Ratings and Reviews by sushabye

This is exactly what short interactive fiction should be. Effortlessly evokes a classic science-fantasy style to tell a satisfyingly complete tall tale with perfect circular logic. Gameplay-wise, the interface and commands are based on the nautical model ("HOIST SAILS" etc) which will likely be initially unfamiliar to the player. The writing, however, does a great job of directing the player to the right commands to use very subtly, an invisible tutorial offering a guiding hand. Every puzzle builds on what you previously learned, often you will instinctively know what to type: the sign of a master of the form at work. I challenge you to think of a better game released in 2010.

I was inspired to try this by the comment "Whoever wrote this sick piece of **** should be banned from Interactive Fiction for life. It should be removed from the IFDB and the archive, and quickly". Anything that can inspire that level of extreme reaction must be worth playing!

I realized that the game is intended as a kind of mirror for those who play it. It is very opaque, and doesnt spell out its intentions at all, so any judgement about its worth, or offence at its subject matter, says more about the person playing it than the game itself. So the comment about banning the author and deleting the game indicates a "liberal neocon"-type personality, the kind of person who turns a blind eye to the atrocities being performed in their name by western regimes, and when confronted with the truth wants it hidden away from sight.

The most horrifying thing about Rendition: this stuff is actually going on, today. If you feel uncomfortable playing it, why are you allowing your government and military to do it? I'm glad this game exists, and is being distributed. "They hate us for our freedom!", right? So let's ban the author and delete the game, that'll show 'em!

Uses the exact same idea as Infocom's 80's Sherlock game - you play as Watson instead of Sherlock. Even starts the same way, with you outside 221B Baker Street about to enter. The writing is a decent stab at apeing the Conan Doyle style, the puzzles are too obscure and unclued though. I knew pretty quickly the location I wanted to visit, but even after exploring all the other locations allowed first, it still wouldn't open up that area. Highly frustrating. The ADRIFT language used to write this game didnt help much either, not the author's fault but some annoying limitations in its parsing became evident.