Lots of Gore (Blood, Not Al)

It’s quite a quantum leap from the reading of your uncle’s will in Vista Forge 1992 to early Egyptian pyramids and then to 19th-Century London. But you’ll be no Sam Beckett as you time-travel through violent, evil charged halls and alleyways looking for your long-lost twin in Accolade’s gripping, though incredibly bloody, “Waxworks.”

The game makers have done a good job maintaining the tension throughout a game that looks like it has plenty of playing time programmed into it. The company claims 100 hours of quality graphics, sound and story.

This first-person adventure is based on a series of mazes: the dark corridors of a pyramid, the spooky paths of a graveyard, the underground pathways of an old mine and the night-shrouded alleys of Jack the Ripper’s London. Each episode is populated by wax figures who want your blood.

While your twin actually disappeared many years ago, you have recently learned from your uncle’s will that he was abducted by evil spirits and now inhabits the catacombs beneath Uncle Boris’ infamous Waxworks. To save your twin, you must travel back in time. You must undo the wrongs committed by your accursed twin ancestors and conquer the evil spirits that inhabit the mazes.

Mazes are an acquired taste and they can make you cross-eyed and frustrated looking for the way out. Just as you are about to lose it, you’ll probably be killed by an angry mob or a bloodthirsty warrior.

Of note is this game’s unrestrained graphic violence. “Waxworks” is well suited for the bloodthirsty game player, but the parental warning label on the game box should not be taken lightly.

Waxworks

Rating: ***

IBM and compatibles; 640K, hard drive and mouse required. List: $59.95.

Computer games are rated on a five-star system, from one star for poor to five for excellent.