CITADEL

 CITADEL is a computer role-playing game with several flaws, as well as features
that offset those flaws. You start out in a town adjacent to the Citadel, the
dungeon of which you must explore. CITADEL is based on the time-worn concept of
seek-and-slay-the-evil-wizard, except that in this case, you must rescue the
Lady Synd before going wizard-bashing. (This review is based on the Macintosh
version.)

 CITADEL is a relatively small CRPG. You are limited to a town in which access
to shops occurs via clicking on signs, not strolling down the streets, as in THE
BARD'S TALE. The Citadel, which is where you will spend almost all of your time,
is a dungeon with 12 levels of large size; the levels are hard to get through,
though.

 CITADEL uses the Mac interface very well, but a couple of actions are
unecesssarily complicated, such as getting a certain NPC. Manipulating objects
is accomplished by clicking and dragging, and there are keyboard shortcuts for
almost all tasks. Copy protection is implemented through the use of a code
wheel, required for entrance to the Citadel (but not for creating characters).
You can make backup copies of the diskette, or install the program on your hard
drive.

 Character creation has been improved in CITADEL. You can choose from eight
fathers and eight mothers, and your parents will influence your money and stats.
You may also divide your time between labor, play, study, and prayer, all of
which affect your stats. There are the standard four types of character classes
(fighter, mage, thief, priest), and four additional classes that are merely
stronger versions of the others.

 The combat system will remind you of POOL OF RADIANCE. You see combat from a
bird's-eye view (with characters appearing as icon heads) that can be modified.
Attacking someone hand-to-hand is hard, because you have to drag the PC up to
the monster, and wait for a black line to appear between it and you; it becomes
hard to see a thin black line on a grey background after a while. Throwing
objects involves _your_ dexterity, not your character's. You click on an item,
and then a line appears that goes from place to place (faster and in a wider arc
if the PC has low agility). You can easily end up killing a character whom you
are trying to save. Some humor is in evidence when retreating, though: You hear
the digitally sampled "Run Away!" from Monty Python's "Search for the Holy
Grail" when the killer bunny is attacked.

 The magic system is slightly flawed. Mages are useless until they obtain a
magic book, and the books are hidden deep in the Citadel. Priests cast spells by
combining elements upon which they have meditated. The higher-level spells are
cast by priests only after they achieve the proper combination. Only one priest
or mage can study or meditate at a time, so it is unwise to work on spells deep
in the Citadel.

 A couple of riddles are presented in the Citadel. The primary one is rather
pathetic, although the answer will elude you until you step back and look at it
as yourself, not one of your characters. (Pattern baldness is caused by
scratching your head too much while thinking about the riddle.)

 Auto-mapping is available, but only late in the game. A map book and pen are
hidden in the dungeon; only the possession of those two items and one NPC give
you the ability to automap.

 CITADEL's biggest drawback is that it is riddled with bugs. The main one
freezes your game indefinitely if you have INITs and CDEVs running, and causes
the elevator to blink around. Another bug sometimes strands your party unless
you know the placement of the stairs, and problems occur when using MultiFinder,
or playing in color mode on the Mac II.

 All in all, CITADEL is a good game for experienced CRPGers. It is not
recommended for beginners. Patience is a must to remain sane. If you are not a
veteran CRPGer, or don't have patience, save your money.

 CITADEL: ADVENTURE OF THE CRYSTAL KEEP is published and distributed by
Postcraft International.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253