Ratings and Reviews by Andreas Teufel

(Warning: This review might contain spoilers. Click to show the full review.)While not even close to being the worst game of all time (All roads is cemented in this honorable position for all eternity), Shade will for me always be a beacon of hatred for all that is so wrong with the Interactive Fiction scene, what is so obviously stinking to high heaven but accepted and hailed by the majority.

Short description of the "plot" (it's offensive to the English language itself to use this word in relation to this "game"!): Man (devoid of character, naturally) needs to sort through the bedlam of his apartment in order to find his plane tickets and other junk needed for a vacation trip to the desert.

So far, so good. 5 minutes of "fun" with the room description.

Everything literally falls apart once you have found the (then completely unimportant) tickets. Literally.

Everything turns to, of all things, SAND. Because there is sand in the desert! And that's where nameless nobody #1 wanted to go!

Smart thinking on Plotkin's side, ain't it? Surely needed a lot of research... I mean it's so CLEVER it hurts my brain...

Even though there is no variation in the ever-annoying sand transformation NO JUTSU, it's yet extremely hard to advance at some points. Which includes bugs and unlogical syntax, needless to say. Just look at things often enough and the game will advance eventually... if you're lucky.

So what is the main flaw of this shaggy dog joke that is a complete and utter waste of time: It means NOTHING.

Sand! goddamn it, it could be cotton candy and nothing would be different in any way!

In fact the whole purpose of this game is stated by the author in the sarcastic and pretentious as hell "The only way to win is not to play!" quote. I will draw a lesson from this, and never play another Andrew Plotkin game again.

I encourage everybody with half a brain in his head to do the same.

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vote NO, I could honestly not care any less. the fools liking this turd are all brain-dead slaves to meaninglessness anyway

(Warning: This review might contain spoilers. Click to show the full review.)no need to waste any more time on this stinker, boring setting, lame-ass characters, non-story, inadequately explored fantasy elements (which is enough for a 1 in my book most of the time, yet a staple for some reason), people SHOOTING you for NO REASON (I mean he's a sith, ahem sikh, he's SUPPOSED to have a dagger at all times), no deeper meaning, but that's a staple as well, I barely need to mention that

pass this one, for your own sake

+) the plot twist caught me off guard

+) the game is daring, which can really not be said for most IF

-) your moral options are still limited

-) the first 2 conversations in the game have no significance to the plot, the third only indirectly - only the very last is critical

-) some things just MAKE NO SENSE, e.g. what's with the dragon? the motif never reappears! we eventually get he's not a knight, so this dangles in mid air; some things later fall into place, e.g. the diary, but many just lead nowhere and that's a big flaw in such a symbolistic game

-) next time please get some beta testers

-) I deduct 0.5 points for the pathetic WHINING in the readme file: "Give me a low rating rather than playing my game, it's so disturbing!!11

BOO HOO

ever heard of a thing called REAL LIFE?! fiction can never rival actual human cruelty, not even close - just have a look at e.g. the religious crimes commited in our very modern world DAY BY DAY

overall: play it! the standards of Interactive Fiction are so LOW, every game that treats you with half a meaning or new idea is justified to be played!

+) it's huge

-) but it's not deep

+) lots of potientially interesting characters (Charlotte, anyone?)

-) that aren't developed properly

+) lots of conversation topics

-) but no actual physical interaction with the "dummys" (and I mean none whatsoever! not even with yourself! oh the missed opportunities!)

+) interesting premise

-) but horrible retro-future-medieval Italy setting (THAT genre again! NO make it stop already! please! the horror!)

+) lots of funny moments

-) that take you right out of the illusion of a believable world since they very often violate the continuity of the setting

+) interesting ambivalent main character

-) we learn nothing about afterwards (where is his personal life! oh the missed opportunities!)

+) detailed world, in which

-) the puzzles MAKE NO SENSE, without a solution this is impossible to finish (e.g. the crack in the compass rose - I did find it by myself but to deduce that this detail of thousands is plot-critical is IMPOSSIBLE)

-) generally clever and I think researched writing

-) but sometimes the writing drops significantly for inadequately explored reasons, certain moments take you right out of the game - e.g. that guards would shoot you for offending them, I mean gee you're only the 5th most important man in the state, that means nothing?! or the feminist whore (sic!!!) *epic facepalm*

this also includes extreme mood swings in the tone of the game - compare Charlotte's saddening backstory with the entrance guard antics for an example

generally speaking, exploring the world is great fun! talking to characters is sometimes, but once you're done with that better whip out the solution and finish it quickly, cause you will discover nothing more interesting afterwards

the actual story is very thin, that you potentially have to replay it multiple times while there is no variation whatsoever doesn't really make it more interesting

the single worst part of Varicella is the epilogue, I deduct one half point for this complete and utter nonsense that seems to have been written by Andrew Plotkin since it's so totally opposed to anything that happens in the game in tone and content

overall, go play it, it has its moments that make it worthwile, but it's no Photopia or I-0, and it's no masterpiece by any standards

-) very funny
-) captures the spirit of the tv show excellently
-) the game riffed is really bad

the only criticism I have for this game is that it's too short, other than that it's pure gold!


4/5