Connections: Getting it Together

Discovery Channel Multimedia, 1996

Connections, also known as James Burke's Connections is an excellent educational as well as traditional title based on a famous TV show and a book by the same name, hosted and written by James Burke respectively. James Burke is a famous broadcaster, who hosts many excellent shows on technology and social sciences. In this CD-ROM version of Connections, James Burke introduces himself as your guide and asks you to help him in reorganizing the technological history in a Web, which is disturbed by an evil character. Your quest lets you explore five different timelines in history that starts from galloping the vast and Wild West to exploring the medieval ages of our world and to venturing the Egyptian mythology in the ancient land of Pharaohs. Dig up clues and find links or connections between the technological races of these times. During the game you will meet many live character from different times and places, which will help you solve the puzzles and challenges in the game. James Burke, as your host will also pop up at many points and guide you on your quest.

Puzzles are mostly traditional and logical, while they are very informative and thought provoking and can be solved using different inventory items. Some mind-boggling slider puzzles and lock-combination puzzles are also thrown in for extra fun. Excellent graphics are 3D rendered and quite dated in standard. Real actors presented as game characters are acting quite well in the game. Interface is traditional point and click in a 1st-Person perspective. Overall, keeping in view the excellent educational value of this adventure game I highly recommend it to all the fans of the genre and especially to the viewers of the James Burke's TV shows.

The Case of the Cautious Condor

Tiger Media, Inc., 1990

The Case of the Cautious Condor is an interactive drama and the second game from Tiger Media, which is utilizing the vast capacity of CD-ROM. The game is set in the summer of 1937 aboard a huge flying boat Condor when the dark clouds of war were gathering on the distant horizon.

Rich industrialist, Bronson Barnard, who owns Condor, is launching its maiden transatlantic jaunt from Baltimore to Lisbon and a select group of guests are invited to celebrate the launch. You play as Detective Ned Peters and old war buddy of Bronson Barnard. As the champagne flows and the pampered party-goers revel in the elegance and splendor, no one realizes that their gracious host is setting a trap for a murderer.

Bronson's hidden purpose was to demonstrate his abilities as amateur sleuth for Ned Peters by exposing the killer of the U.S. Customs Official who was, in fact, Branard's own illegitimate son. But when a sudden heart attack foils his plan and the plane must be turned back, he entrusts his secret to Peters, imploring him to step in and solve the crime before the plane lands. With only thirty minutes in hand can you help Ned Peters in unraveling this mystery?

The game has a unique mouse-driven interface and the player explores the various rooms of the Condor using the blueprint of Condor found on Peter's Desk and talks to every guest, most of whom are considered suspects. There is a notebook on Peter's Desk to enter significant details about every guest as and when you gather it. The graphics in the game are very nice for the time and give an interactive-comic book experience to the player. Speech and digital audio soundtracks are excellent and enjoyable throughout the game. Though the puzzles are quite hard for novice adventure gamers I only recommend this game to professional gamers and also to the fans of whodunit adventure genre.

Return to Zork

Infocom, 1996

Return to Zork is an epic adventure, a brand new saga into the Great Underground Empire of Zork, which was destroyed and all the evil magic was dispersed. But now, a company has discovered a hidden realm of Zork Empire and you have won a sweepstake for a vacation in the Valley of Sparrows where this archaeological digging is going on.  But, no sooner you enter the Valley, which is now known as the Valley of Vultures, you realize that something is really suspicious about the place and the evil forces still rule the place. As the unwitting traveler, you must save the Underground Empire once again from the manacles of the dark forces by restoring all the building that are vanished and finding all the missing persons, but be vigilante and save your game very often as one wrong step could be fatal.

When Return to Zork was first published after a long period of silence, the fans of Zork trilogy were enthralled to see the graphical changes and mesmerizing interactive interface this episode brought them by still keeping the standard values of their favorite text adventures. Though, they might have missed the legendary text parser, which was replaced with a point-and-click interface that pops up a group of action icons by clicking the right-mouse button on an object or a person. The player can also choose a mood while talking to the characters depending on the situation. Undoubtedly, Return to Zork was an innovative game that revel in a superb soundtrack with over 180 original compositions and more than one hour of spoken dialogue found in the CD-ROM version only. Real Hollywood actors were cast in the game, which the player interacts throughout the game. All in all, it's a delightful game to play and I strongly recommend it to all the novice adventure gamers and especially to all the Zork trilogy fans.