|
This interactive fiction game is based on Roger Zelazny's fantasy novels Nine
Princes In Amber (1970) and The Guns of Avalon (1972). The game begins with you as
Prince Corwin forced to compete against your eight scheming noble brothers and sisters
for the throne of Amber at the center of the one true world. Corwin must travel across
the dimensions to this fascinating realm and from there rally forces against those
who would oppose him. Unfortunately, things do not always proceed as planned. When
you wake up, you know little of this, as you have been knocked unconscious and pummeled
with drugs. All you have is the address of your scheming sister. The game is largely
based around interaction with other characters, and can end in 40 different ways
depending on how these work. It's one of the better Telarium games and as in the
novel, you will travel from the real world into the fascinating fantasy world of Amber,
where things are similar to our 20th century world, but imbued with subtle differences
as only our minds can create. It deserves recognition for being one of the first (if
not THE first) Telarium games to break the mold of action/adventure blend the company
is known for. Instead of enduring another pointless maze or endure an action sequence,
you will instead need to focus on how best to interact with your brothers and other
characters to win their favor (or be rid of them, if they simply won't help). The
parser, although still limited, is now expanded to understand a lot more communicative
verbs, such as FLATTER, CONFESS, and CONTACT - all of which you need to use to win the
game. Observing the personalities of other characters is therefore key to winning the
game. And as icing on the cake, there are also several fun, non-maze mini-games: most
notably the Mind Game which requires you to THINK of various objects, and the Pattern
game at the end that will take a while to master. Overall, it is a fun, well-written,
and enjoyable game that will please fans of the novels, although the lack of a good
background story and plot development will confuse those who are not familiar with the
series. |