66 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
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TWILIGHT ZONE
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"You unlock this door...."
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Any real "Twilight Zone" fan knows the ending to that quote. And "the key of
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your imagination" is exactly what you'll need to solve this game -- not to
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mention decipher this review (based on the Amiga version).
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Most reviews include a synopsis of the story line to help you decide whether
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you'll be interested in the game. I can't do that here. The authors have see fit
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to omit from the documentation any hint whatsoever regarding the goals you're to
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accomplish. I have the distinct feeling that if I tell you what this game is all
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about, something terrible will happen to me -- something even more terrible than
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what happened to me in the endgame!
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While this non-disclosure certainly lends an aura of authenticity to the
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"Twilight Zone" theme, it also causes you a lot of frustration at the beginning
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of the game. You wake up in your (incredibly messy) bedroom with no idea of who
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you are or what you're supposed to do. You're going to spend a _lot_ of time
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just wandering around, trying different things, picking up useless objects, and
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trying to figure out what's going on. For instance, in several rooms, there are
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mirrors. If you try to "look in the mirror," you'll be told "It's not here!"
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Then you'll have to decide (since this is the "Twilight Zone") whether the
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mirror is _really_ not there, or whether you're just doing something wrong.
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(Nope, I ain't gonna tell you!)
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Once you get out of your house safely, there's a biiiiig town to be
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explored...well, maybe it's not all _that_ big, but it sure seemed like it! The
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game is completely linear; you must finish each of the puzzles in sequence, with
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no skipping around. I can divulge this much: Except during the first part of the
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game, you'll know when you have successfully accomplished what you're supposed
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to do, because you'll be zapped to a new location and a new puzzle.
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In one segment, there's an entire succession of riddles you must solve in order
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to progress. This seemed overdone a bit, but the riddles are all fairly simple,
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and most are variations on riddles you've encountered in other adventure games.
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TWILIGHT ZONE is very clever, if frustrating (especially at first). Adding to
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this frustration is a parser that sometimes (but not always) expects a
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particular word. For instance, "stand in line" does you no good; the parser only
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recognizes "GET in line." In the Amiga version, there are nice, medium-res
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graphics that are unimportant to gameplay and can be turned off.
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You'll have to do a lot of saving and restoring in this game, not only because
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you're going to get killed when you make a wrong move, but because there are so
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many useless objects hanging around, and you're limited as to what you can
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carry. Luckily, there is an "Undo" command to save your bacon when you step in
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something nasty.
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If you're like me, you'll probably be outraged by the endgame. But after a
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little thought, you'll agree that the ending is perfect (if this is, indeed, the
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"Twilight Zone"). Although the game can be very frustrating, after finishing, I
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realized I had enjoyed it greatly. However, if your level of tolerance for
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frustration is low, you might want to pass on this one -- if on to preserve the
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physical integrity of your computer and peripherals!
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TWILIGHT ZONE is apparently the first in a series, this release being subtitled
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"The Crossroads of Imagination." Although I found myself ready to commit mayhem
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from time to time, I must admit that I'm looking forward to "the next stop...in
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the 'Twilight Zone.'"
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TWILIGHT ZONE is published and distributed by First Row Software.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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