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| Another adventure begins |
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Reviewed by: | Mark Goninon |
| Developer: | Infocom |
| Publisher: | Infocom |
| Release Date: | 1981 |
| Time played: | 2 hours (incl. reading time) |
I reviewed the very first episode of Zork in August and while I acknowledged its importance to computer games as a whole, if you didn't grow up playing early interactive fiction games, it's a tough sell in 2024, at least without a walkthrough.
Prior to me playing Zork's sequel, I was expecting more of the same, but first a bit of background about this game. Apparently, Zork was going to be a much larger game but the decision was made to split the game and the second half would become Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz. The game sold well, with 170,000 copies sold by 1986 but didn't sell as well as the original Zork. The first three episodes of Zork accounted for more than a third of Infocom's 2 million in total sales between 1982 to 1986.
So, the Zork games were kind of a big deal back in the early 80s, but is Zork II any good in 2024? Is it any better than Zork I? Is it worth investing the time to play this?
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| One of the "feelies" provided with the GOG version is this travel guide to the Great Underground Empire |
Why am I here?
Before I get into this review proper, fair warning that it is going to be very similar to my review of the first episode of Zork and that shouldn't be a surprise since the first three Zork games were all developed at the same time and are basically three chapters of one larger game. I do know, thanks to Zork II's title, that it has something to do with a "Wizard of Frobozz" but that's about it. Just as it was with the original Zork, GOG doesn't really provide much in the way of useful materials, just a lot of feelies like a travel guide to the Great Underground Empire (where the Zork games are set) as well as some advertisements for a ski resort and an amusement park. A map is bundled but it's not as useful as you would initially expect since (a) you still have no idea what you're meant to be doing and (b) there are mazes within mazes in this game. So even before you have to figure out how to solve the puzzles, you don't even know the backstory or the purpose of solving them in the first place.
Anyway, I did initially try playing Zork II without any sort of guidance, since I always give games the old college try, but after over twenty minutes of wandering aimlessly in mazes and the Wizard of Frobozz popping in randomly to curse me with various spells beginning with the letter "F" such as "Freeze", "Fumble" or "Float", I gave up. It was time to use a walkthrough and just as it was with the original Zork, I'm really glad I did, since I don't think I would've been able to finish the game otherwise, even with an infinite amount of time.
(For those that are curious, I used a walkthrough by Stanley E. Dunigan at GameFAQs)
The Good Stuff
While the game has a lot of flaws that come with early interactive fiction titles (more on these later), there are a few pluses. If you're familiar with interactive fiction games, it operates like other text adventures and interactive fiction titles: 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.
I also appreciated the few times the game became descriptive enough to read like actual fiction. What can be deemed a weakness of interactive fiction, its use of text and lack of graphics, is also its strength as there's nothing like reading to stir your imagination!
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| The eponymous wizard |
Encumbrance
In older interactive fiction titles like Zork you can only carry a limited number of items. This is different to graphic adventures by Sierra or Lucasarts (which I am more familiar with) where being a kleptomaniac and grabbing everything that isn't bolted down, is considered a good thing: you'll never know when you might need that talking demonic skull tucked down your pants! Unfortunately, this is not the ideal approach in Zork II since grabbing everything will result in you becoming encumbered. I find this adds a whole extra layer of difficulty when playing these games since not only do you have the challenge of finding where to get an item and when to use it, you can't bring your whole inventory wherever you go. This means learning when to drop items and when to bring them, and probably restoring many saved games to figure it out. I'm glad that adventure games evolved past this. I can understand weight restrictions being a thing in RPGs, such as MUDs (the multiplayer cousins of interactive fiction games) but it just adds a lot of tedium and encourages save scumming.
Oh, and what's even worse is the fact that some items just weigh you down and are of no use to you whatsoever.
Perplexing Puzzles
While many of the puzzles in the game have logical solutions, there are some which exhibit moon logic or require you to have a good knowledge of sports (baseball in particular).
For example, there is one puzzle where it appears you are failing and just making a situation worse, but this turns out to be the correct thing to do. Not only that but you have to navigate to a particular room while you're apparently failing, luring an enemy to their doom. There is no hint luring the enemy to the room will result in it dying as it requires (a) particular knowledge about the enemy's behaviour and (b) a vivid imagination to come up with the scenario that results in its death.
This is one of the pet peeves I have with interactive fiction or adventure games: when they require oddly specific knowledge outside of the game in order to complete the puzzles. I believe all the answers you need should be found somewhere in the game. If they had books, or notes or NPCs you could talk to which help build your knowledge of the game and this ultimately leads you to formulating solutions, this is how the game should work. This way, nobody is at a disadvantage, provided you have the ability to read, which you should if you're playing an interactive fiction title! You shouldn't need to already know wolf mating rituals or the dimensions of an Australian Rules Football field in order to solve a puzzle, but if it is presented to you somewhere in the game, then at least that's fair.
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| The infamous baseball puzzle |
The Challenge of Playing Old Games
As mentioned in my review for the original Zork, 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 II (and its predecessor) 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 II 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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3
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Like its predecessor, Zork II is a game of its time. Without highly specific knowledge of subjects outside of the game, you'll never be able to finish it and while the game has glimmers of what make interactive fiction great, there's too much punishing, antiquated gameplay to keep modern audiences interested. |
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