107 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
107 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
HEART OF CHINA
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One would think that Dynamix, as a member of the Sierra On-Line family would
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have a built-in user support base for its adventure products. But Dynamix's
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last release, RISE OF THE DRAGON, was apparently overlooked by many loyal
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Sierra fans. Even though HEART OF CHINA (HOC), their new 1920's so-called
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romance has only been out for a few weeks, it looks as if HOC might suffer
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the same fate as its predecessor, as it has been slow to find its place on
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stores' shelves. However, adventure game players should be warned that they
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will be missing a lot by not picking up this very enjoyable game. (This
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review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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In HOC, you play not one, but three different characters. At the beginning
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of the game, you are "Lucky" Jake Masters, a World War I pilot who has seen
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his better days. He is forced by financial giant E. A. Lomax to rescue
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Lomax's kidnapped daughter, Kate. But Jake cannot complete his quest alone,
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so he will have to enlist the help of Zhao Chi, the world's only Chinese
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ninja. Once Chi has agreed to join your party, you can switch between the
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two characters with no more than the click of a mouse button. After
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travelling to rescue Kate from Chengdu in the heart of China, you will
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travel to other foreign locations, such as Katmandu, Nepal, and Istanbul.
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You will also have the opportunity to play as Kate towards the end of the
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game.
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Those who have played RISE OF THE DRAGON will recognize HOC's interface (the
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Dynamix Game Development System, or GDS for short). The GDS is a no-typing
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interface that supports mouse, joystick, or keyboard entry (although a mouse
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is preferable). Unlike many other animated graphics adventures, the game
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is seen from a first-person point of view; your character hardly ever
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appears on the screen. There are also non-interactive "Meanwhile" scenes
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that allow you to follow the action in other parts of the game.
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There is no reverse parser or icon bar; commands are "entered" simply by
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dragging items across the screen and clicking. To pick something up, just
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click on it and drag it to your character's inventory. To use that item,
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drag the item from your inventory to the place where you want to use it. The
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cursor changes if there is an exit or person who will talk to you, and all
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that is required to start a dialog or leave a location is a left click. To
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examine something, simply click with the right mouse button. (You can also
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find out where an exit leads with the right button.) The GDS's simplicity
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makes it, without a doubt, the best point-and-click interface in the
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adventure game market; more designers should follow Dynamix's example.
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Dialogs play a very important part in developing HEART OF CHINA's plot. As
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in RISE OF THE DRAGON, you will have to talk other characters into giving
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you what you need. Unfortunately, you sometimes will have to resort to trial
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and error to find the solution. You should save the game before going into a
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conversation, although there is no provision to save once the conversation
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has started. However, there are a few occasions where you will have to back
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up considerably in the story line to find a place where you are allowed to
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save. Since you will eventually find the solution, although rarely on the
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first try, I wish Dynamix had provided a "try again" option for dialogs to
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speed along this repetitive process, especially for the situations where
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saving is not possible.
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There are two arcade sequences in HOC, although you are given the option of
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skipping the sequences as a winner if arcade games are not your strong
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suit. You can also change the difficulty of the sequences through the VCR
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(control panel). The first sequence, a tank simulation, is the only arcade
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part of any adventure game that I have not wanted to skip over. The tank
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simulation uses a combination of bit-mapped and polygon graphics, which are
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often found in flight and driving simulators, and is a very nice change from
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the typical fighting or obstacle-dodging sequences so common to games of
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this type. The second sequence is an unfortunate fighting game.
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The graphics and animation in HOC are very well-done. Dynamix digitized
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live actors and hand-painted backgrounds for almost all of the graphics. The
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choice of background scenes helps to emphasize the serious but romantic mood
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of the story, and each city has its own local flavor that helps to give the
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game a worldly flavor.
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There are multiple solutions to many of the puzzles, and as in RISE OF THE
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DRAGON, there are "plot branches" in the story lines. Some of these plot
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branches are only extended multiple solutions that lead to the same game
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ending. Other plot branches lead to completely different endings. There is a
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plot branch alert screen that appears whenever you have chosen one half of a
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particular branch. Almost all of the puzzles in HOC are realistic; they rely
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on real-world logic, and not some altered kind of adventure logic. This
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real-world logic, although it keeps you from complaining about unfairness,
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also makes most of the puzzles rather easy. I only had a slight bit of
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trouble on one of them, and I managed to finish the game within a matter of
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hours. Fortunately, the plot branches extend the playing time, if you do
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not mind restoring old game saves to play them.
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HOC is fairly typical in its system requirements among newer games. It
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comes in both a 16-color version for EGA, CGA, Tandy, MCGA, and monochrome
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users. There is also a 256-color version that supports VGA only. Both
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versions require a hard drive and support Roland, AdLib and SoundBlaster
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cards. The VGA version comes in either seven 5-1/2" high-density (1.2 MB)
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or six 3-1/2" high-density (1.44 MB) disks. (The 16-color version had not
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been released as of this writing.) To install the game, you must use the
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included "Smart Start" program to properly configure sound and graphics
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options. Smart Start will only let you select graphics modes or sound
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devices that are currently hooked up to your system, and allows easy
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reconfiguration without the need for the original program disks. There is
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no copy-protection of any kind.
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HEART OF CHINA may not be able to provide a lengthy story or difficult
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puzzles. But, at the same time, the graphics, sound, and interface more than
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make up for any of its shortcomings. After only a mere two adventures, Dynamix
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is setting standards for the rest of the industry. Only time can tell what
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their next releases will bring, but they will certainly continue to be
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nothing short of amazing. This is one game that should not be missed.
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HEART OF CHINA is published by Dynamix and distributed by Sierra On-Line.
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