The year 1995 saw the release of the homemade adventure game from Virtual X-pertinence, Escape from Delirium, for the DOS platform. It bears a strong resemblance to the styles of the wildly popular Monkey Island game from Lucas Arts
This point and click adventure stars the protagonist Paul Cole, an archaeologist sent into a sewer tunnel to study an ancient corpse that has been unearthed on the year 1948. However, something goes wrong and Paul becomes trapped within the system and begins fumbling around in search of a way out.
He finds the control room deep within the tunnel system and, once inside, he witnesses a murder on the monitors. The local newspaper prints Paul’s name as a witness and his troubles begin in earnest. On his way to testify at the murder trial, his plane is hijacked. It also carried a bomb placed by the baddies who committed the murder in the tunnels. The bomb does detonate after the plane is over a wild area. Here the plot takes a weird and unnecessary twist, making it somewhat bland. Paul has to wander through the jungles of the crash site and undertakes the task of reviving an ancient warrior. This ties in to Paul’s archaeological background, but pretty much no other part of the plot,
including the murder that seemed to be tantamount in the beginning.
The best point of the game is the Monkey Island style of humor, although it expands into the morbid and sarcastic. The character is funny, the things he has to attempt are funny, and the comments the user will receive after a failed attempt at a puzzle are also funny. Another positive is the very easy user interface. A child could learn the controls in minutes, if not seconds. There are good cut scenes as well. The bad point includes the completely illogical use of the massive inventory that Paul carries. Don’t even try solving puzzles using anything logical. The gamer should go right to the most ridiculous combinations right away. It will save time.
In summary, Escape from Delirium is a good game with a dark and morbid sense of humor that will appeal to a certain type of gamer. The plot veers off into a bizarre twist that makes no sense; it’s really effect the game play. The cut scenes, and even the sound, are good, but the puzzles are frustrating and will actually make the user crave a walk-through guide. It is a solid point and click adventure that is still worth downloading.
