<!--
	Title: (The Lab Report) Arthur
	Source: Zzap!64, #54
	Date: October 1989
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<p class="larger">Infocom, Amiga £29.99</p>

You are Arthur. Not Arthur Fowler, Arthur Scargill or even Arthur
I'vegotakipperstuckupmyassortedsocks. No, as just plain
'Arthur' you're the rightful heir to the English throne, and the
hero in Infocom's interpretation of the famous legend.

It has been many years since King Uther has died and so far
no-one has been able to pull the famous sword from the stone to
become his rightful heir. It has even got to the point where the
people are willing to let a usurper, King Lot, take the
throne.

<img style="max-width: 80%; display: block; margin: auto;" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-arthur-review/arthur-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Arthur screen shot">

As Arthur, you start the adventure at night in the
churchyard where the sword in the stone is located. You know
that King Lot has imposed a curfew and you'll be thrown in
jail if caught, but you were compelled to try to remove the
sword. Of course, being the rightful heir, you succeed in
pulling it out (no oo-ers here please) whereupon Merlin
materialises and, before disappearing again, tells you that
you're not yet worthy to claim the throne and must first gain a
hundred chivalry, experience, wisdom, and quest points.

But no sooner than Merlin disappears than King Lot's
soldiers march into the church to remove the sword and the stone. In
the morning King Lot shows a *copy* of the sword to the gathered
villagers, claiming it is the magic sword and that he must now be
crowned High King. You must work quickly if you are to stop
him -- his coronation is in three days time.

A visit to Merlin's cave results in him giving you the ability to
transform yourself into an owl, badger, salamander, eel or
turtle. You might've preferred a nice, shiny suit of armour and a
good horse, but Merlin's Merlin and it wouldn't be wise to argue.
you can change into an animal as often as you like, but never
directly from one animal to another (you must become
human again first) and never in public -- it would freak people
out!

Exploring the surrounding countryside reveals a great many
locations ranging from the village tavern to bogs, woods, a lake (as
beneath the surface), and King Lot's castle. Plenty of characters,
both friendly and hostile, can be spoken to an asked questions.
The village idiot isn't too helpful -- though he says he can peak into
the game's machine code when you're gone!

Most of the problems encountered revolve around
transforming into different creatures -- for instance, to go
down a hole in the ground you must be the badger, while as the
owl you can fly high above the land. Surprisingly, as an eel you
can even talk to a kraken in the lake. However, you are not
allowed to carry objects when in animal form and this obviously
causes more than a few problems. It can also be
frustrating finding somewhere to change, there's never an empty
phone box when you want one!

As in other recent Infocom releases, there's an in-built hints
facility, accessed by looking into a magic crystal. The typically
polished Infocom presentation also includes various display
modes: graphics, map, inventory, score, and text.

With the great puzzles, some attractive graphics and a superb
vocabulary and parser, plus the odd touch of humour, *Arthur* has
all the ingredients to make a first-class adventure. A must for all
Infocom fans.

<table class="larger" style="font-weight: bold; border-top: 4px solid; border-bottom: 4px solid; font-family: var(--article-sidebar), Arial, sans-serif;"><tbody>
<tr><td>ATMOSPHERE</td><td>93%</td></tr>
<tr><td>PUZZLE FACTOR</td><td>96%</td></tr>
<tr><td>INTERACTION</td><td>92%</td></tr>
<tr><td>LASTABILITY</td><td>94%</td></tr>
<tr><td>OVERALL</td><td>94%</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
