Rama (or in space they can't hear you say holy sh--.) A couple hundred years from now every thing on earth is still pretty screwed up , you still can't trust politicians , and a new subway just opened up on the corner. Then out of nowhere this immensely huge cylindrical space craft appears from the deepest space and proceeds through our solar system heading towards earth. Who built this, what are their intentions, are we in it up to our necks? The future sure looks pretty scary to me. So in our great wisdom we send a team consisting of scientists, reporters, and security personnel. The scientists are there to unlock the puzzles of this alien spacecraft, which coincidentally looks a lot like a giant empty roll of toilet paper. Reporters are there to relay the story back to earth (they all have their own agendas). Security is there to make sure that the ship wasn't sent to make mankind some pet of the week for the aliens. You know the old saying "curiosity killed the cat" well in Rama curiosity killed the professor. This is where you the game player comes in to the picture. Your character is the replacement astronaut for the deceased scientist. Your job now is to explore and solve the 64 million dollar question. What's the story with this ship? The game starts out with you arriving at the hub of the huge craft, and a few messages are waiting for you I suggest that you view all your messages and pay close attention to them. Make sure you explore the docking bay thoroughly and pick up all inventory especially PUCK. From here you now journey to the rim of the craft . The first thing that hits you is the enormous size, and knowledge that is required to make such a craft. The best way to describe the craft is to look at a cylindrical tube, view the inside, and imagine a world complete with seas, mountain ranges, its own climate, and a whole slew of extraterrestials. Remember the people you work with. Some people you can trust and some you can't (doctors are a man's best friend, even mini Data's).There are a lot of puzzles in this game and it's not as easy as putting the round peg in the round hole. You are now dealing with alien puzzles (such as trying to figure out the different aliens languages) so you have to come at things from different angles. If you don't survive a puzzle Arthur C. Clarke will make cameo appearance and scold you, he also shows up at various points in the game. The game is based upon the best selling sci-fi series of books by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. Mr Clarke has published over 70 books including 2001: A space Odyssey. Mr Lee ,a noted scientist and NASA engineer , co-authored four novels with Arthur C. Clarke and partnered with Carl Sagan in the creation of the television series, COSMOS. Years of research and development went into this game before these two gentleman gave their nod of approval. I personally have been waiting a year for this game to be released and though more than not a long wait means a even bigger disappointment. This game was all I thought it would be and more. Sierra did an excellent job on the characters, they were just as I thought they would in the book. The graphics were superb along with the soundtrack, and the aliens were definitely believable. A definite "Joystick up" ( If I could go higher I would) System requirements: Minimum: DOS ms dos 5.0 or greater 486dx66 8mb ram soundcard with dac 3x cd-rom mouse WIN 95: pentium 75 12mb ram local bus or pci video 3x cd-rom Premium: pentium 90 16mb ram 4x cd-rom or better Technical Support: Sierra on-line ph: (206) 644-4343 fax: (206)644-7697 p.o. box 85006 Bellevue Washington 98015 Customer Support: 1-8000757-7707 fax (408) 644-2018 Internet: www.sierra.com Rama was reviewed by Da Game Boyz Turbo!