Return to Zork

Computer gamers and PC-FX owners should recognize this title. The old Infocom series of text based adventures is arguably one of the more elaborate and finely crafted set of games available. Zork 1, 2 and 3 conjured up magical worlds, affable characters, and posed the player with intricate puzzles to solve...all with words. Granted that back in the days of the Commodore 64 and Atari 800, the graphics weren't as refined as they are now but Infocom made an industry out of text based adventure games and released roughly 30+ games. Some of those games were more vivid and memorable than any game that had graphics back in the days of the 8-bit computer. I can remember some of them fondly: Planetfall, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and yes, even Leather Goddesses of Phobos. It was almost grand the way that Infocom's writers were able to set up the game with a superb plot that gradually unfolded as you went further into the game. And the funny thing was, the stories were interesting to read (like a good book) and encouraged you to try different things and to experiment. I remember one hint that the games would give you was to use the proper grammer. For example, you could type in "look cat" but the game would reprimand you for not being more specific or grammatically correct. The player would then have to sheepishly type in "look at cat" in order for the action to take place. Serious stuff. Infocom went along with the rest of the crowd with their sequel to Zork 3 which was called Zork Zero. I played this beast on my Commodore 128. Zork Zero introduced rudimentary graphics such as charts, simple maps and symbols so it was not full blown graphics just yet but Infocom was getting there. Return to Zork signals a radical change in its presentation and its style of play. Yes, the graphics are beyond what has appeared in the past on the Zork series but the game is also beyond what a Zork fan would expect. Is it for the better? I suppose the graphics do add a lot of atmosphere and help to convey the situations and locales with vivid scenery. This adds a new dimension to the game but I still feel that the original Zork games were more interesting than the Zorks that have come out since Z3. The writing was sharper in the earlier games and the puzzles were more imaginative. The charm is still there for the most part but I think that it has to do more with being associated with the Zork name than the game itself. Return to Zork features a lot of digitized graphics and rendered scenery which look good and should please the graphically inclined.

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