textfiles/games/REVIEWS/arthur.rev

 ARTHUR 

 ARTHUR is one of Infocom's latest (and perhaps final) additions to
the text-oriented adventure game market. As one of the best Infocom
products ever, it distinctly declares the genre by no means dead: 
Text-oriented games can be just as exciting as those featuring
graphics interfaces.  

 Its story obviously relies on careful research of the Arthurian
legends, but this isn't just a retelling of old tales. Engaging his
own impressive story-telling powers, author Bob Bates writes an
adventure that for the first time may be as rich and complex as any
you'll find in a good novel. Although graphics are available (if you
want them), you won't need them to envision the world ARTHUR
creates. (I turned them off in order to display the on-screen map at
all times.) 

 The originality of this adventure doesn't stop with a good story, 
however. The way you move from place to place makes the game as
excitingly different as SUSPENDED seemed when first released. In
brief, you have to visit Merlin to learn to become a shape-shifter
-- a being who's capable of transforming itself into a variety of
types. (Self-transformation, a fascinating element in most
mythologies, is utilized quite effectively in ARTHUR.) Once you
master this skill, your relationship to your world is no longer
restricted by the usual north, south, east, west, up, and down; as
the standard adventurer-protagonist, you can fly, swim, crawl, and
move in ways previously unimaginable. 

 This gives the game a twist in more than just movement: You now
have to decide whether your current being is the most effective for
the task at hand. In some shapes, you can get into places that would
otherwise be inaccessible. Occasionally, you'll need to carry items
that a different being couldn't handle. (Yes, the game is realistic
enough to insure that you're not, say, a mouse loaded down with a
lantern, sword, and bag of gold.) Your ability to communicate with
other beings also depends on your current shape. (Note: I'm using
the words "being" and "shape" because I don't want to give away the
kinds of beings or shapes you may become). All of this makes for a
far richer gaming environment than most; the shape-shifting aspect
imparts a truly magical feel. 

 But what really makes ARTHUR a great game is Bob Bates's talent. 
Like his predecessors in the genre, Bates writes with a creativity
and elegance that far surpasses the prose (and even plot twists) of
other companies' best products. His eloquent text adds a dimension
that no amount of whiz-bang technology or flashy graphics will ever
reproduce. And although ARTHUR might easily have fallen into the (by
now, banal) category of Sword & Sorcery, your encounters with its
Arthurian characters are rarely repetitions of the comic-book
cliches common to so many other "fantasy" games. 

 On to the gameplay. The parser is as sophisticated as ZORK ZERO's, 
but includes some capabilities found in JOURNEY (the first Infocom
game whose text interface even a parser-hater can live with). There
are separate Graphics, Mapping, Text, and Inventory windows. You may
display Mapping or Graphics, but not both simultaneously; switching
isn't difficult. A function key brings up room description without
wasting a turn. You can use a mouse for movement on either a compass
rose or the map display. The parser itself is quite dynamic, 
responding much more amusingly than earlier parsers; every now and
then, it interjects editorial comments about actions you're
considering. You'll find it very easy to think of the parser as
Merlin's voice in the background, almost a character itself. 
Finally, you don't merely explore areas, solve puzzles, and pick up
items; as in an RPG, you gain experience, wisdom, and chivalry
points -- all of which contribute to your final success in the
game. The quality and development of your character is at stake
here, as well as your involvement in the Arthurian world. 

 But long-time Infocom fans, take heart! You'd think with all this
variety, the actual size of the game would be reduced accordingly
(as JOURNEY seemed to be); this just isn't so. The data file for the
game is only about 20K smaller than ZORK ZERO's, and I can assure
you that ARTHUR is one of the most extensive games ever to come out
of Infocom. At the same time, the difficulty level has been adjusted
almost perfectly: You're not spending _all_ of your time fixating on
those three horrendous puzzles, or simply reading a story and
breezing through each area without challenge. 

 The initial stages of the game are relatively easier, and they
reward small successes with lots of great text, which helps you get
into the game. Once there, you'll run into a series of increasingly
difficult situations (and they _are_ situations, not just puzzles) 
whose solutions require the best of your imagination. Although I've
not yet reached the ending, from what I've seen, i would surprise me
if it were anything short of spectacular. 

 On-screen hints are cleverly designed not to reveal topic heads
until you've reached certain points in the game; even so, I
recommend erasing the hints from your play disk as soon as
possible. You can turn the hints off for each session (without
losing them from the disk), but I assure you that unless you have
the patience of Buddha, you'll relent at some point and take a peek
-- something I always regret doing. Figuring things out yourself is
what these games are all about, and using hints tends to diminish
the excitement of gameplay. These provisos notwithstanding, the
hints are well done, and also offer some great historical and
bibliographical background that you should read. 

 There are weaknesses in ARTHUR, as in every game. I think the
graphics are marginal at best (especially compared to the mental
visions inspired by the text), although they sometimes offer a clue
you might not deduce as easily without them. Which brings up an
important point: Graphics are really supplemental, rather than
integrated, elements of the game; you can play ARTHUR completely
without the graphics. I'd have preferred a few instances, at least, 
in which the solution required information not available from the
text alone (and I'm a real fan of the pure text adventure). I also
wish the beginning of the game had provided a bit more of a
challenge, although I realize this could discourage novices. 

 I played ARTHUR on an Amiga 500 with 1MB of RAM (although 1MB isn't
required); the disks are not copy-protected. On this machine, at
least, the graphics are small: They take up only about 25% of the
screen. They're not bad, as far as they go, but they're not nearly
as spectacular SHOGUN's. In fact, as computer art, they're
comparatively amateurish. 

 However, these are all relatively minor flaws. If you're a text
adventure fan, you'll be very happy to find ARTHUR on your local
dealer's shelf. Even if you've given up on text adventures (or never
played them), I think you'll still be delighted by the experience
this game has to offer. Let's only hope that recent changes at
Infocom/Mediagenic don't preclude the possibility of future games as
excellent as this one! 

 ARTHUR is published by Infocom and distributed by Mediagenic. 

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