WORLD (version 1.06) Author: J.D. McDonald (1988) A text adventure on SynTax disk 723(PC), 126(ST), 564(Amiga) Review by Bev Truter According to Sue, World has been around for ages (for the ST originally), but this version for the PC certainly doesn't show its age. World is a gloriously long and complicated text adventure with a sci-fi flavour that should keep you occupied for months - real heavy-duty adventuring required on this one! There is none of the usual amateurish feel to World, and it will draw you into the gameworld from the word go with vivid descriptions and good atmosphere. Problems and puzzles abound, most of them quite complicated, so this is not a game for beginners or the chronically impatient. Since I'm not overly fond of text adventures with a SF setting - stuck on a strange planet and can you get back to your ship type of theme - I wasn't expecting much from World when I first loaded it on the old computer about 3 years ago (yes, it HAS taken me that long to finish, and with lots of help too!). But I was hooked from the beginning, despite my pathetic scores - 15/450 after one month's play; then a quantum leap to 35/450 after another fortnight. At this rate it was going to take me ... umm ... about 53 years to complete the whole game. However, thanks to some help via the Internet the end is nigh, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the time spent playing it. The plot is apparently dead simple - you are part of a scientific expedition which has landed on a strange world, and you have been sent ahead to scout around and collect anything interesting. Your mother-ship orbiting this planet is unable to transmit or receive any information, due to the thick layer of mist which permanently covers the alien world. So off you toddle on your lonesome, with a knapsackful of essentials on your back and high hopes. The aim of the game then is to collect objects, observe things, and find a way out of the valley where your adventure begins. World looks good visually, with white text on a blue screen, red status line; and location, score and moves in yellow. The game consists of one short .EXE file, and it loads, saves and restores in the blink of an eye. Typing HELP at any point during the game brings up 3 screensful of help and hints on how to play, and my only gripe about the technicalities of World is that the word EXAMINE has to be entered in full. I scoured all the files and help screens, positive I'd overlooked something, but EXAMINE it is - no shortcuts or abbreviations. But don't let this very minor detail put you off, overall World is a beauty of a game. And to cap it all, it's free - no payment requested. Points are given for collecting certain items, for solving problems, and for entering some locations. There are about 190 locations in all, divided into 6 distinctly different areas. The valley that you begin the adventure in seems to have odd barriers or force fields at its extremities, through which you catch glimpses of different worlds. You can get through most of these force fields by using "run ", but eventually you have to find an appropriate way of entering each world, with the necessary equipment to overcome different problems encountered in each world. The first area you'll discover after leaving the valley is a huge underground alien-made complex, with some familiar and not so familiar equipment to fiddle about with, including a rather nice robot. It's obvious you can command him (it?) to do certain things - but can you speak his language? Or is it possible he might be able to speak English? There's also an awful lot of ordinary-looking equipment in a Darkroom that you'll have to discover how to use - but what do you insert, and where? (No rude comments, thanks; that was rhetorical). The Mars-like world is particularly enjoyable, and if you travel around it at night you'll bump into some of the local inhabitants, as well as having a chance to observe their favourite sport - a type of ice-hockey, minus the ice. There's a light source somewhere here as well, which means you can race off to explore the underground caves that were too dark to enter earlier....... World has an immensely satisfying endgame and conclusion - some real food for thought there. Another likeable feature of gameplay is that brains are definitely superior to brawn here, and you have no opportunity (or weapons) to kill anyone - so tough cheese if your idea of fun is playing "Doom", and your hero is a cross between Arnie Schwartzenwotsit and Jean-Claude van Damme. This is generally a hugely appealing and entertaining game, and I'm amazed at how well it compares with even the best of recent text adventures, Jigsaw and Theatre being two that spring to mind immediately. Considering World is about a decade old now, J.D. McDonald deserves a huge round of applause for creating a game that has worn so well . ENJOYMENT 7/10 ATMOSPHERE 7.5/10 DIFFICULTY 8.5/10 FINAL COMMENT Long, complex and fascinating to play. Enjoy! - o -