<BODY> When raiders loot and pillage his village, Howel is left for dead. The kind Forester takes Howel in and tends his wounds, before sending Howel and his friend Kay on a quest to find Raedwulf, his missing ward – the raiders are still in the area and are hunting for something. This sets up an interesting first-person RPG in the style of The Bard’s Tale. The view of your surroundings scrolls smoothly and there’s a pleasing graphical effect as you move. Wycheweald also features a mini-map and auto-map that will help you keep track of your surroundings. When combat inevitably happens, the outcome will be affected by the positions of your party, their weapons and their combat choices. For example, defending while holding a shield will reduce the damage taken, while using a spear can reach the back row of attacking enemies. Experience points earned from combat allow the characters to gain vital skills, while looted pennies can buy healing items from the characters encountered – including a very important witch. In a nice touch, lighting your lamp while exploring the dark forest can draw in more enemies. The dramatic 128K music is missing on the 48K version, which also has much shorter dialogue due to memory restrictions. Although the controls do take a little getting used to, Wycheweald remains an engrossing and well-presented RPG on both formats that will certainly keep you occupied. </body>
Score: 87%