Eric the Unready

Eric the Unready is a role-playing game that combines average sound and graphics with a superior parser and exceptional playability to create an above-average playing experience. The game is also filled with gags that lampoon everything from classic movies to beer commercials. The more TV and movies you have seen, the more you will appreciate the gags.

The story revolves around a tired premise: The princess (Loreale) has been kidnapped (by her evil stepmother, Morgana), and a single knight must go forth and rescue her. This time, however, the unlikely hero is Eric the Unready. Eric is not only unready, but very unlucky as well. He keeps causing huge mishaps, such as burning down Ulric's House of Torches. He is held in complete ridicule by just about everyone except the Princess Loreale, a most forgiving soul.

The game's interface is topnotch; you can play with a mouse or type in commands. There is a changeable window that can alternately show a graphic of your location, a map or a text description of your surroundings. There is also a text command area in which you type in commands or read text information. A compass rose enables you to choose from the valid directions. The compass rose also ineludes buttons for moving up, down, in and out.

There are two word lists (verbs/ prepositions and nouns). The verb list is big, but all the verbs you need for the current situation are on the first page of the list. This is a great timesaver. Once you select a verb, the list becomes a list of prepositions that only work with the currently selected verb. The noun list is similarly dynamic--it contains only items that are currently available for use.

This game is forgiving (which contributes to playability) and it has an undo feature. It is actually difficult to get yourself killed, unless you do something that will make finishing the game impossible. However, if you do die, you are offered a chance to undo your last action and continue playing. Too bad more games don't contain this feature.

Eric the Unready is a very funny game. Give your "Mead Lite" to the two-headed oaf and watch the two heads begin to argue about whether they like it because it has "less taste" or because it is "more filling." If you are a movie buff, you won't be left out either. For example, go to see Lily at the fair. She's a dead-ringer for Madeleine Kahn's character in Blazing Saddles.

The puzzles in Eric are about average in difficulty. Puzzles are normally solved by deviousness, rather than brute force. For example, when you encounter the impregnable fortress, try checking around the back. Brute force is difficult to use anyway, as Eric starts the quest without any armor or weapons.

Sound is used well. The graphics are adequate, but nothing special. The game claims Super VGA, but these are limited to a few blocky 256-color 320 x 200 graphics. The rest is pretty much standard VGA.

Despite the unoriginal premise, this is a good game. The humor, superior parser and forgiving nature of the game all contribute to the fun. Legend's Eric the Unready is a good gaming experience for novices as well as experts.