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NB: Do not play with the ADRIFT 5 Runner as the game will appear to work but can't be completed. Play online or use the Adrift 4 interpreter instead as this is an Adrift 4 game.
You are a senior investigator with the police force of what is basically a totalitarian state. On a world where nearly all forms of crime are punishable by execution, you have been called on to investigate someone who has been unlawfully killed. From the initial investigation it clearly looks like an accident and your superior is very keen for you to close the case. You decide to dig a little deeper and it is then that you uncover something that should probably have been better left hidden.
10th Place - 12th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (2006)
Nominee, Best Setting - 2006 XYZZY Awards
Co-Winner - InsideADRIFT Game of the Year Comp 2006
| Average Rating: based on 16 ratings Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 4 |
This game starts out with an atmospheric introduction which later on is replaced with some intendedly cold descriptions in a world consisting of robots. Still, there is something more underneath some of the NPCs apparently insensitive personalities.
This sci-fi game is pretty well constructed, except perhaps some difficulties near the ending and a bug that could make objects disappear unintentionally - in other words, don't put anything on the Interrogator (an object called "interrogator).
[And don't play with the Adrift 5 interpreter as this is an Adrift 4 game and the game will be unwinnable when played with the Adrift 5 interpreter due to compatibility problems]
Parser: 8/10
I had no guess-the-verb situations. My only trouble with the parser was som ambiguities. They turned out not to be important to the puzzles but the player can't know that for sure, before they complete the game.
Atmosphere: 7/10
The introduction was very well written and sets the tone but later the intended coldness of the robots take over. Still, it can become very sterile. There are some indications of feelings though, once in a while.
Cruelty: Polite
Perhaps polite? I think it is possible to run out of battery, if you don't recharge often, but it didn't happen to me, so I am not sure.
Puzzles: 7/10
Several good puzzles, though a few seemed a bit confusing, especially near the end. Near the end I needed a hint and typing HINT gave me exactly the hint I needed. So the hint system appears to be well constructed. Most puzzles are about information so TALK TO characters and ASK ABOUT is very important. But near the end it seems that the author could not anticipate all the different orders in which things could be done, so some of the responses seemed a bit off.
Overall: 8/10
Overall a good game with a few technical issues and design issues but nothing critical.
This was a charming game, and in a genre I haven't seen too much of: a murder mystery set completely in a world of robots. Bad Machine and Suspended both give off the same vibe of this game, that of a purely mechanical society, but this game achieves a remarkable contrast between the impassiveness of the robots and the emotion of the investigation.
It suffers from ADRIFT's standard problems, but to a much smaller degree than usual. I did have some trouble guessing the later actions, but overall I found myself pleased by this game. I've been lucky enough to find a string of good games in a row this week.
This had a bunch of rough edges, implementation-wise — some problems typical of ADRIFT parsers, and some others. It also has a somewhat railroady presentation: though it's a mystery, the player's opportunities to explore and solve are tightly constrained and directed at all times. There was also one puzzle involving finding an object that I don't think I would ever have gotten without a walkthrough.
All the same, I found this strangely enjoyable. The robot protagonists develop personality and humanity as the game proceeds, and there were some unexpectedly touching moments.
Deep fictional worlds by Kenji Yamada
I'd like to play more games set in fictional worlds with deeply-imagined cultures and history. Implementation depth would also be a plus.
Dystopia by dacharya64
I love dystopian fiction, and after playing Square Circle, I decided I had to see if there were other dystopian tales in the IF-verse.