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Showing All | Show by Page - Space45, November 25, 2023 - ENyman78 (Gold Beach, OR), October 29, 2023 - Max Fog, October 19, 2023 6 of
6 people found the following review helpful:
What a Difference a Robot Makes, August 24, 2023by Drew Cook (Acadiana, USA) If Zork I is Infocom's most iconic title and Trinity its most critically admired, then perhaps Planetfall is the most likely to engender sentimental attachment. Reviews breathlessly enthuse about its supporting character, Floyd, and rightfully so. I am fairly confident that Planetfall is the first bit of electronic entertainment to make people cry (excepting tears of frustration). Nothing can take such an accomplishment from Meretzsky or Planetfall. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Bernieman, April 18, 2023 - Kastel, April 13, 2023 - Phil Riley, March 24, 2023 - RonFromPgh, October 16, 2022 - Stu Dobbie, July 22, 2022 - RustyBones, May 4, 2022 1 of
5 people found the following review helpful:
A classic game, April 15, 2022by G. Faregan I probably shouldn't review this game because I don't really have many nice things to say about it. I perhaps optimistically hope that this is not the pinnacle of what interactive fiction can be. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- cgasquid (west of house), February 13, 2022 - Lance Campbell (United States), December 24, 2021 1 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
A classic , November 29, 2021A classic old school vibe to it, really enjoyed it and would love to see more from the author! Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- NorkaBoid (Ohio, USA), November 14, 2021 - Jim Nelson (San Francisco), August 22, 2021 - heasm66 (Sweden), August 10, 2021 - patsmad, January 15, 2021 - steamfire, September 22, 2020 - nosferatu, September 1, 2020 - jcompton, June 22, 2020 - The Defiant, June 17, 2020 - Zape, June 3, 2020 2 of
2 people found the following review helpful:
Planetfall: an unWinnable State review, May 9, 2020by unWinnable State (unWinnableState.com) Related reviews: Parser, Infocom, unWinnable State, The List! There is a reason Planetfall is considered a classic. The puzzles are intuitive, the slowly unfolding narrative is mesmerizing, and Floyd. The only thing that marred my enjoyment of the game is what I believe to be a bug with the version I played, but more on that later. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- Ry (Philippines), May 2, 2020 - Durafen, September 26, 2019 - Otheym, August 18, 2019 - Nomad, February 9, 2019 10 of
11 people found the following review helpful:
Great early Infocom game, February 1, 2019by Michael Roberts (Seattle, Washington) This is one of my favorite Infocom games. I think it stands out as an important transitional game in Infocom's early years that was hugely influential on their later games, and we all know Infocom was hugely influential on IF in general. One of Planetfall's best-known innovations is of course Floyd, probably the first attempt at an NPC sidekick. The bag of tricks the game used to make Floyd seem continuously present and interactive formed the basis of NPCs in countless subsequent works. The innovation that was more important to me, though, was less about technology and more about the game design philosophy. Planetfall was deliberately designed to be fair to the player. It probably doesn't qualify as "merciful" by modern standards, as it did let you back yourself into an unwinnable corner, but its puzzles were logical, consistent, and well clued; at no point did you have to read the author's mind or exhaustively try every VERB+OBJECT combination. That was a huge break from the fashion of the time, which conceived of the adventure game as a contest between designer and player without any constraints on the designer's sadistic omnipotence. There was a certain pleasure in beating a game that had such blatantly unfair rules, but even the most obsessive players got tired of that after seeing one or two such games. IF wouldn't have endured (even to the limited extent it has) if the design philosophy behind Planetfall hadn't come about. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- mils32k, January 7, 2019 - Greg Frost (Seattle, Washington), July 25, 2018 4 of
7 people found the following review helpful:
A fading star lost in time, May 4, 2017by Form 27b-6 (Southern California) Oh boy here's a tricky one. Now it's never a good feeling to trample people's memories, or to snatch their pink glasses, but it's necessary to give an honest assessment of the game, in its original context, but also in light of all the achievements made in IF since then. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- ifMUD_Olly (Montana, USA), April 21, 2017 - Denk, December 11, 2016 - winterfury (Russia), December 10, 2016 4 of
4 people found the following review helpful:
Fun sci-fi Infocom game, but too many red herrings and empty rooms for me, February 3, 2016by MathBrush Planetfall is many people's favorite IF of all time, so I knew it would be hard for it to live up to the hype. However, I think I just don't like Meretzky's style (e.g. Sorceror, the puzzles in Hitchhiker's Guide, etc.). He tends to favor big, mostly-empty complexes with many useless items thrown in to make it hard to find the real puzzles. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
6 of
10 people found the following review helpful:
Doesn't hold up, January 4, 2016by Dan Fabulich As I write this, Planetfall is #7 on the IFDB top 100, narrowly beating out Trinity and Blue Lacuna. No doubt it was one of Infocom's best, but now it has to be judged against the best games of the 21st century; it just doesn't hold up. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (3) - Add comment
- CasualGamer33356, October 14, 2015 - Robb Sherwin (Colorado), August 5, 2015 - Thrax, March 11, 2015 - morlock, January 14, 2015 - Janice M. Eisen (Portland, Oregon), November 10, 2014 - shornet (Bucharest), April 9, 2014 - MattC, February 2, 2014 - KidRisky (Connecticut, USA), December 20, 2013 - Hotspur, September 23, 2013 The game's greatest strength is its plot. Although relatively simple in itself, it is developed with control that rivals a novel. The details are revealed slowly. The goal becomes clearer to the careful reader as clues hidden in locations come together to paint a picture of what has happened and what must happen in order for you to return heroically to Stellar Patrol. In contrast, the game's greatest weakness is its inventory management. Inventory juggling has always been a problem in adventures. Most adventure gamers accept the fact that there is a limit to how much the player can carry. In most games, an item is included which allows the player to carry more without destroying the delicate limits of belief. Unfortunately, no such item exists in Planetfall. Worse is the fact that I try to pick up an item but only to find it tumbling to the ground along with some other items of importance. This happens a lot, sometimes in almost endless successions. Moreover, there is a lack of challenging puzzles. Beyond inserting objects in slots most puzzles can be easily solved by dying, working out what has gone wrong, and then trying something different. Floyd is integral to a couple of challenges and should have been used to much greater effect.
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11 people found the following review helpful:
Not just a classic - A Legend, June 2, 2012by starfire (Just beyond Pluto) This game was everything that an interactive fiction game could be. It was an adventure, and this meant the player would have fun exploring an amazing fictional world, and would plan strategies for the next game session instead of listening to the teacher during class. It was fun, laughable fun, like most of the Infocom classics, so even the thirty or fortieth play through weren't old. And, most important, it touched your emotions. The antics of Floyd, your robot friend and adventuring companion, brought this character to life in the same way that characters in a well written book come alive. You, the real you, not just the you in the story, cared about Floyd. And Floyd cared about you. That is what made this game not just a classic, but a legend. That is what turned game players into fans. That is why we have the IFDB and the competitions and the thousands of games today, because games like this touch our hearts and live in our minds forever. Planetfall was everything an interactive fiction game could be, which means it's more than a playing experience, it's an emotional treasure. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | Add a comment
- kala (Finland), May 25, 2012 - Christiaan, March 27, 2012 - Jim Kaplan (Jim Kaplan has a room called the location. The location of Jim Kaplan is variable.), March 20, 2012 - stadtgorilla (Munich, Germany), January 26, 2012 - MonochromeMolly, January 8, 2012 - Toasty23 (Washington), December 23, 2011 - Doctor Zero (USA), December 10, 2011 - Nav (Bristol, UK), November 25, 2011 - cmdrfalafel, September 14, 2011 - Hulk Handsome (Carmen Sandiago), August 23, 2011 - André St-Aubin (Laval, Québec), May 31, 2011 - Rotonoto (Albuquerque, New Mexico), May 16, 2011 - Walter Sandsquish, February 2, 2011 - artao (SW Wisconsin), February 2, 2011 - snickerdoddle, January 27, 2011 - Narcisse, November 26, 2010 - armandch, October 13, 2010 - Atari Lover (Pacific Northwest, USA), August 28, 2010 - johno158 (New York, NY), August 22, 2010 - Xervosh (San Jose, Northern California), August 10, 2010 - smartgenes (Newcastle, UK), June 28, 2010 - tggdan3 (Michigan), April 5, 2010 - aparrish (NYC), March 22, 2010 - hari (Erlangen, Germany), March 15, 2010 - four1475 (Manhattan, KS), December 29, 2009 - Mr. Patient (Saint Paul, Minn.), December 3, 2009 - lupusrex (Seattle, WA), October 4, 2009 - Divide (Wroclaw, Poland), September 16, 2009 - Cuxxu (Albany, NY), August 26, 2009 - thion, August 20, 2009 - Ghalev (Northern Appalachia, United States), July 14, 2009 - sonicnurse (Munich, Germany), April 26, 2009 - Mastodon, March 26, 2009 - Floyd312 (Fort Worth, Texas), February 23, 2009 - qwrrty (Carlisle, Massachusetts), February 10, 2009 - albtraum, February 8, 2009 - Audiart (Davis, CA), January 8, 2009 - kba (berlin), January 2, 2009 - Adam Biltcliffe (Cambridge, UK), December 28, 2008 - Martin Braun (Berlin, Germany), November 25, 2008 - Stagrovin, November 10, 2008 - Linnau (Tel-Aviv, Israel), October 31, 2008 - Nathan (Utah), October 25, 2008 - burtcolk, September 3, 2008 - Genjar (Finland), August 31, 2008 - The Relentless (Antioch, CA), August 16, 2008 - LisariaUS, July 17, 2008 - Ben Treat (Maine, USA), July 11, 2008 - Nathaniel Kirby (Pennsylvania), July 7, 2008 - Wendymoon, June 11, 2008 - mdbuff, June 10, 2008 - Mike Ciul (Philadelphia), June 4, 2008 - TCWT, May 2, 2008 - Dave Chapeskie (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), April 23, 2008 - Samuel Verschelde (Stormi) (Lyon, France), April 20, 2008 - bolucpap, March 19, 2008 - Cheryl L (Australia), March 11, 2008 18 of
19 people found the following review helpful:
A true classic from the Golden Age, February 27, 2008by OtisTDog "Planetfall" is undoubtedly one of the finest games in the history of interactive fiction; it may be my favorite Infocom game, to boot. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Remove vote | View comments (1) - Add comment
- jfpbookworm (Hamburg, New York), February 25, 2008 - NiMuSi (London, UK), February 23, 2008 - J. Robinson Wheeler (Austin, TX), February 22, 2008 - Eriorg (Switzerland), February 22, 2008 - Matt Kimmel (Cambridge, MA), February 20, 2008
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