79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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MINES OF TITAN
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MINES OF TITAN from Infocom is a game with a shady past. It was originally
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released by Electronic Arts last year under the name MARS SAGA for the C64 and
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the Apple. For some reason, the setting of this science fiction role-playing
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game was shifted from Mars to Titan, and re-released by Infocom as MINES OF
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TITAN. Despite its checkered history, MINES OF TITAN is a solid CRPG with many
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nice features. The game offers an interesting setting, auto-mapping, and a good
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combat system. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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The premise of MINES is intriguing. Titan, one of Saturn's moons, has been
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colonized by Paramount Mining, Inc. Paramount Mining has set up three
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underground mining cities within Titan, and has begun work on a fourth city. In
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true Infocom style, information about the game's background is found in the
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"Visitor's Guide to Titan" pamphlet, included in the manual.
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One day, contact is suddenly lost with the new city. At the same time, the
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company orders the shutdown of all the mines, and rumors begin to circulate
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about strange new native life forms. Your job is to restore contact with the
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lost city and to figure who (or what!) is responsible for the crisis. To do
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this, you must gather a party of brave souls, train them, and explore the moon,
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all the while building up your party's skills.
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There are 16 different skills available in MINES, ranging from rifle skills to
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computer programming skills to administration skills. Most skills have to do
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with combat; some, like administration, determine how well you deal with other
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people in the game. Learning some computer programming is absolutely necessary
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since hacking Paramount's computer system gives you vital information.
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The best way to build combat skills is, of course, in combat. There's a lot of
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combat in MINES, and, fortunately, the game has a good combat system. You give
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orders to each of your men first; the computer then executes the orders, and
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animates the results. You have to be careful though: If you don't pay close
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attention to the sequencing of the orders, you may find your men accidentally
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shooting each other in the back with their Uzis! You can also instruct the
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computer to move any or all of your men (although the computer's tactical skills
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are only fair).
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MINES OF TITAN's interface is simple: You select commands from menus using the
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keyboard. But while the menu system in MINES is easy at first, it becomes
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slightly frustrating as the game progresses. All the menu selections are
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numbered, so there are no easy-to-remember alphabetic commands (like "U" for
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USE, etc.). Furthermore, the number to type to return to the previous menu
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varies between sub-menus. This slows you down because you never develop
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intuitive reflexes for typing the right commands.
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The game has an extensive auto-mapping feature. Your immediate area always
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appears onscreen, and you can also access a larger map showing all the places in
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a given city that you've seen. Additionally, the manual comes with full maps of
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Titan's cities and their mines, so it's almost impossible to get lost.
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MINES OF TITAN supports CGA and EGA graphics, but doesn't support a mouse. An
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unobtrusive form of manual-based copy protection is used. Both 5-1/4" and 3-1/2"
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disks are included in the package.
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Although much of the game is well done, there's something missing at its core.
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You spend the beginning of the game following up clues found on the computer
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system, or collecting police bounties. But after you finish these short
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mini-adventures, clues about what to do next disappear. Then you can only wander
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around the cities and hope for something to show up -- a situation that gets
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dull very quickly.
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The main problem with MINES is that there just isn't very much to do. Nearly
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all the main areas of the game are mapped for you, and there is relatively
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little information to be gathered. That means you spend most of your time
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fighting -- not out of necessity, but merely to pass the time.
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MINES OF TITAN is good if you want to while away the hours with a solid,
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unspectacular CRPG. But it's hardly groundbreaking or exciting. Now, if Infocom
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were to combine the combat and auto-mapping features of this game with one of
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their own detailed storylines, _that_ would be something we could all look
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forward to!
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MINES OF TITAN is published by Infocom and distributed by Mediagenic.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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