~2 minute readScreening Room: The Rating Game
Zork III
hardware requirements:
Apple II/II plus/IIe, 32K (disk); also
available for IBM PC, 48K
(disk); TRS-80 I/III, 32K (disk);
Atari 400/800/1200, 32K (disk);
and Commodore 64 (disk, distributed through Commodore)
manufacturer: Infocom, Inc.,
55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA
02138; (617) 492-1031
price: $39.95
Ever hear of Zork? It's this old game about exploring The Great Underground Empire. Bored with Zork? Is Zork II's disk fried? Well, then try Zork III. Because if you liked Zork, you'll love Zork III.
Zork III is a brilliant Infocom game (especially if you're a text-adventure fan). It's the most intelligent text game for a microcomputer that we've ever seen.
The object is to meet and destroy the Dungeon Master himself. Don't expect to kill him the first time you play. (If you do, don't tell anyone; they won't believe you.)
Your quest begins at the bottom of an endless stair with a brass lantern at your feet. This isn't too hot, but with some exploration you can find better places to spend your time. Some places even change, so a room may not always be the same as when you left it 20 moves ago.
All you do to play is type in what you want your character to do.
When you begin to play, situations will definitely be confusing. Soon, however, your initial problems will seem trivial compared with the brain-racking problems that will follow. The game, though, is exciting, and those who don't enjoy it either don't like to think or can't tolerate being frustrated.
Zork III has an incredibly large vocabulary (more than 600 words), but it's still too limited to provide for many possibilities. Nonetheless, Zork III is intelligent (as far as adventure games go, that is. For example, if you command the computer to attack and there is only one reasonable object that can be attacked, the computer will know what is intended.
The scoring system is confusing at first. You are rewarded with points for picking up important items. This and the number of moves you make are factors in determining your score. If you run into trouble, don't worry too much, the Dungeon Master is patient; he'll reincarnate you twice before giving up and leaving you to rot. A word of advice: Never be afraid to try the stupid or obnoxious. Remember, if you die, you can always reboot!
eric and tom saberhagen are 13 and 11, respectively, and live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
This article appeared in
K-Power
Feb 1984
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
