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| The first screen you'll see when playing a classic of interactive fiction |
| Quick Info | |
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| Reviewed by: | Mark Goninon |
| Developer: | Infocom |
| Publisher: | Infocom |
| Release Date: | 1980 |
| Time played: | 2 hours (incl. reading time) |
A Pioneer of Interactive Fiction
My original plan for this year was to publish two game reviews per month. I'm a bit behind in terms of this goal but to throw an extra spanner into the works I've now decided to try something else: I'm attempting to review one modern game per month but also one "classic" game. My definition for a classic game is going to be quite generous as anything that is 20 years or older will fit in this category, but I would like to review the oldest game in my library and work my way towards the modern day.
This is why I am reviewing the first game in the Zork series as early versions of the game surfaced around 1977 making it the oldest game in my library (although the oldest game I've ever played would have to be Hamurabi). Many people have heard of this game and it's often touted as a classic of the interactive fiction genre. Developed by Infocom, a company famous for their interactive fiction games, Zork started off as a project by MIT students Tim Anderson, Marc Blank and Bruce Daniels, as well as MIT staff member, Dave Lebling. Zork was inspired by Colossal Cave Adventure and a prototype was developed for the DEC PDP-10, a mainframe computer. Despite the game not initially having a name, "zork" was a term used in the MIT community for an in-development program and over time, the name stuck.
The game went through many iterations and the team eventually formed the development studio Infocom in 1979. The first version of Zork, Zork I was released on microcomputers in 1980. It was a commercial and critical success selling over 380,000 copies by 1986 and receiving many glowing reviews. Zork is often included on lists of the best or most important games of all time.
So, Zork is a pretty important game and was kind of a big deal back in the late 70s and early 80s, but is it actually any fun to play nowadays? Can a gamer in 2024 overlook the primitive nature of this game and still enjoy it for its gameplay? Is it worth investing the time to play this?
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| The GOG version of Zork I comes with a booklet that details the Underground Empire's history |
Why Am I Here?
I played the GOG version of Zork and since I knew I was playing an old game that came out before the 1990s, I knew this increased the likelihood of two things: (1) the game was unlikely to have a tutorial and (2) due to the game being originally developed in the 70s, the chance of a well-fleshed out story was probably out of the question too. It turns out I was right but fortunately, this is why games of this era tend to explain everything in a manual.
Unfortunately, GOG's version of the game doesn't come with a manual for Zork but it does have a neat history lesson about the Underground Empire which I spent a few minutes skim-reading. Since I went in without a manual, I think this made the game extra challenging for me since I wasn't aware of all the commands or strategies, relying mainly on my limited experience with later interactive fiction games and text parser graphic adventures in order to make it through my first run of the game.
Thankfully, the game operates like other text adventures and interactive fiction titles I've played from later years. You can look around your surroundings, interact with items when you use the correct verbs and nouns, and you can traverse in multiple directions. Shortcuts work too such as "w" being shorthand for travelling "west" and "i" bringing up your inventory. But this is as far as my previous knowledge would help me.
As I wasn't aware of what the goal of the game was, I spent my first try with the game exploring and grabbing a whole bunch of items, wandering aimlessly before I got frustrated and eventually resorted to a walkthrough.
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| Ooooh it said THE line! |
Where Can I Go?
It's just as well I ended up using a walkthrough since the game occasionally provides very little in the way of information when looking at the room you're in. While they usually give you a description of where exits are, sometimes the rooms are quite complex in structure and it's hard to visualise. Sometimes they don't even mention the possibility of an exit in a particular direction meaning the only way you would've discovered the exit is if you tried moving in every single direction in every single room you explored! I'm not sure if that is what you were meant to do back in the day but in modern graphic adventures and indeed interactive fiction (check out Thaumistry: In Charm's Way) it's usually much clearer which exits are available to you.
How Much Can I Carry?
One thing I wasn't prepared for was the fact that you could only carry a limited number of items. In graphic adventures by Sierra or Lucasarts, it's generally considered a good thing if you act like a kleptomaniac and take everything that isn't bolted down, resulting in an inventory filled to the brim with a variety of knick knacks. Unfortunately, taking this approach isn't a good idea in Zork since grabbing everything will result in you becoming overencumbered which means you have to carefully think about what to bring in certain sections of the game: you don't want to get into a situation where you have to be able to pick up something but don't have enough space to do so. And if it wasn't bad enough trying to figure out what is useful enough to bring in the first place, being injured in combat can also affect how much you'll be able to carry.
While this mechanic is annoying it would have been some consolation if they implemented the ability to monitor how heavy items are in your inventory and to display the maximum carry weight, which is typical in RPGs. Although I'm still perplexed that you're able to carry coffins around with ease yet not able to carry smaller items.
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| Combat with a troll isn't always this easy |
Where Did My Stuff Go?
My final gripe I have with this game is the random nature of some encounters. To be fair, Zork is not alone in this regard since other games of this era (late 70s and early 80s) seemed to employ chance as a gameplay mechanic even in narrative focused games like interactive fiction and graphic adventures. You only need to take a look at my early King's Quest reviews to see what I mean. So, just like early Sierra adventures, there's a chance you'll encounter NPCs that will steal crucial items from your inventory; you'll also come across combat sequences where there's a very real chance of losing and it all comes down to sheer luck.
Consequently, despite following a walkthrough, it wasn't always going to be correct since it relied on me not losing battles or being robbed. Thankfully, as I'm used to the adventure game mantra of "save early, save often", I just restored the game whenever things didn't go my way.
How to Review a Classic?
I've decided to play these classic games to experience them as someone who has played games for over 30 years; as someone who has lived through all the other developments in the genres, for better or worse. While I could always review these old games with the mindset of someone playing them for the first time when they were released, this isn't easy since I'm not the same person I was back then and if I have nostalgia for particular games, I have to be careful of not becoming an apologist for its flaws. Consequently, I feel the best thing to do is review the game as a newly released one with a focus on reviewing the gameplay (since obviously the older the game, the worse the graphics and audio). Helping to inform my decisions though, are modern examples of the genre and thankfully I did play Bob Bates's Thaumistry: In Charm's Way which received an impressive 9 out of 10. Thaumistry is a perfect example of how to create a modern interactive fiction game including a fleshed out narrative, tutorial, automap, goal reminders and an in-built hints system, things that Zork lacks. It just goes to show how far the interactive fiction genre has come.
The 1970s and 1980s were the early, pioneering days of computer games so a lot of these "quality of life" enhancements weren't even conceived yet. So, while I can accept that Zork was a game of its time, compared to modern IF games (which is the point of this exercise), it's brutal and unforgiving.
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As a product of the early days of interactive fiction, Zork is brutal and unforgiving. You will need to restore the game several times in order to achieve a favourable outcome and knowing where to go or even what you're meant to be doing are difficult challenges due to a lack of information. I can only recommend this to those with a curiosity for computer games that are considered classics and to see an early example of interactive fiction. Otherwise, it's best left in the past. |
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