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Review
This one is a real shame - It has a lovely style & interface, including great sound & other effects to enhance the atmosphere (though the sound volumes seem to differ a lot). The writing is good (despite some spelling errors) and the story seemed genuinely intriguing leaving me really keen to see what was going to happen...
I like the way the author doesn't feel it necessary to describe *everything* in room descriptions, just the impression pertinent to the story.
Although, it could do with more descriptions of objects that can be examined, to make immersion richer.
The author has attempted to get away from using n-e-s-w directions, though oddly only for indoor locations.
Sadly though, from a technical point of view it has some game-breaking errors; In some places the directions seem to break leaving you in weird 'non-locations' or unable to progress. Some players couldn't even progress past the car at the beginning; I tried both browser and downloaded versions, and from the comments upon several sites couldn't find anyone who had been able to progress further than the village garden.
Less seriously, there are some errors where you can answer the same phonecall twice or 'open' doors already caved in; error messages appear for some unexpected commands and it reacts very badly to commands like 'look in'. It is also VERY picky about which verbs work for things you can do- For a sheet over an object you cant 'take' 'pick up' 'look under' 'move' or 'lift' the sheet - though you can 'remove' it! The same goes for other situations.
Some room descriptions are different the second time you enter, with different directions available, which the game doesn't respond to... whether this is an intentional part of the eventual storyline is impossible to tell.
Clearly a lot of time was put into what seems like a really engaging story; but as it stands it's a tragic testament to the importance of error-testing after all the hard work... Here's hoping some day a version comes out that can be experienced fully.
