Games, v13(5)

~2 minute read

Aug-Sep 1989

GAMEPLAY: ELECTRONIC GAMES

Journey

Burt Hochberg

JOURNEY

Infocom; $50 for most computers

Journey is the first game in Infocom’s new line of illustrated interactive fiction called "role-playing chronicles." Don't be fooled by the term "role-play": Journey does not require you to create characters, program complex battle tactics, or roam the countryside killing things and robbing carcasses. Whatever its genre may be called, Journey is interactive storytelling at its best.

The tale is set in a mythical, Dark Ages-type land full of wizards, dwarves, elves, monsters, and simple folk. You are Tag, a member of a party of four that sets out to visit a great wizard to find out what to do about the famine and pestilence prevalent in the land. It turns out (surprise, surprise) that there's an evil wizard at work, and to save the world you will have to collect certain jewels, which are of course well-concealed and protected by powerful magic.

In a typical interactive fiction game, you solve various puzzles and overcome obstacles, failing which your character dies or is unable to make progress. Forget all that. For Journey, Infocom has developed a miraculously efficient storytelling technique that allows the game to precede regardless of you decisions at crucial points. You don't find out that you've screwed up until the game is over, when the great beneficent wizard, just before committing suicide, tells you that the world is doomed, that evil will reign for eternity, and that it’s all your personal fault.

But try to look on the bright side: Journey is only a game and you can always start it over from the beginning. It is also an interesting story full of fascinating byways and hidden paths that you are guaranteed to miss the first time through.

The screen is divided into three areas, one for the text of the story, another for the menus. In the menu section are the game controls (save, restore, quit, etc.), your name and those of your companions, and the options available to your party at any given moment. Options are chosen with a mouse or the keyboard arrow keys; no typing is required.

The smoothness of the play system and the fact that you can bring the story to a conclusion even if you choose the wrong path at every opportunity make the game seem a lot simpler than it is. Pay close attention to the legends and stories the characters are wont to tell now and again: They contain important clues.

This article appeared in
Games
Aug-Sep 1989

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