IFReviewed by
Andrew Plotkin on 2006-06-25 09:52
Cute, but only a first chapter.
The author provides three different conversational systems (pre-scripted conversation, ask/tell about, and menu). This makes it very clear that menus are my least favorite. Yes, really, it breaks my sense of immersion more when the game prints out six different possibilities for my line, than when the game prints six alternating lines of a dialogue (without giving me any choices at all). I wound up always choosing "say nothing" followed by "talk to character", to get that dialogue -- but I wish there was an option to make the menus not appear at all.
Somehow the introduction left me expecting a more hard-science game. When the superpowers showed up, I had a bit of mental whiplash, and the insta-beast didn't help.
The initial sequence, when you're experimenting with your powers and trying things, with Austin prompting you -- a lot of work went into that. It reacts nicely to anything you try, and what you try affects the rest of the sequence.
Nitpick: gigawatt is a measure of energy flow rate, and is pretty much meaningless for a lightning bolt.
