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Review
The Orion Agenda is one of those rare games that combines an engaging plot with varied puzzles and fascinating NPCs. The PC finds himself in a deep hole in the ground. From there, he begins to remembers that he is a rookie field agent sent to check on an outpost on a foreign planet where his colleagues are supposed to be observing the native culture. He is traveling with another field agent who is more experienced and also happens to be a beautiful woman. Of course, things don't go as planned once they arrive at Orion 3. The way the game is structured eliminates the need for ever saving your progress. If you happen to die (which you will do quite often), the PC just realizes that he is still alive in the hole, so that's not how things must have happened. While this is a great mechanism to ease game play, it also makes it very clear that there is only one predetermined ending. I normally prefer games with a lot of varying paths and conclusions.I'm also not someone who reads science fiction or enjoys playing sci-fy games. However, The Orion Agenda drew me in to the point that all be skepticism about the genre and the game construction melted away.
Even though the plot line isn't very original, it's crafted and written beautifully. The writing is well paced and spurs you on to finish the puzzles to progress the story. The puzzles themselves are of varying difficulty. If I had to rate the average difficulty of the puzzles on a 1-10 scale, I'd give The Orion Agenda a 5.5. While not as challenging as I might have liked it to be, The Orion Agenda compensates for its relative easiness with an engaging storyline and an interactive NPC.
That NPC is the PC's beautiful female partner, Rebecca. Unlike so many other sidekick NPCs in IF she actually has a mind of her own. She'll explore the area on her own, wandering away and returning to the PC at random. She also possesses knowledge that the PC does not, making her invaluable in certain situations. She never serves as a damsel in distress or as comic relief and always has a purpose.
The Orion Agenda is polished to a tee, with no bugs that I could find. The puzzles are well-clued and the environment expansive and engaging. Ideally, I would give The Orion Agenda 4.5 stars, but there was still something missing there for me. It's a solid game, but it didn't have that ah!-factor that I tend to look for. The Orion Agenda is well-balanced, highly enjoyable, and great for one play through.
