91 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
91 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
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EARTHRISE
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EARTHRISE places itself firmly within the genre of the classic text adventure,
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the type of game Infocom used to do so well. You wake up in the dark, in a
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strange place, with only a vague idea of the task you're supposed to accomplish.
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EARTHRISE has a large "world" to explore, and lots of things to do; so far, so
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good. Unfortunately, EARTHRISE is an animated _graphic_ adventure game, and
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that's where it falls down: The graphics are almost embarassingly primitive.
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(This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)
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EARTHRISE is set in a future where Earth's mining takes place in manned bases
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on asteroids. The personnel on these bases use computer-controlled rockets to
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move them into Earth's orbit, all the while digging for whatever ore the
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asteroid contains. As you might have guessed, something has gone terribly wrong.
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The crew on the asteroid Solus radioed back reports of encounters with alien
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life forms, after which contact was mysteriously lost. The asteroid's rockets
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shut down, and it's presently on a collision course with Earth. You must find
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out what happened, and get everything fixed.
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You wake up from suspended animation in your rocket ship, already in orbit
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around Solus. You'll have to hunt around the ship, figure out what you need, and
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how to get down to the surface of the asteroid. Once there, you can explore the
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surface, as well as the subterranean base (on two levels, with about 20 rooms
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and some installations on the surface, as well).
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Most of the puzzles here consist of finding objects scattered around, then
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figuring out which object is appropriate for which task, and in which order
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these tasks must be accomplished. Tasks include more than just repairs to the
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base: You'll also encounter various species of alien lifeforms, all of them
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hostile. I'd rate the level of challenge here as moderate. If you remember to
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LOOK at everything (and I do mean _everything_), you ought to be able to find
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what you need. Of course, sometimes it's not just a matter of knowing what you
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need, but how to use it. And often, you'll frustratingly blast away with the
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right object, getting nowhere, because you're not using the correct syntax.
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An added wrinkle is that the structural integrity of some sections of the base
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has been breached. Quite often, you'll find yourself walking into a vacuum. If
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your helmet isn't on, your head will explode. (You do have a gauge for checking
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things like this.) Since you'll spend much of your time in your spacesuit, and
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since the game is played in "real time," you'll have to keep a constant watch on
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your oxygen supply. (Hint: There are a couple of ways to get "refills.")
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Game author Matt Gruson has provided a fairly large, well thought-out game
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world to explore. There are dozens of rooms and corridors (even a holographic
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representation of a forest back on Earth), as well as the surface of the
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asteroid, and your space ship. There are lots of things hidden away, often in
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the most unlikely places. All of these will earn you points, but not all of them
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are essential to completing the game. (You can even find Gruson's CompuServe ID
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number, if you look in the right place!) It's possible to complete the game
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without having amassed the full 800 points.
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Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the graphics are awful here; credit (or
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blame) one Van Collins for that. In this age of truly splendid-looking games
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from companies like Sierra, EARTHRISE is like stepping back into the stone age.
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The images are okay for seeing what's there, but they are so low-resolution even
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in EGA mode that I had to boot up under CGA to make certain I really _was_
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getting EGA! (The only difference between the two, by the way, is that EGA
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offers more colors; the game does not take advantage of EGA's possible higher
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resolution.)
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EARTHRISE comes with a brief but well-written instruction booklet that includes
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a cut-away diagram of your ship. You're on your own for mapping out the planet
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and the base. The IBM box includes six 5-1/4" diskettes, and three 3-1/2"
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diskettes. The files can easily be copied to your hard drive via an included
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installation program, after which the game relies on manual copy protection.
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(The game can also be played from floppy disk if you have two drives.) 640K of
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RAM is required.
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Support is provided for CGA, EGA and Tandy 16-color modes. As I said, the
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graphics are archaic. No support is included for soundboards, but aside from the
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opening music, the only audio in the game is the occasional sound effect.
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EARTHRISE is played from the keyboard: You use the arrow keys to walk around.
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Some of the most frequently used commands have also been assigned to function
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keys, and if you wish, you may redefine them. Naturally (for an adventure game),
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you can save a game in progress, and there are "slots" that can hold up to a
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dozen different saves.
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All in all, I enjoyed playing EARTHRISE. The game world is large and well
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designed. The graphics are truly awful, but they don't really affect gameplay.
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One final note: EARTHRISE offers you many gruesome ways to die. A lot of them
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involve your character's head exploding, or becoming impaled on a sharp object.
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Although most people will probably enjoy falling down a pit, only to land
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head-first on a pick-axe (to the extent that the graphics allow), some might
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find it objectionable.
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EARTHRISE is published by Interstel and distributed by Electronic Arts.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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