Reviews by Simon Deimel

This is a short game with no apparent deep plot. It describes just a single scene, and there is not much else. There should have been more implementations maybe. I did not find much interesting about the dialogue, but it is my opinion that there is some potential in a situation of this fiction, which could have been developed. All in all it is worth a try anyway.

I started the game and found a test and opening it produced the first error message. Not a fatal one, so I continued. The text said I needed a GDC for the test, so I went and found the GDC -- whatever it was, examining it only produced a standard reply -- and returned to the test, and again it replied with an error message.
None of the things mentioned in the room descriptions were implemented. There was a hint that you needed a rope to reach a different part, but when I found the rope I could not take it without getting a reason for being incapable.
I do not question the good intentions of the author, but this is a half-baked attempt and needs to be revised.

SHADE is not a long game. It is not an extensive game in the sense of locations. It has a quite linear course. It is not very difficult, once you get the hang of it. SHADE is simply awesome, just because of the story that is tells.
After a long time, remembering the old text adventures that I played on my old Amstrad machine, I decided to look for something similar nowadays, and I started with SHADE. Now the game is surely much shorter than commercial games were 20 years ago, but the atmosphere was overwhelming. After a while it was easy to find out what to do next, and each action is rewarded with another disturbing reaction of the environment. I felt drawn into the story and could hardly stop until the end, which can be interpreted in various ways. The game takes place in a single location, but the many implementations create a true-to-life experience, even as things start to change.
All in all SHADE is a reference how interactive fiction has to be composed. It is a delightful treat for both beginners and veterans of text-based games.

Let me write a review in the language of the game.
Es handelt sich bei "O" (der Titel spielt vermutlich auf die Form eines Kreises an) um ein sehr kurzes Abenteuer mit surrealistischem Hintergrund. Ich habe mir auch den Film dazu angesehen und muß sagen, daß die Atmosphäre gut eingefangen wird. Ein paar wenige Rechtschreibfehler, aber die Story ist sehr solide.
Leider ist sie nur etwas zu kurz, um eine höhere Bewertung zu geben.

The first two parts of the story were quite well written. A father neglecting his son, a son feeling misunderstood by his father, both parts ending in a surreal moment. So I expected a solution to the appearance of the unicorn -- was it a metaphor? But I was disappointed. (Spoiler - click to show)The third part describes the unicorn embarking upon a destructive romp, maybe the author wants to show how air-built castles can crash when the truth is revealed, but this approach will not work for everyone. These passages make use of a vulgar language, which was way too extreme for my taste. Conclusively there is not much time wasted if you check it out, but do not expect a philosophical statement.