Game Profile

Author Brandi Wilcox Idiom English Authoring System Tads3 Release Year 2007 IFR Overall Rating

It's clear from the title that this is going to be a superhero game, although this isn't clear from the beginning of the game. I found the beginning a bit dry and railroading, although this changes once the "main game" begins. There at least was an ostensible goal, even if this turns out to be unrelated to the main game.

The majority of the game is a figure-out-what's-going-on-here thing. I enjoyed the puzzles here; they all seemed to have intuitive and natural solutions, and many have multiple solutions, a nice feature. Some of the solutions seemed a little bit cliche (I *knew* when I found a stethoscope what I was probably going to need it for...), and there was one irritating piece of information hidden in a random spot (and no real indication otherwise that meticulous examination was necessary). I also personally dislike having to both "examine" and "search" things, which is necessary here. The place where I encountered the most trouble was at the end; one of the "powers" which must be used did not seem at all clued (the other one was pretty clearly).

What disappointed me the most was that your superpowers, such as they are, do not really come into play until the very end, and in fact your character doesn't seem particularly interested in figuring out what is happening to her and what powers she has. In one ending (where you leave without figuring out what's going on) there isn't really any comment about them at all.

There were a few bugs (possible spoilers here): if you don't exit through the office door and return to your room through the window without finding everything, and then unlock Darcy, she will prevent you from returning to the office (she won't let you back out the window). There are also some responses from Darcy printed even when she hasn't been released yet (if you try to leave through the gate, for instance). I also found several "a stethoscope is here" messages when I had it in my inventory (and there didn't seem to be a second one).

Overall I found the game enjoyable, but felt it needed a bit more polish. Certainly worth playing.