It's always best to save a game before
experimenting, and this one is no exception. All sorts of unpleasant
things (such as being rated a -10 "menace to society") can happen
when you start messing around with magic.

Food and water are also important, as well as sleeping: periodically
throughout the game, you will be reminded of your body's physical
needs, and woe unto you if they aren't satisfied! Finding a water
supply and something edible at the beginning of the game is a must.

There are also some rather neat tie-ins with the Zork series. If you've
played ZORK III, you might recall Scenic View 4, the sacrificial altar
and monstrous creatures. Well, you'll learn a little more about them in this
game, maybe more than you'd like to! You may also come across a vaguely
familiar person in one of the Mirror Rooms.

THE ENCHANTER is a lot of fun to play, especially with some of the
deft touches of humor here and there throughout the game. In terms of
difficulty, I would rate it as being harder than Planetfall, but not
as hard as Suspended or the Zorks.

Bottom Line: Another typically excellent game from Infocom, and not
to be missed.
