Planetfall

The Good
Steve Meretzky's first game is still one of the my favourite Infocom games ever.

First of all, it's because of Floyd -- of course! Meretzky had the marvelous idea to give the player a sidekick, in form of this little robot, giving him a childish personality that you simply cannot dislike. He doesn't really become part of the plot until far into the game, but he makes you emotionally attached to the game, and he makes the exploration of the planet very enjoyable. (Besides giving some valuable hints.)

However, later in the game, he BECOMES an integral part of the plot. I don't want to disclose too much, but if you get far enough, I can assure there will one of those rare moments in computer gaming where you (if you have a heart or two) will feel truly sad and moved by the game. For this alone, this game deserves its place in the pantheon of great computer games.

But it's not just Floyd who is responsible for the great atmosphere of this game. The building complex that you'll explore is wide and realistic. First, you need to eat and sleep from time to time. (Some people hat that; I don't. I would have loved it if you had to go to the toilets too!) Then, there are lots of useless rooms -- dormitories, toilets etc. -- but they add to the feeling that you're exploring a large building that has been struck by disaster. I especially liked the native language that is used on the whole station -- a distorted kind of English, which is understandable, but only with some effort. A genial way of conveying a feeling of strangeness.

And of course, there's this great humor of Meretzky -- one of the wittiest writers and game designers in gaming history, IMO. Not that there's one gag after the other -- the whole game is actually serious and dramatic; as you get further, you'll discover that you have caught a deadly disease, and your condition will get worse and worse, unless you can solve the game. There are even some horror elements at the end of the game, when you are chased by mutants through the empty station. But still, every few minutes, you'll find some little hidden joke that'll make you chuckle.

The Bad
The only thing that I really, really didn't like is the very last puzzle -- how to escape from the mutants. Normally, Infocom gives you at least a minor hint somewhere, but here, it's all luck to find the way. Well, maybe I missed something... (EDIT: I did... still, the hint is very subtle.)

Another thing I'm not too fond of is that massive use of red herrings. I haven't got anything against a few red herrings, but here it's gotten too much. Like the helicopter -- you'll even find a manual how to operate it, but you'll never be able to.

The Bottom Line
This is a really great introductory IF adventure, especially for fans of humorous science fiction. It has everything -- a dramatic plot, a big, logical, realistic world to explore, and, best of all -- the loveable NPC robot Floyd. The game has one of the most memorable and emotional scenes in computing history. The game is very funny, dramatic, and horrible, and the difficulty level is OK (with a few exceptions). Together with Infocom's unique parser, this is definitely recommended -- nay, a must -- for each retrogamer.

And I'm sure that the Space Quest writers were heavily inspired by Planetfall...

The Good
As usual in Infocom adventures, the game has great prose, good parser, interface, & in most part atmosphere. It also starts of well, with the futuristic Captain Bligh making your life hell.

The Bad
Unusually in an Infocom adventure there are more comments about what is wrong than good. A few months back I played Starcross, which was described as one of the harder adventures, but which I mostly completed on my own, whilst Planetfall is described as one of the easiest, Upon playing this I found the reverse true.

After reaching the alien buildings you are able to move around a lot, but most of the rooms are very similar, full of corridors, elevators, dorms that it soon becomes pretty boring wandering around. There are many objects around but I have found it difficult matching them up to the puzzles, which seem to be full of locked doors/elevators with slots needing cards.

The parser on Infocom games is usually great, but to do things here is quite pedantic at times. For instance the game is full of slots needing cards, but getting the wording right to do this is ridiculous. Swipe, put, move etc, in are out, & you have to specifically 'slide object through slot', Any deviation leads to error. This the same for other actions. I also have a problem with the ridiculous childish prose around the premises, presumably representing alien language, but more like a pre version of text speech. At first I though it was something to decode like the great hieroglyphics in Infidel, but soon realised it was poor English prose like you found in Allo Allo.

Except for the beginning when you have dealings with Ensign Blather, there is little life once you get into the main game until you awaken the robot called Floyd. I had heard a lot about him, & how great & funny he was. So it is a bit hard to say I found him extremely irritating & useless, & acted like a frantic small child. Obviously the game was made for a different time, but I doubt I would have liked him much then.

The game also surprisingly suffers from death through not having enough sleep or eating, which was something early adventures had in abundance, but not something expected in an Infocom adventure. How someone dies without eating for a day I have no idea, particularly when they have had nothing to drink, which surely is more serious. Also dying because you haven't slept in a bed in dorm is hilarious.

Everything also take so long in this game., Waiting for an elevator to move to it destination takes a lifetime, Floyd keeps dozing off, reminders to stuff your face & go to sleep. This all wouldn't be so bad if you were not timed all the time.

The Bottom Line
I have heard very good things about this game, with its robot companion Floyd, that I was looking forward to really playing this, & it pains me to make such negative comments, as I know the game is well loved.

I really wanted to play & complete this adventure as a fan of the makers & lover of text games, but found it quite painful to play. Perhaps it is the setting or getting old, & think next time I will pick a more Earthbound setting when I play my next game.

I know this is isn't popular but cannot really recommend this adventure, but I expect others will really enjoy it.

The Good
There is some good drama in this relatively short game, especially the friendship with Floyd the Robot. There's some good problem solving, the difficulty level I'd say is just about right, it's certainly easier than some of the Zork games. I particularly liked the laser battle with the microbe inside the computer and discovering the way to beat it. It's interesting piecing together the fate of the people of the planet you crash land on at the start, how you and your crewmates on the space patrol ship got caught up in it and that you, a low ranking crew member, play a big part in saving the planet.

The Bad
Well being short isn't necessarily bad, but it seems unfinished i.e there are rooms you can't access and important looking items that you don't need. There is also a trap that I found particularly cruel, you need many magnetic access cards to get to new areas in the game, but you may find, when you come to use them, they've been ruined somehow, making it impossible to progress and win the game. Of course you could easily have saved your game since unknowingly ruining your cards and have no prior saved games to fall back on, finding that you have to restart.

The Bottom Line
I think it's one of the best adventure games, including graphical text adventures and point & click adventures. The problem solving isn't as demanding as some of the Zork problem solving and when you've completed it, it's still something you can have a fairly quick, satisfying game of.