Shannara

Become a Pawn of Destiny

• Shannara
• Legend Entertainment Co.
• PC CD-ROM
• 486/33 or better, 4MB RAM
• Windows 95 or MS-DOS

ased on the popular fantasy series by Terry Brooks, Legend's Shannara puts players in the shoes of Jak Ohmsford, a young man on the brink of adventure. Jak is tapped by the druid Allanon to take a warning to a neighboring kingdom. It seems the sorcerer Brona, once defeated by Jak's father, has returned as a shade (41K .GIF). His evil intentions include stealing the Sword of Shannara, a magical blade. Jak's adventures comprise an episodic series of puzzles as he tries to perform Allanon's missions and thwart Brona. En route, Jak gets assistance from various other characters, including the Princess Shella, a fabulous archer and red-headed babe.

Each of the puzzles takes place on an illustrated screen -- drawn in storybook style -- sometimes with a small animation such as a trickling creek or tapping fingers. Players navigate by clicking on a compass rose. Clicking on other characters brings up a series of questions that Jak can pose to gain information needed to solve the puzzles. During conversations, the screen shows an enlarged, animated head of the interlocutor.

In between puzzle screens, a miniaturized Jak and his companions travel through a landscape screen. Monsters pop up often, but the game says it's best to avoid them since fighting reaps no benefits.

Overall, the syntax of Shannara is easy to use, as is the inventory. Sequential clicking allows players to use two objects together, with the most likely syntax appearing at the bottom of the screen, such as, "Give the rock to Shella." A single click then performs the action, or a new verb can be chosen from a list. The inventory shows a group of objects, which is nicer than a text list, and can easily be scrolled through.

In terms of game play, Shannara has something of the flavor of old text-only adventures, such as Zork. Most visible objects can be clicked to provide a text description, whether the object is important or not. Unlike text-only games, Shannara has background art, and it's one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game -- including work from artists such as David Cherry and Rob Alexander. The on-line help, including an "Undo" button, and user manual are friendly and to-the-point.

The puzzles themselves are the weakest feature of Shannara, being rather simplistic. Another drawback is the game's unwillingness to let players experiment -- players can't leave a game segment until the particular puzzle in that area is solved. On the landscape scene, Shella whines, "Jak, you're going the wrong way!" if players try to explore. These may not be problems for younger players, who might need the extra guidance.

Overall, Shannara seems best suited for younger players. Terry Brooks fans may find the illustrations of this familiar fantasy world to be of interest.

The designers of Shannara should have loosened the puppet strings a little, offering players greater autonomy within the world of the game. I felt controlled.-- Blaise

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