IFReviewed by
Andrew Plotkin on 2006-06-25 09:32
Another office building! I know, it's not their fault I just played CoffeeQuest 2, but the omen is not good.
The motivational poster is good for a laugh. Actually, after the opening text, a lot of this is good for a laugh. Yay!
Er, actually that "bucket of dirty water (which is empty)" seems to be a bug, not a subtle joke. Scratch one laugh. But still very good overall. (I love the clowns.)
Had problems with the bucket -- the game kept trying to make room in my inventory by putting the mop in the bucket, which failed. Thus, I spent the whole game juggling inventory. Bad.
Just like every other reviewer, I have to say "Been done. Twice." But I still find this iteration of the idea appealing -- mostly because of the wonderfully precise pastiche of Adventure and Zork design. It's all like elements of the classic games -- but not the same, and yet it all rings exactly true. "Poe Room" indeed.
The two-level view of reality is also nice -- I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.
However, after a good start, I wound up progressively more frustrated at the end. The plot gimmick that leads into the endgame wasn't obvious to me... okay, I feel like it should have been, but it wasn't. I had to look at the hints to figure out what to next.
And the desk did not make it clear what was unlockable and what wasn't. I had to look at the hints to realize that the key was usable. (I thought I had tried it.)
And then I couldn't get the small or file drawers open at all. The hints told me nothing. If the mop was supposed to be a help system, I was never able to make it work. Stuck; frustrated; giving up... game without end.
