Ecstatica is a panic. From the moment you enter the game's tiny medieval town of Tirich, you're under attack. Even the more benign inhabitants - rats, snakes, and crawling wounded - follow you relentlessly. By the time you master the keypad controls, you will have suffered numerous indignities - but it's a fairly enjoyable way of coming to terms with the inevitability of death. And once the adrenaline settles, you'll be well on your way to rescuing Tirich from its curse. It seems that the wizard's maid went messing with a book of magic and ended up trapping the town in her demonic dreams.
Ecstatica's more twisted aspects are not immediately apparent; the strangest scenes are deep inside. The setting is familiar - dragons, minotaurs, and wizards. But the vivid "ellipsoid" graphics give new edge to the sword and sorcery, lending characters more natural appearances and movements. Full of macabre touches, ominous music, and lurid as a child's nightmare, Ecstatica manages to be not only funny ha-ha, but funny weird.
Small-scale but well-proportioned, Ecstatica was devloped by Andrew Spencer, and bears the hallmark of a finely warped mind rather than a production line - more evidence that the best bizarre computer products are the result of traditional authorship.
Ecstatica, DOS CD-ROM: US$59.99. Psygnosis: +1 (617) 497 7794, e-mail psygtech@ psygnosis.com.
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