Nostalgia Ain't what It Used To be (Zork Grand Inquisitor (PS))

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	Zork Grand Inquisitor (PS)
Date:	12/02/02 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: see review

The Zork series of computer games has been running on various platforms since its first incarnation in the early 80s. Back then you were presented with little more than a black screen, a bunch of words and a flashing cursor prompting you to enter instructions as to what to do next. "Go North" you would type, or "N" if you were a more seasoned adventurer and knew a few shortcuts and thus you would proceed until presented with an obstacle which would require a little brainpower and a heavy dose of lateral thinking to get past...and an understanding that the parser sucked so when you did find the solution there was a high chance that you wouldn't have worded it in exactly the right way and that you would be told it was the wrong one. Such were the early days of text adventures, and thankfully(or maybe not) thinks have moved on quite a bit.

Here, we return to the world of Zork in 1067 and find that things are looking rather grim. A mysterious figure has arrived in Port Foozle and immediately outlawed the use of magic - something which is an essential part of daily living in Quendor. Engage in the magical arts and you will be punished - by totemization, a punishment described only as...a very bad thing. Nasty business then, but this mysterious figure known only as the Inquisitor need not have such power. How is he managing to hold such sway of the people of Quendor? Who is the real ruler of the Empire and other questions present themselves as you try to fid a way to rest power from this guys iron fist. Magic must be restored to Quendor - therein lies you quest.

Zork: Grand Inquisitor is one of the new generation of Zork games which also includes the likes of Return to Zork and the creepy Zork Nemesis and a damn fine game it is too. Of all of the newbies, Grand Inquisitor is o the one which most follows in the footsteps of the older games, featuring many of the original locations etc. and incorporating the bizarre humour and twist
ed puzzles which frustrated gamers of yesteryear. It is great to see some of the old places such as the infamous White House displayed in glorious rendered graphics rather than less than glorious black and white text, but this is much more than a nostalgia trip - it is also a damn fine game. Much work has gone into its production, the artwork here is superb and really brings the Great Underground Empire to life in just the way we would have expected it to look. Hollywood names as Mark Levinson(executive producer of Home Alone) oversee the live action sequences which themselves include actors such as George Bloom(X-Files) and Dirk Benedict(The A-Team) in some of the starring roles and are first rate. Once again, we see the return of Z-vision which was used to good effect in Zork Nemesis as well, but this time the technology has been expanded to include full 360 degree panning, faster scrolling and much more of the area is explorable which gives you a real sense of 'being there' and experiencing it all. Technically the game is very impressive.

On the gameplay front things begin to get a little rocky. The problem with graphical adventure games of this type is that the puzzles are inherantly often either very simple of totally unintuitive and frustrating. This game is no exception, but until someone actually comes up with something better I suppose you can't criticise it too harshly for that. Presented with a puzzle too often the solution is found by hovering the mouse around the screen until it turns into a different shape and presto - puzzle solved. Annoying though this maybe, its strangely quite a minor fault because much of the fun comes from the exploration side of things in these games half the time. More annoying is when puzzles simply make no sense and there are a few of those occassions here as well which of course prevent the game being finished quickly which no one wants but are ultimately nothing but annoying. The use of magic to solve s
ome puzzles provides some of the more logical and challenging puzzles though which balances thing out a little. Its not a difficult game to pick up and play either, because the interface is very simple to learn, but also you find that you are somewhat out of touch with much of your environment - again something which is a general gripe about adventure games, but even so, quite annoying and puts you rather moreon the sidelines rather than immersing you into the game. On the upside though, this is one of the few adventure games which I have come across which enables you to play with someone across a network. Yes, you can explore Quendor with a friend by hooking up with them over a LAN or internet connection.

One of the biggest problems which a fan of the series will be presented with is something which its predecessor Zork Nemesis strived hard to avoid. The simple fact is that no matter how good the graphics, how good some of the returning characters from yesteryear, voice-overs etc. they will never be able to compete with the mental images built up in our own minds back then. I had my image of how Flood Control Dam #3 looks, so too the White House where it all begins and whilst the graphics are excellent, its just not the same. I suppose its like reading a book and then watching a movie and seeing all the characters brought to life...and its never like what you yourself saw in the books. Its the same with this game. Zork Nemesis avoided this by basically putting you in a Zork environment, but not in the old familiar places. As a newbie to the game though you'll not have this problem, but then some of the references and the humour is going to bypass you which is a shame. I would like to strongly advise you check out some of the older games, but then text adventures don't seem to be of much appeal to todays gamers which is an enormous shame...particularly as they are so engrossing once you get into them and are erm...well they are freely available now
on the web, well the Zork ones are anyway.

One further problem is that the game isn't that big - the Great Underground Empire isn't all that great here and the game, whilst not exactly being a stroll in the park, isn't all that difficult to complete either. As Zork games go its not the best in my opinion, but then as adventures in general go, its certainly up there with some of the best. Th bottom line is that if you love the Zork series or are a fan of adventure ames in general then this is a purchase you just have to make because you are unlikely to be disappointed. If you are a seasoned adventurer then don't expect it to be too taxing though because its not the toughest game out on the shelves.

Summary: