IFReviewed by
Tom Zuchowski on 2006-05-06 09:08
MAIN PGM Version: 4
Extra Commands: EAT, READ, SMOKE, HELP, QUIT
Deleted Commands: None, no Save in DOS 3.3 version
Special Features: interactive intro program
Playing Time: 1-1.5 hours
Reviewer Rating: 6.0
Description: You find yourself outside a very bizarre temple. For reasons that you don't really understand, you go inside and take part in a weird ritual. Drugs that you ingest during that ritual have an very odd effect on you...when you come to yourself, you find that you are one inch tall and in a friend's yard!
And so you embark on a quest to discover how to make yourself normal again.
Comment: This adventure does a pretty good job of portraying the experience of being so very small. You start out in a "forest" of lawn grass, and fight your way past an assortment of insects. There is an interesting side-trip into an anthill. Though most of your opponents are small like you, you will have to find a way past a cat which thinks that you are dinner.
The introduction is very unusual. It actually consists of a mini-adventure with its own commands and events and its own small map. It somewhat gives the player a feeling of having gotten himself into this mess (although in actual truth he has no choice).
All in all, I enjoyed the play. It mapped well and was very consistent. It had two or three nicely done puzzles. It would have rated better but for two things: first, drug use is an integral part of the adventure both going in and during play, and the solution consists of trying drugs until you find one that makes you big again. Secondly, there is a large number of death traps. While there certainly are warning clues for all these traps, there are so many that stumbling into one or two is virtually unavoidable. The cat, for instance, is instant death if you don't do the right thing on the very first move.
The combination of puzzle difficulty and death traps gives this adventure a (7) rating for difficulty. Puzzle fanciers will probably enjoy it more than Hack'n'Slashers, but there is plenty of combat to go around.
Used with Matthew Clark's kind permition.
Original review available at Eamon Adventurer's Guild Online website.
