The Lost Island of Alanna
1st person point and click
Free game put out by Cherry Coke in 1998
W95/98
Background Story
Seems a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Syria that points to an
ancient civilization called Alanna.
"Based on geographic references, Alanna was located on a volcanic island
somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean sea just west of Cyprus. Much like
the island of Thera, which was literally blown apart by a volcanic
eruption in the late 17th century BC, this ancient culture was obliterated
by the explosion of it's volcanic source around the end of the late Bronze
Age" (from the Standlake University notes)
Also found on the shipwreck were 8 tablets made from gemstones and
precious metals plus a letter written by the king of Alanna. On these
tablets are the answers to the culture of the Alannians. You begin the
game back in time on Alanna - your quest - find the 8 stone tablets and
discover the secrets of Alanna.
Gameplay
You move by clicking on directional arrows. Forward, back, left, right.
Inventory is brought up by clicking on the inventory button. You can carry
5 items (in other words "view and use" 5 items) at a time while in the
game. The other inventory items can be brought up with a click of a button
and moved to an empty spot in the view/use window. Combining the items was
an adventure unto itself. First you click on the item - that moves it to
the lower right, then you hold down the sift key and lift click on the
item
you want to combine - and they automatically join on the lower right.
Puzzles
Typical adventure type fare. Hunt for items to pick up, find use for said
items, curse at slider puzzle, read the Standlake University notes to find
clues for opening gates, curse some more at slider puzzle, find tablets,
find a walkthrough to help you do that lousy slider puzzle, etc.
Graphics and Sound
Graphics are static pictures ala Myst - nothing fancy and I've seen worse.
Sound - I loaded it in last night just to refresh my memory on the
mechanics of the game and couldn't get any sound but there is a volume
control so there must be at least music (I played it way back in '98 when
it came out so my memory on the sound aspects are dim). Could be a glitch
with my sound card. At any rate there is no spoken dialogue - reading only
- and not much of it.
Conclusion
As long as you keep in mind that this was a free game and a promotion for
Cherry Coke, I think you'll enjoy it for what it is. It is also not a
piece of cake to solve - it has some tough puzzles in it. But the ending
is...............well, you'll just have to see for yourself should you
decide to play it.
As a side note - when I ordered the game from Coca Cola - they sent you
two - one for you and one for a friend - I still have the other game and
if anyone is interested in playing it - drop me an e-mail. At one time it
was also available for download from www.cherrycoke.com - whether that's
still an option I don't know - haven't looked in years.
copyright © 2002
GameBoomers
