The Black Cauldron

"Less manic than the movie, but still lots of fast-paced fun"

As you might have expected, Disney really overdid the cutesy animation when translating Lloyd Alexander's _The Black Cauldron_ to the big screen, although otherwise it was a fine film. The computer game manages to capture back some of the objective tone and the lower resolution actually gives the game more of the book's feel in that no-one is too beautiful or compellingly attractive, and with some of the choices you are presented as you control Taran, the hero in the book and the movie, the game seems closer to Alexander's original intent. Double derivatives get messy quickly in Calculus class and can be even worse in real life--unless you check your work carefully. Sierra seemed to have done so; the game covers all important aspects of the plot and even adds some skill- and time-important puzzles which make _The Black Cauldron_ the most attractive AGI game I have played. Even counting my positive bias, as I discovered the _Tales of Prydain_ series when I was in high school and have re-read it often since then, I've found this simple-looking game to have more possibilities than King's Quest.

The object of the game is to find and destroy the Black Cauldron, which the Horned King is also seeking. First you will have to guard Hen Wen, the oracular pig who can reveal the Cauldron's location, from Taran's home of Caer Dallben to safety so the King cannot find anything out that way. Whether or not you succeed, you will need to explore and escape from the Horned King's castle before going off to more magical and secluded locations and, finally, confronting the Horned King himself. If you've watched the movie, you'll know pretty much what to do in the game, which features every major detail, person and item found in the movie, even tacking on Gwystyl who appears only in the book. If you've read the book, you will be disappointed but not surprised that Taran's companions are so little in evidence. Randomness is kept to a minimum as, although there are menacing monsters that can be dealt with as you'd usually deal with early part-time Sierra baddies, the only tiresome event may be waiting for Gurgi to appear.

Controlling Taran is rather simplistic as this is one of the first Sierra games where your real-time reactions may affect things. You can steer Taran with the arrows. F3 chooses the ''active'' item and F4 uses it. You also have F8 to look around and F6 for general action which comprises a wide array of jumps. There's no proper text interface yet, and one thing that baffled me the first few times was that, upon filling the water flask, I was unable to use it and died of thirst--I eventually had to use a new item called ''water'' that I found. On the bright side there are ten save slots which are nice when you are before a potentially lethal maze. Most are relatively harmless, such as shrubs where your vision is blocked and you have to deduce the outline, but other things such as scaling up and down a cliff or climbing up a spiral staircase can get maddening--the implication in the latter case being that you are not co-ordinated enough to climb up stairs. Taran will wind up falling a lot of places you didn't seem to intend him to, although things will probably make sense after one gaffe, and there are some rooms where you have to use an item quickly.

There's enough detail in the graphics to open your imagination, and in fact I am glad it stops there. In Disney, there is a lot of overacting, smirking, and general ''ee-ville'' or dazed expressions, which went against the impressions I'd gotten from the book. The game does things simply and sensibly; Gurgi was not supposed to be cute in the book, no-one over-emotes, and in general the resolution is low enough that you can imagine the facial detail as you please, and there are several different types of forest, including the Dark Forest, as well as interesting hybrid scenes on the map such as the half-marsh, half-grassland. The Caer Dallben squares are also very nice, with geese and a tag-playing goat lying around. The Gwythaints that attack are fearsome, and the guard is funny whether chasing Taran or stunned. The Horned King, a conglomeration of blobs, doesn't come off so well, but the castle has several different shades of dankness and even cool trophies on the wall that reach out and grab Taran. I like being able to mention the wrinkles and such in the game that Alexander implies in the book but Disney executives probably figured would kill box office receipts. Although you will sometimes find stones that you may want to jump across may be misleading(you'll fall in a stream or worse playing Hopscotch) the game is visually well done, especially since there are a lot of colorfully ramshackle residences you'll need to visit. There isn't much sound, but the nice Black Cauldron theme lifted from the movie that plays on game's end is also well suited to the computer, and it is fun to hear the geese honk. You'll also have plenty of Sierra's ''stunned'' and ''monster'' music.

While one of the big themes of _The Black Cauldron_ is how Taran is the center of the group who manage to destroy the Cauldron in the end, such an early game can't have too many folks tagging along. There are in fact brief separate scenes with Gurgi, Eilonwy, and Fflewdurr, although the ones where Hen Wen follows seem done best--she is able to follow Taran across most terrain, and it is much nicer to see this than to have Hen Wen as an item in the inventory. Sierra did what they could, and they deserve credit. Another theme in the book and movie is that there can be redemption for bad choices, and there is always the possibility that something can be better. This prevails in the game, which provides many more ways to win and get killed than you might see in more advanced Sierra games; for instance, you can still get maximum points if you let Hen Wen get captured, although you have to find a different path, or alternatively if you fill your flask with bad water, you'll be poisoned next time you drink to quench your thirst. On the other hand, if you get captured twice in the castle, the game's up. You also have different ways of discovering the Horned King with his cauldron, and there are endings of various degrees of success, including one where you die and still succeed.

I've played Black Cauldron before and after watching the movie and the book. It's quite good either way and seems to be one of those rare games that might inspire someone to pick up the book it was based on, which I feel is even more worthwhile. Although it is not terribly long, the game has enough branches to be surprisingly complex, with the only drawback being the long trek between the Horned King's Castle and Caer Dallben where you are sure to slip. Yet although the game gets a message across there are still enough understated humorous moments such as when Taran is clotheslined by a frowning tree or tripped by a root in the dark forest that make it enjoyable to explore all its possibilities.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/00, Updated 01/22/02