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The second game Cliff Johnson (Fool's Errand) designed for Phillips Interactive
is virtually identical to Merlin's Apprentice, with ancient Greek myths as the backdrop
this time instead of Arthurian legends. The game's premise is that you have been
sentenced to death for stealing from Hera, Queen of the Gods. The only way to freedom
lies in the twisted path of the Labyrinth of Crete. Each turn presents new puzzles,
angry gods and goddesses, and deadly monsters to thwart your attempt at escape. Puzzles
here will be familiar to anyone who has played Merlin's Apprentice. There are some
action puzzles that require you to click on objects that float by, several logic puzzles
that involve moving objects into a certain configuration using only a few types of
movements, and word puzzles requiring deciphering some encrypted sentences. The game has
three difficulty levels which can be set on a puzzle-by-puzzle basis and changed during
the game. And, like Merlin's Apprentice, the state of partly finished puzzles is not
saved when you close your game. The logic puzzles, naturally, present the most challenge,
although some of them can be quite hair-pulling at hardest difficulty level. The bottom
line is that anyone who likes Merlin's Apprentice will love this because they are
virtually the same game, although Labyrinth has a more interesting plot, cutscenes, and
arguably higher educational values since there is a lot of information about Greek
mythology. Not Cliff's best work by far, but is still very, very good. |