|
Fans
of Scott Adams will doubtless already be reaching for
their wands with the idea of turning me into something
small and slimy, while others will be wondering what
in the name of Belboz I'm on about. Let me explain .
. .
Scott
Adams, bless his heart, started programming adventures
on the TRS 80 back in 1978. His games still bear the
hallmarks of those early days -- and in the case of
Hulk that means two word input only, a vocabulary of
(at most) 150 words, strange illogical puzzles, and
a parser that simply responds with 'SORRY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU MEAN' if you mistype a command or use the wrong
word.
Ol'
Scott then conceived the idea of doing a series based
on the Marvel superheroes. Unfortunately he applied
the same old techniques and the result was a couple
of games (The Hulk and Spiderman, followed
by The Fantastic Four) that had a reasonable
marketing success but were, in all honesty, pretty poor
adventures compared to what the opposition was offering.
Scott's games are, I think, best described as puzzles
rather than adventures -- they have very few locations,
lots of tricky situations and require considerable lateral
thinking (and luck).
The
Hulk is no different from the rest, except that
now you can get it for £2.99. Meet Dr Strange, Ultron,
and Nightmare as you attempt to unravel a scenario that
would confuse even the most experienced wand-wielder.
At the price, this game is worth a second look -- a
Scott Adams game is something of a 'must' for any seasoned
adventurer, and if you haven't played any then it's
probably worth the impulse to buy. But if value for
money isn't so important to you, then remember -- this
is an 'old-fashioned' game and for some that will mean
it is, by today's standards, a bad one.
|
