IFReviewed by
Andrew Plotkin on 2006-06-25 09:17
I don't see why the timing has to be so tight at the beginning. Oh, okay, it was a puzzle I didn't see. But it isn't exactly logical -- slowing them down at the front door won't keep them from catching you as you go out the back.
Smooth introduction of game-common commands like "call". (Would have been even smoother to say "[You can type 'drive to landmark']" when you get into the car.)
Hrm, the conversation engine this game is using is very slow. Is it doing an N^2 search or nested scope iteration?
It plays out well enough, but the writing is rather bloodless. Except for the literal blood. But I mean there's no tension in the writing -- I felt like every discovery was accompanied by a thoughtful "hm", up to and including the exciting showdown at the end. The world is very plain also. Most of the scenery is just scenery -- implemented for the sake of filling out the world -- and, you know, I knew that as soon as I saw it.
The opening gimmick is nice, though.
I wouldn't have gotten the balcony puzzle without hints. Reason: the first thing I tried was "tie hose to railing", but that gave a generic failure message.