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From: ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Christopher E. Forman)
Subject: Poorly done commercial adventures (Was: Re: Least favorite IF puzzles)
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Message-ID: <1995Oct27.152929.248581@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 15:29:29 GMT
References: <46ibm4$n9@mercury.kingston.ac.uk> <46q7ne$5n7@mercury.kingston.ac.u
Organization: Illinois State University
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Adrian Preston (te_s343@kingston.ac.uk) wrote:
: Anyone remember 'The Hulk' in which you started the game tied to a chair,
: and the only command that did anything was 'BITE LIP'? Grrrr.......

This is getting a little off the subject, but I was just wondering what game
is considered the worst, most annoying commercial adventure ever.

For me, it would probably have to be "Psycho," published by Box Office
software and based on (very, VERY loosely based on!) Alfred Hitchcock's
superb thriller.

Actually, on second thought, "Psycho" isn't all that annoying as much as it's
side-splittingly hilarious.  This game had to have been the "Detective" of
its time.  The story had something to do with your playing a detective (!)
who had to rescue a kidnapped curator from the Bates home.  You're familiar
with the two-word parser?  "Psycho" used the "one-letter parser."  All
commands were entered by hitting a key, and each key (actually, only about
a fifth of them) stood for a command (T=Take, S=Search, etc.)

The game featured atrocious CGA graphics that were bad even for back then.
Your detective's feet moved as he walked (you moved using the arrow keys),
but his arm holding his magnifying glass was always held straight out in
front of him.  You could also acquire a gun during the game, which replaced
the magnifying glass.  Using that, you could kill the dogs, Norman Bates,
and ghosts (Yes, shooting ghosts.  Really.  I kid you not.) that appeared
occasionally.  If they got you first, you would fall asleep and wake up
later, with lost time.

The puzzles were really lame, and even had bugs in them.  In one, you had
to dig in a coal bin for a key, but if you tried it again after you already
found the key, it would appear again (the graphics people must've been lazy)
and you'd get the message "I found more keys just like the one I found
before."  (Really.  I'm NOT making this up!)

The room descriptions were similarly lame.  The game's living room was split
into two halves, and one description read "I found that this is a big living
room," while the other read, "I found that this is the same big room."

I never did finish the game, because evidently there's a bug at the end
when you try to save the curator.

Sorry to waste bandwidth like this, but I just thought those of you who
enjoy bad games for their cult value would get a kick out of it.  It's
unbelievable that such a piece of junk ever got boxed and shrink-wrapped
and put on shelves in the first place.  If you ever see a copy (I've seen
'em in discount bins for a buck and a half in some Target and Wal-Mart
stores), by all means, pick one up.  It's a scream!

That said, what was the worst commercial adventure YOU ever played?

--
C.E. Forman                                      ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
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