First and foremost this is a text adventure but before you all groan and meander away back to your joysticks, take note that this is a very good game. Ok, so it won't provide the hardcore action junkies with a fix, but for any of you wanting to stretch the old grey matter, this game certainly has the desired effect.
You start the game in the computer room at G.U.E Tech College in a desperate (but reluctant) bid to finish a 20-page exam paper that is due the following day.
First and foremost this is a text adventure but before you all groan and meander away back to your joysticks, take note that this is a very good game. Ok, so it won't provide the hardcore action junkies with a fix, but for any of you wanting to stretch the old grey matter, this game certainly has the desired effect.
You start the game in the computer room at G.U.E Tech College in a desperate (but reluctant) bid to finish a 20-page exam paper that is due the following day. Upon opening your coursework, you find it has been mysteriously replaced with eerie writing that causes you to lapse into a strange dream where you are seemingly devoured by a ravenous beast. On awakening, you discover you have
acquired a strange stone. With curiosity screaming to be satisfied, you quickly abandon your coursework and go off on an impromptu exploration of the lower levels in search of the alchemy professor, in the hope he may know something about the writing and the mysterious stone.
Conveniently, as with most games of this ilk, it is late evening, the building is shrouded in darkness, and there is a raging storm outside.
Apparently, author Dave Lebling took inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King and it certainly shows as the text descriptions create a detailed environment and somewhat tense atmosphere. It is very easy to build up a mental image of the college as you drudge around the building and grounds, especially if you happen to upset the Maintenance Man and then take a wrong turn. Be prepared to panic a little as "he patiently waits for you" while you type in all sorts of commands in a bid to escape. Good stuff!
The multitude of locations make it easy to lose your bearings, especially when most areas have four or more exits, and unfortunately, some of the exits are not marked as clearly as they should be - a “door leading to the court” could be in any direction and means a little guesswork is involved. Having said that, this minor complaint only occurs a few times and doesn’t have that great an impact considering the rest of the text is superb in detail. Although it might help to have paper and pen handy to aid your memory, the game doesn‘t seem half as big as I remember.
As you explore the building, you get to meet all sorts of strange characters, including a nerdy computer hacker, a dodgy looking street urchin, and a crazy professor - add in the grumpy Maintenance Man mentioned earlier and you have the most stereotypes to be found in one game. Of course, they are all there for a reason, some to help, some to hinder, but I’ll leave it up to you to discover which is which.
When I first played this game, I disliked it, thinking that none of my commands were working. This is because the beginning (accessing the computer) is slightly on rails, feeding you into the story and as such, much of what you type will be ignored as your character does his own thing to set you on your way.
This spoon-feeding only lasts a few minutes, after which, the usual text requirements come into play, so you can examine, take, drop etc and travel all directions of the compass and go U or D (if you don’t understand those, go back to alien blasting). The game understands your commands well, and this adds to the realism of the environment. It is possible to start the game, head to the roof and jump off. While most text games would throw up a “That isn’t possible” or “I do not understand” this game doesn’t hesitate to execute your commands even if they are foolhardy.
My major gripe with text adventures in general is that they can be too difficult, if not nearly impossible, often placing you in instant-death scenario’s but thankfully there’s little of that here and for the most part you feel that there are options available to you. There are a few comical moments in there too: typing “oops” will prompt your computer to explain that it can’t help your mistakes, while typing an obscenity earns you an admonishment.
The only downside I encountered was that the word “use” isn’t incorporated at all, and I found it almost unforgivable the computer wouldn’t understand what ought to be a primary command. It means you have to be quite literal in your wording, instead of “using” something you have to explain how is to be used, and what exactly you want done with it, an element adding yet more to the realism but frustrating at times when you have a certain object, know what it’s for, but the computer won’t accommodate you because you aren’t speaking it’s exact language.
So, a mixed bag then really. Action fans stay clear, adventure fans, let your patience take you through the first few minutes and then get your thinking caps on for what is a brilliantly put together and detailed game.
