Starcross is yet another famous Infocom game, being both created and published by the great gaming gurus. It was released in the early eighties and is one of a few text adventure games that Infocom published. As was Infocom’s way, it was well-marketed, and it saw time on most every platform available at the time, including the Commodore 64, Amiga and the MS-DOS operating system on the personal computer. This work of interactive fiction offers a very fun futuristic theme.
In 2186, the race of human beings have pushed their influence into space about as far as they dare to.
They have well established colonies on the Moon, Mars, and several other large asteroids within their solar system. However, instead of creating relief on the already stretched and limited resources of Earth, they have made matters worse. With so many colonies in such remote areas, the demand for energy has become increasingly loud. The populations have boomed, making further demands for resources. To help remedy this situation, the gamer will play the part of a surveyor who commands a small survey ship and crew. He will be seeking out black holes in order to mine this excellent source of quantum energy. You know full well, after years in this business, that identifying and extracting one good find will keep you
financially secure through your living days.
The game will begin with the captain of the M.C.S. Starcross selecting crew and gear for his venture into space to find his first black hole. After outfitting the ship and setting course for the most likely source of quantum energy, things begin to change, however. The captain will relinquish control of the ship to the computerized automatic piloting system. To amuse himself, the pilot begins to peruse the ship’s extensive library, but soon falls asleep. When he awakens, he knows something has gone horribly wrong, and he is headed for a rendezvous with an enormous alien ship. The captain, with your help, will spend the remainder of the game solving puzzles and learning the ropes of alien gadgetries in order to escape and find his way back home.
Starcross is considered one of the hardest text adventure games that Infocom ever created. The puzzles are well placed, and are logical, although very difficult sometimes. There are many aspects of the game that are based on actual scientific facts, and gamers with some scientific or mechanical backgrounds will have the advantage in figuring out the logic in these puzzles. Overall, this combines with a good story line to make for a good, solid text adventure that is challenging but fair.
