Chicks Dig Jerks

Interesting ideas, poorly executed. The main strength of Chicks Dig Jerks is in the long passages of dialogue rather than anything that involves the player, so this might have been better off as a short story, or part of a novel, than interactive fiction at all.

The characters are such broad caricatures that I just can't buy it when they have moments of profundity. Also, there are too many lines that only seem to be there because the author thought they were funny, rather than because they were something that the characters might actually SAY; since when do obnoxious jockish bros casually drop D&D references? I found the idea of a group of obnoxious bros being graverobbers much easier to swallow than that.

The puzzle you need to solve to get into the graveyard works on pure cartoon logic, and even in a game with a tone as inconsistent as Chicks Dig Jerks', it manages to clash badly.

The language is just unpolished enough that I'm not sure if "mediocracy" was a deliberate malapropism, but that gave me the biggest laugh of the game regardless.

A lot of effort went into having a large "lexicon" of names to choose from when spawning a new girl to hit on at the tavern where you spend the first half of this short game. There is also a list of various personalities for the girls, complete with a multiple-choice system of things to talk about in an effort to get the girl's phone number. Among those personalities are the usual college stereotypes (milf, control freak, ex-nerd, goth, neurotic, etc.)

Too bad not nearly as much effort went into some decent writing. For one thing, you are carrying a pager. If it beeps before you had examined it, you will have missed your chance to find out what it looks like. Beyond that point, all you get when you examine it is what's on the display. There is a tremendous amount of dialog between your character and his sidekick, a "shifty heartthrob," and a lot of it is just awful. The author seems to have been as drunk as the characters in this game.

Then, all of a sudden, after a barfight, you're in a room with a few other guys, getting ready to go grave-robbing. The story kind of nudges you along from here until you either live or die at the end. There are really no puzzles to speak of, save for figuring out how to scale the fence to the cemetery.

So what makes this game memorable? The first half, the bar scene, has plenty of replay value. Be advised though, there is some sexuality in this game - but then, if you didn't quit after one minute, then you're probably not the type of person that would care.

According to my rating system, I'm giving this game 2 stars. Here are my criteria:

-Polish. This game has several holes in implementation, enough to be annoying.

-Descriptive. This is where this game (and all of Sherwin's games) really shines. The game puts as a shallow gravedigger who only thinks about picking up women and digging up graves. You are extremely shallow and the game depicts that well.

-Interactivity. I think the game does well here. I felt like I hide control.

-Emotional impact. I didn't like all of the sex, and it made it harder to enjoy the rest of the game.

-Replay. I don't intend on replaying.