In contrast to the heady Time Quest, Bob Bates lets loose his lighter side in this side-splitting medieval adventure starring the incredibly accident-prone knight Eric the Unready. Just about every famous person, thing, or fiction is at the mercy of his razor-sharp parody pen in this game, from Star Trek to the Monty Pythons. One of the (many) great things that make playing Eric The Unready a blast is the tremendous *variety* the game offers, both in locations and types of puzzles. The game is loosely divided into "days", each of which is marked by hilarious cut-scenes and a parody newspaper that recaps Eric's misadventures on the previous day and pokes fun at more people and objects than you can shake a pointed stick at. The objects, locations, and puzzles on each day are self-contained, and as a mark of superior game design similar to LucasArts games, you can neither die in this game nor find yourself at a dead end where restoring is necessary. Puzzles are devious but fair, with some taking on a different gameplay interface (e.g. the raft navigation screen in the Star Trek spoof section) that are anything but boring. You'll be laughing from the start to the finish as you help Eric along one misadventure after another. Two thumbs up! Reviewed by: Underdogs |