~2 minute readGAMEPLAY: ELECTRONIC GAMES
Zork Zero
ZORK ZERO
Infocom, $50-60
The Zork trilogy, maybe the most popular computer games ever, sent you on a quest through the remains of the Great Underground Empire, which at the peak of its power was ruled by Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive. But one question remained tantalizingly unanswered: What evil power brought the Great Underground Empire to its ruin?
Computer adventurers have been asking another question for years: When dreary computer games become bestsellers because of their dazzling graphics, how long do these clowns at Infocom think they can get away with these brilliantly written but entirely unadorned text adventures?
Zork Zero —- the prequel to Zork I, II, and III —- answers both questions at once. Here you will learn of the curse that doomed the Empire, and here you will see the very first illustrations ever to grace an Infocom story.
In a brief prologue, a servant watches as the great wizard Megaboz casts the Curse which destroys Lord Flathead. (It seems that Lord Flathead’s new and enormous statue of himself is casting a shadow on Megaboz's garden.) Peeking out from under a table, the servant grabs a piece of parchment that falls from Megaboz's pocket.
Now, 90 years later, half the riches of the kingdom will go to whomever can keep the curse from finishing off the entire Empire. You are a descendant of that servant, and have inherited the scrap of paper —- your only hint of how to fight the curse.
The graphics are sparse, but pretty The hilariously loony text is surrounded by a decorative border. The library contains a copy of the Encyclopedia Frobozzica, and many of its entries are beautifully illustrated. When you play the legendary —- and impossibly complicated —- game of Double Fanucci in Port Foozle, you'll get to see the layout of the cards as you play.
Still, the occasional pictures are just for show, rarely necessary to the story. Zork Zero has other features that are much more helpful, if less dazzling.
Like the built-in hints, for example. If you get stuck on a difficult puzzle, you can get a hint right away.
A new “undo” command means that if, say, you drink a mysterious potion and it turns you into a warthog, you can back up a move and offer it to an enemy instead. (This only works on computers with enough memory, though.)
And you don't have to waste any more time drawing and redrawing maps. At any time you can see a map of the area, showing what places you've visited and which directions remain unexplored.
All these friendly features make Zork Zero the most enjoyable game yet in the Zork series.
Some advice: Take the time to read very carefully through the Flathead calendar included with the game; it contains many facts you'll need to solve the puzzles. Jot down every unfamiliar word, name, and thing you come across and look them all up in the Encyclopedia Frobozzica when you're in the library. You'll get a lot of background about the Empire, and more important, you'll learn a thing or two that you'd otherwise have to find out through lengthy trial and error.
This article appeared in
Games
Apr-May 1989
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
