Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor
What sets Beyond Zork apart from all other Infocom IF titles is the inclusion of RPG elements. Before venturing on your adventure, you first need to create your character, RPG style, complete with various statistics and skills. Unfortunately, the effects in the game of most of these skills are not obvious, and the rare chances to improve them are hard to identify as such. Combat sequences require more puzzle-solving prowess to succeed instead of your statistics and skills, and sometimes feel random.
RPG quirks aside, Beyond Zork excels in all the other areas that Infocom was famous for. Moriarty's storytelling talent is once again evident in the game's great storyline, cool plot developments, and consistently good writing. The game also introduces many new features, such as on-screen map and a separate window for your inventory. The parser is even stronger than Infocom's previous games, and the game's vocabulary is quite big.
Although the RPG elements in Beyond Zork are well thought out, they come across more as an interesting distraction from traditional puzzle-solving than an integrated experience. Interestingly enough, Infocom's later adventure/RPG hybrid Quarterstaff is a better RPG than adventure-- quite the opposite of Beyond Zork. Fortunately, though, it's the adventure fans that the game was designed to please, and as IF, it succeeds in spades. Definitely a must-have for all Infocom fans, though it won't win over any die-hard RPGer. Highly recommended!
Average Rating: | 8.67 [52 votes] |
Genre: | Interactive Fiction |
Designer: | Brian Moriarty |
Developer: | Infocom |
Publisher: | Infocom |
Year: | 1987 |
Software Copyright: | Infocom |
Theme: | Fantasy, Unique |
Multiplayer: | |
Related Links: | Game entry at Unofficial Infocom Site , Color manual scan at Infocom Gallery |
More Info: | Mobygames | The Web |
System Requirements: | DOS |
If you like this game, try: | Quarterstaff: Tomb of Setmoth, Zork Zero, Theatre |
Thanks to... | |
Technical Notes: |
Screenshots © The Good Old Days