from Practical Computing, April 1982, page 175, column "End of File": Zork Magic meets Science Fiction in this game from "The War Machine" reviewed by Peter Fitch. In the field of Adventure games, the Zork project was one of the early mainframe attempts to create a fantasy world that a player could wander through and manipulate. Subsequent microcomputer Adevntures owe a great deal to it. Unfortunately, Zork itself - which has now been condensed to fit on to disc-based micro systems - suffers by comparison with more recent Adventures. They have improved on features originally devised by the Zork programming team, and they incorporate flashier graphic effects which make the games more visually appealing although, inevitably, less complex and rewarding. Only so much can be crammed into a given amount of memory, and an Adventure programmer never has enough. Unfair to Trolls Zork is a 48K game marketed on floppy disc for the Apple II and other computers. It is a classic machine-code Adventure type game and leans heavily on the original. I have never had the pleasure of playing Adventure on a mainframe, so I cannot compare Zork with it. I can only say that it is the best of the class I have come across. It is an open-ended Adventure without any built-in time limit, though there are the normal internal time limitations. It is a game of points for objects and actions, which is rather a pity. I would have preferred a more substantial goal. The game is supplied in a plastic zip-lock bag containing the disc and a well-printed explanatory booklet. There is an evil Troll-like entity on the cover which I assume is the one I keep killing near the beginning of the game. He is being intimidated by a sword-carrying Hero type. It is a pity that no-one has started a "Save the Trolls" campaign. At the rate Adventure players go through them, the population must be dropping very rapidly since the advent of micros. The disc loaded without problems, giving a standard description/action screen display. The booklet explains the context and aims for the uninitiated and the grammar for inputting commands to the puppet in the Adventure world. As movement occurs in the world, the computer updates from the disc, but not so often or so much as to upset the flow of the game. The puppet is manipulated as one has come to expect in this type of game. Commands such as "Go west", "W", "tie rope" and "take skull" can be inputted and obeyed. It is pleasing that the grammar is sophisticated enough to allow more complex orders to be inputted in what approximates to English, for example, "Go west and take rope"; "Tie rope to railings and climb down". A sequence of orders can be inputted and obeyed although each action counts as a time unit. Handling is tremendously improved. The vocabulary is very large too, compared to many other Adventure games, and there is little searching for the correct word as in some games. Active response from the puppet is limited. There is no bartering for equipment at the beginning of the game. This is unfortunate since this useful part of the game could easily be chained in. Sufficiently complex The surface environment is quite large and well-described and laid out. It does not seem like rooms, which can sometimes happen in other games which use the surface. It is bounded by the usual impenetrable woods and mountains, and contains a river, a dam with power station, a lake, a falls and other atmospheric touches. This is a complete contrast to other games where you are forced to crawl around dank tunnels all the time, without a sight of sunlight. The underground part of the game which, thanks to the foresight of the programmer, sometimes comes to the surface, is large enough, complex enough and varied enough for many hours of pleasure. Magic plays some part in the game and not always in context, which could be annoying. Magic should be logical and not arbitrary if it is to exist. There is a Troll quite near the beginning of the game but little else in the way of dangerous beings. The only other mobile danger is that other well-tried character, the thief. He is quite lethal if attacked, and steals a little too often and at times illogically. Can you really believe that he could take away your only light without you noticing or attempting to stop him? He is also very difficult to kill. There are no major bugs, though I would suggest that you avoid inserting elements out of context. They seem to hang around in the background even when they have disappeared for the purposes of the game. Conclusions Zork is an enjoyable Adventure game, though it is not very original apart from its presentation. - As a puzzle it is good but it would have been improved by a few new ideas. - After playing Zork for three months there were still some areas of the game which remained unsolved. - Ratings: Physical quality Very good Perceived complexity Very good Subject complexity Fair Realism Fair Play balance Very good Overall Good --- The War Machine is published monthly by Emjay, 17 Langbank Ave, Rise Park, Nottingham, NG5 5BU. 1.25 pounds an issue, 13 pounds for an annual subscription, postage and packing included.