Inherit The Earth: Quest For The Orb For IBM-PC and compatibles FROM the packaging and the manual cover, Inherit The Earth: Quest For The Orb (ITE ) promised to be a game along the lines of fantasy novels such as J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings, with a fox, a boar and an elk on a quest to find a stolen orb.
But packaging is about all there is to this game. Games such as Out Of This World and Alone In The Dark have spoiled players for other less refined games. For times when technology is racing full-speed ahead, the graphics for ITE are unusually rough and it is hard to distinguish smaller features on the screen.
Movement of the characters is awkward and for some reason, most have to 'walk' diagonally across the screen in order to go forward. And all the characters do is move their shoulders up and down and walk funny.
The game starts with digitised voices - and not very good ones at that - but evolves into just background music once the introduction is over. But they have managed to get quite a mouthful in because the intro takes you through the history of mankind up to the time when Humans have disappeared from Earth which is now ruled by animals.
The opening of the game itself comprises about 10 minutes of inane conversation.
The scene opens at the Puzzle Faire, in which Rif, our foxy hero, wins the silver medallion only to be accused of stealing the Storm Orb, which can predict when rains will come.
In order to clear his name - and save his girlfriend, who has been held captive - Rif has to find the Orb within a given time.