The Lurking Horror

The Good
By the time "The Lurking Horror" was published, Infocom had reached its peak of popularity. Computer graphics at the time were improving dramatically from the 300x200, 16-color graphics of the Commodore 64 (the standard for most of the 80s). The Apple IIgs had been around for a year or two, and the Amiga had been released, as had color Macintosh computers. All had significantly better graphics, both in terms of higher resolution and more colors in the palette, than the Commodore 64 or the Apple IIe. This spelled the death knell for text-only games, as the average gamer wanted some bang for his graphical buck -- a bang that text-only games simply couldn't provide no matter how good their gameplay was.

(It's interesting to note that this trend continues to this day. Game companies frequently put out games that are heavy on the latest graphics and sound technology, but light on actual gameplay. And the reason they keep doing this is because it seems to be a successful marketing strategy.)

(But I digress...)

But forget all that. This is 1987. Text-only games are still fairly popular for the home computers of the day, thanks to the absolutely outstanding quality of the text-only games released by Infocom. "The Lurking Horror," their first (and, as it happens, their last) entry into the Horror genre, carried on this fine tradition of quality.

You start off as a student at George Underwood Edwards (GUE) University, an MIT clone. You're working late one night in the computer lab, when suddenly you're thrust into a tale that would do H.P. Lovecraft proud. As with Lovecraft, the horror is rarely "in your face." The horror is subtle, and relies on atmosphere rather than monsters or "jump out and go 'BOO'" tactics. Indeed, given the limitations of the text-only genre, the writers were really prevented from using the less subtle tactics. It worked so well, it's a wonder Infocom hadn't done a horror game any earlier.

The Bad
Nothing to dislike. The story was well crafted, the puzzles were challenging without being absurdly difficult, and the text parser performed admirably.

The Bottom Line
If you've ever wanted to actually be in an H.P. Lovecraft tale, "The Lurking Horror" is the game for you.

(And if you've ever wanted to actually be in an H.P. Lovecraft tale, seek counselling.)

The Good
You start the game in the computer center furiously working on an assignment. Your only companion is a hacker. You must figure out a way to get his keys which open all the doors in the college. You can take the elevator or stairs out of the computer center and begin to explore the vast expanses of the college.

One place you can visit is dead storage where all the old science equipment is kept. Another is the infinite corridor (based on a very long corridor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where the games implementers studied). You must work out how to get past a cleaner with a cleaning machine. A ‘lurker’ also hangs about. Down the corridor you pass an office labeled ‘Department of Alchemy’ (the ancient study of making gold out of base metals which lead to chemistry). There is also a professor’s office that you work out how to enter with a mysterious pentagon drawn on its floor.

Sorry that’s about all I can remember, it was a long time ago. I did finish the game, but had to cheat using invisiclues a booklet with a magic pen that gradually revealed more and more specific clues.

The Bad
Not one of there best games. They did say they wanted to make it longer but were constrained by disk space, 330Kbytes for the parser and game I think.

The Bottom Line
Mildly interesting.

The Good
It's a very highly atmospheric game; the writing is excellent and the puzzles are smart; the parser -as in every Infocom game- is great!

The Bad
I didn't like very much that you may be forced to restart the game if you've spent too much turns.

The Bottom Line
The only Infocom's horror title is a great incursion in the genre.