A Matter of Time

SPAG
The writing is readable in its simplicity, but needs more imagination. The puzzles are straightforward item manipulation games which I couldn't work out; the games unresponsiveness and shaky parser didn't encourage me to do so. More synonyms are required; you can do "climb tree" but not "climb vines".

Graphics are varied and made with fractal and ray-tracing programs. This gives them a certain lack of liveliness and inconsistency of style. The sounds didn't add anything much to the game, although they served well to identify where I was. Good sound in the background could make each area of a landscape feel more distinct.
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SynTax
The mechanics of the game are a little strange: After each turn you get a summary of shortened commands (N)orth, (G)ive, (L)ook at, etc. A summary of commands directly available from the function keys F1 to F10 is also shown at this time and after a few turns, this gets quite irritating. At selected points in the story you get a multiple choice menu with a list of 2 or more courses of action you can embark upon. This system takes much away from the freedom of a traditional text adventure, and makes the player feel that he is simply being herded into the strict direction the author intended. A wrong move almost inevitably leads to death, usually sudden and without warning, a "feature" which will undoubtedly make most adventurers give up and pack it in after a few attempts.
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