Underwurlde is the second in the series of the
Sabreman adventures and is a follow on from Sabre
Wulf.
For
reasons best known to himself, Sabreman has got himself
trapped in the Underwurlde and is now desperately trying
to escape. Three Guardians block three exits and to
solve the game they must be removed by finding and collecting
three weapons, a bow, a dagger and a torch, that have
been abandoned in the darkest comers of the Underwurlde.
Each kills a particular Guardian and that Guardian only
-- no clues are given, so it's up to you to work out
which weapon kills which Guardian.
The
game is presented in the same fashion as a platform
game, but unlike most platform games Underwurlde
is really huge (plenty to keep the cartographers going).
The playing area is split into two distinct sections
-- the castle and the caverns, although the two merge
into one another. The game 'flicks' as you move from
screen to screen rather than scrolling, which adds to
the surprise element -- you are given no indication
of what lies ahead.
Sabreman
is a pretty tough character -- he can take quite a tumble,
but if he falls further than a screen and a half, he
dies. The game may sound easy because of this, but Underwurlde
has been cleverly constructed so that lives are swiftly
lost. There are much needed extra lives which can be
found, but they are pretty few and far between.
You
start the game in the castle section, but the only way
to make progress is to go down into the depths of the
caverns. The castle has been constructed so that most
of the screens run together to form vertical shafts,
with a few horizontal passages connecting them.
Travelling
up and down these shafts is by no means easy. Ornaments
such as clocks, birds and flower baskets, are littered
around the screen and it is by jumping from one to the
other that you can make your way from screen to screen.
The
caverns, on the other hand, are completely different.
Again, the layout comprises deep shafts with a few horizontal
connections, but getting from one screen to another
needs a totally different approach. If you arrive at
a ledge at the top of a shaft, then just walk off it.
Sabreman automatically does a huge jump and hooks a
rope to the ceiling. You can then lower him down and
drop off at the bottom. Going up (if there is a rope
present) is done in similar fashion -- jump onto the
rope, press the 'up' key and he goes up. When you reach
the top of the shaft, use the left and right keys to
swing yourself backwards and forwards, jumping off the
rope when you've built up a large enough swing to land
you safely on a ledge.
If
you find yourself at the bottom of a shaft without a
rope, then you have to make use of gaseous bubbles that
emerge from craters on the floor. If you stand on a
crater long enough then a bubble rises and you ride
it to the top of the shaft. Simply jump off onto the
ledge at the top when you get there. If you don't then
you get carried to the ceiling, the bubble bursts, and
you fall all the way down again.
Harpies
and Gargoyles live in the Underwurlde, travelling around
creating havoc for Sabreman. Unusually, they don't kill,
but knock him around -- a big hazard if he's standing
on a ledge halfway up a shaft and gets knocked off (whee
splat gently syndrome). Luckily you're not defenceless,
and a couple of well-armed shots from the weapon you
carry destroys them. Later on in the game the eagles
emerge. These are the biggest pest of all because they
lift you off the ground, where you hang, helpless, in
their talons until they drop you (usually down a very
deep shaft)!
The
jewels littered around the caverns may be picked up.
They turn Sabreman blue and make him invincible for
the duration of a countdown.
Underwurlde
is huge (over 500 rooms) and requires a lot of mapping,
so to save you the bother your good ol' chums at ZZAP!
have done one for you (in two parts, so not to spoil
all the fun). Turn to the tips section -- all you've
got to do is fill in the locations of the weapons. Aren't
we kind!
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