A Runcible Cargo

The story of this game is minimal:
You are under siege by the Guild of Bandits, who are looking for an artifact called the 'Runcible Cargo'. You must either locate it and deliver it to the bandits, or else find a means of defeating them.

This is the first time I have played an Eamon adventure so I was expecting a rather outdated parser. Though it is not Inform, the parser was a lot better than I expected. Yes, the game runs in a little DOS-window but except from that, the game mechanics work rather well. Guess-the-verb is not an issue since a list of all recognized commands pops up if you type a word the game doesn't understand. I had one parser issue though to begin with, which relates to the way Eamon works: (Spoiler - click to show)If objects or NPCs are inside a container, e.g. a sword inside a locker, you must REMOVE SWORD to get it. Alternatively you can ATTACK LOCKER and subsequently pick everything up with GET ALL. After learning that, I had no parser problems at all.

The game is an RPG with puzzles. Thus expect some random combat. However, to begin with I picked a predefined character called Floyd the Barber (included in Eamon Deluxe which you need to install to play the game), so the fights were never a problem. And you will find food around to restore you health. More over you may find some NPCs who will assist you in your battles. The puzzles are quite easy too, except for the final puzzle which is a little tricky but optional unless you want the ideal ending.

After completing the game, I tried to create my own character from scratch. This resulted in a much tougher challenge where you have to be much more strategic, so you better use those five save slots carefully if you attempt this. Still I managed to complete the game again, though I died several times before I succeeded. Thus the difficulty level is very much dependent on which character you bring into the game. I am glad I started out with a predefined character so I could learn the game mechanics before attempting with my own weaker character. Note that characters can be transferred between Eamon adventures and so it is possible to improve a character and gain better weapons by playing some of the easier games first. I am glad though, that the game could be completed with a new character, which shows that the game is well designed.

To summarize, this is a very enjoyable game, especially due to the atmospheric descriptions, so I can certainly recommend this.