It's called Lords of Midnight and, according to the description, it's not actually an adventure at all. but - rather - an 'Epic'. The idea is that, unlike other adventures. you don't need to restrict yourself to just one character and your routes are no longer dictated by the programmer in advance. This program knows where a given character is on the map, checks the direction he is facing and draws the whole scene, foreground to background, in perspective. Thus, every time you leave a location and return to it from a new direction, it'll be drawn again with a different background; and every time you move forward, distant peaks become mighty mountains and houses grow into great towers, flanked by forests. This is all made possible through (it's claimed) a new programming technique called landscaping which gives the program a possible 32,000 views.
The idea of the game is to gather armies from the various people you meet; you have to convince them to join you, but of course there are some who are simply enemies and must be destroyed. As the force splits to defeat the evil Witchking Doomdark you can see the dramatic happenings through the eyes of each character. There's an accompanying 32-page booklet which includes a map of the land and the game should retail for around £9.95.
There are six levels and, according to the accompanying booklet, they've been carefully designed to take you through the game step-by-step; you mustn't overload your all-too- human mind.
You may be interested to know that level six has only one aim - to survive for half an hour! Beyond is challenging players to achieve this great feat and the reward is ... wait for it ... a QL. Obviously, the company's not expecting anyone to manage it for a while yet. Anyway, full details are in the pack. The game, by the way, sells for £7.95.
Last in the bunch comes Spellbound, where you take the part of a frog and attempt to race down the steps of the fortress before Griselda the witch catches you with her spells. Straightforward stuff it may be, but there are 12 levels of action to get through. Spellbound costs £5.95 and all Beyond's games should be available in your shops now.
Three of the five releases will be translations of arcade games: Popeye, Q*Bert and Return of the Jedi - Death Star Battle. Two others are completely new. Fresh from the arcades, Gyruss is a shoot 'em up with a new perspective. The pilot ship travels 360 degrees around the edge of the screen and the opposing marauders attack from the centre.
The final release is Star Wars - The Arcade Game which graphically re-enacts the destruction of the Death Star taken, of course, direct from the original film.
Parker hopes to have the games finished by June/July for release in August.
In Spellbound you must use your frog's legs to hop fast down those steps before Griselda puts a spell on you!
Psytron's view of the Betula 5 installation. There's terror in the skies and under the floorboards.
