RESEARCH DIG  by Chris Armitage
            A text adventure on SynTax disk 1291

                    Review by Bev Truter

This short and fairly simple Inform game is yet another entry in
the 1998 interactive fiction competition run on the Net. DIG has
28 locations, about 6 of which are completely unnecessary and have
been added to pad out the game somewhat. There are a few
predictable puzzles, but the plot is interesting enough to keep
you plugging away until you reach the end - this should take about
an hour. The maximum score is 10/10, but in practice you can only
attain 6 points for solving puzzles, and the final 4 points are
rather clumsily added when you win the game.

You play the role of an archaeologist working at the
Archaeological Research Centre, and after only a few weeks there
you have been given an assignment. The Centre received a letter
from a Mr.  Yeomans, groundkeeper of St. Mary's Church located
next to Shelf Abbey.  While digging in the church graveyard they
found something which 'looked old', so you have been sent to Mr.
Yeomans' house to investigate the find.

After finding a way into his house, Mr. Yeomans reads the letter
you give him, then departs, saying that his young daughter Louise
will show you the graveyard where the find was made. Louise has
other ideas though, and is too engrossed in watching TV to be of
any assistance. After examining an urn in the lounge-room cabinet
you have a vague idea about what to look for, so you'll just have
to leave Louise behind and explore the graveyard and surrounds on
your own. First collect a few bits and pieces from the house
though, and remember Louise's remark about the 'little people'...

Although the author has miraculously managed to spell
'archaeological' correctly, the awkwardness of some phrasing and
grammar in DIG suggests that his native language is not English.
Two phrases which jumped out were "you are stood in a garden.."
and "to your surprisement..." However, DIG is adequately written,
and although locations are lacking somewhat in atmosphere, there's
enough of that "but how DOES it end??" feeling generated to keep
you interested. The ending to this little tale is abrupt and
unexpected; not so much a twist in the plot as a complete veering
off on another tangent. This gives one the impression that perhaps
the game was intended to be longer, but that time was running out
so the author decided to finish it off quickly; I don't really
know why, but somehow the ending just didn't fit in neatly with
the rest of the story.

Overall this wasn't too bad a game - there were plenty in the 1997
competition that were *far* worse than DIG - but it never gave me
that "aaaahhhh!" feeling of satisfaction when you finally reach
the end and see the credits rolling up. But from what I hear about
some of the other 1998 competition games, DIG might prove to be
one of the "better" ones to play this year.





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