3 Skulls of the Toltecs

The Good
3 Skull of the Toltecs sets the game in the year 1866 where a guy named Fenimore Fillmore drives off several gunmen trying to kill an old man in an attempt to snatch a valuable item from him. That item happens to be the golden skull, and there are two others like it in existence. It is said that whoever gets possession of all three would lead to the greatest treasures.

Anyone who has played games like The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Day of the Tentacle will immediately get used to the game. You perform actions by choosing a series of commands at the bottom of the screen. Because there are fewer commands this time, this means that there is more space for the graphics. The cursor which you move around is exactly like the one used in Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, but only smaller. Fillmore carries a map around with him at all times, and he can never lose it. Although it is brown and looks a bit rough, it provides a means of getting to places quickly.

The graphics are hand-drawn and detailed, and match that Wild West setting that Revistronic intended. One thing that I liked to look at is the orange sky. It blends well with the setting, and no matter where you go, you can see the sky all the time except when you enter those colonial buildings, which are structured to look like those that are found in the real wild west. The Indian village also look good.

There are a lot of FMV sequences in the game and they provide excellent viewing. Most of them are humorous. The one sequence that I enjoyed watching was the introduction where it shows Fillmore making the mistake of giving an old man hair tonic instead of water. I like how the sound effects are similar to those that can be heard in various LucasArts games, and how the music reflects that of the Western setting.

The characters themselves have varied personalities. Some are kind and nice, some are grumpy, and some of them can be pissed off if you get in their way. During his adventure, Filmore has to converse with the Indians, which happen to be my favorite characters of the game. If there is one thing that I learned from playing this game, it is how to speak like an Indian, slowly and with broken English. Each characters' animation is smooth. The animation where Fillmore rides hie donkey is cute.

The puzzles in the game are not hard and should not take more than ten minutes to solve.. More often than not, you will find out what you need to solve the easy puzzles, but getting it is another puzzle. For example, you have to get a piano player out of the well and you have no tools to help you get him out. The obvious solution is to use a bucket, but someone just won't let you have it, so you need to distract him, or at least move the bucket so that it isn't directly in front of him.

The Bad
Actually, there is nothing that I can think of.

The Bottom Line
3 Skulls of the Toltecs has the interface that you can get used to quickly if you have played some of the Sierra and LucasArts games. The graphics resemble a Wild West setting, complete with orange sky and the most common buildings that you can enter, including the saloon and general store.

There are plenty of characters to talk to, some with different personalities. The puzzles are easy to solve and can take no more than ten minutes. Anyone who is a fan of Sierra and LucasArts can't go wrong with 3 Skulls.