For me, Eden Blues was a strange CPC title because, while I could never get very far in it, I just couldn’t stop myself from popping it into my CPC, waiting patiently for it to load, and trying my best to fathom what the hell was going on. I knew the game was great, but couldn’t put my finger on why. It was like watching a foreign-language film that looked great but didn’t have any subtitles.

I was drawn to Eden Blues’ unnervingly bleak, adult atmosphere. And despite my initial moaning about not having a clue what I was supposed to be doing, with hindsight the mission was simple. You had to escape a prison run by droids and automated prison wardens.

Returning to the game after all these years, certain things have changed. For one, the game feels less adult to me now (no surprise there), and using the skills I’ve acquired since our encounter, I also managed to progress deeper into the game’s labyrinthine screens.

To give you a quick run down, you begin the game with various attribute points, which you can assign to your health, strength, and stamina, and I’ve also discovered that to see anything living after the first few rooms, you need to ramp up your strength and health stats. The gameplay is much simpler than I remember.

You escape rooms by kicking them in, this in turn drops your strength levels, which must be replenished by drinking bottles, all while avoiding the guards to find a way out. And the game’s protagonist is a bit of a wimp, hitting the walls, walking into beds, or touching anything that isn’t made of air knocks down his energy levels. And some enemies can drain your health simply by being in the same room, which makes for some frantic moments when you dash to the nearest door to escape them.

Actually, you know what, I think I may have actually fallen in love with Eden Blues again.

Tags: 80s, Amstrad, cpc, eden blues, french, game