DOS

Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands

Activision inherited a grand tradition with the Zork series. Zork predates Myst as the granddaddy of adventure games for most gamers. Started as a text series, the phrase such as "in front of you is a white house" along with terms like Frobozz, Grue’s and zorkmids set many an adventurers heart a fluttering. The first of the "graphic" Zork adventures was Return To Zork. It is one of the great classic games, in this reviewers opinion. When Zork Nemesis was announced, it is not an exaggeration to say many folks went wild. Along with Myst, Tex Murphy, Monkey Island and Gabriel Knight - it is a series with a large number of devotees. What arrived upon release was a different kind of Zork. This was a serious game, with dark overtones. To some this smacked of sacrilege - but I loved the game. I recently decided to re-visit Nemesis and see if the game was as good as I recalled.

To those individuals who have played ZN and found it to be a significantly humorless departure from the historically comic series--I beg to differ. Playing it a second time, I found countless funny bits throughout the game, perhaps made even funnier by the fact that I've played all of the games in the Zork universe.

O mundo de Zork é quase tão antigo quando o próprio PC, e cada nova geração de equipamentos e usuários traz consigo uma nova geração de jogos Zork.

Let the trumpets sound! Let the bell toll! Let there be joy and peace and goodwill to all men! For let it be known to the whole world. Let it be shouted from every street corner. Let it be announced atop the rooftops that "Zork Nemesis" is here and the golden age of gaming is returning to us all!

Zork Nemesis is an enjoyable game with quality art, lots of puzzles and some surprising story twists. The environment is rich and detailed and exploring it is fun, although the amount of information can be overwhelming at times, making it difficult to spot clues. When everything is summed up, my final grade is an A-.

Fein, fein, was uns Activision da aufgetischt hat. Eine der ältesten Adventure-Reihen der Welt hätte wohl auch keine laue Fortsetzung verdient. Zork: Nemesis kann durch seine mystische Handlung, die vielen Puzzles und ausgeklügelte Technologien überzeugen. Obwohl die Käufer-Zielgruppe wohl am ehesten Richtung Myst zu finden ist, kann Zork auch den Liebhaber klassischer Adventures begeistern - falls diese Trennung des Adventure-Genres überhaupt noch gültig ist. Activision zeigt, daß Videoclips und Rendergrafik nicht immer eine Spielspaß-Bremse sind.

Kortfattat kan man säga att det visuella och miljön i Zork Nemesis ger spelet ett toppbetyg medans spelbarheten drar ner nöjet en hel del.

Overall, Zork Nemesis is a dark interpretation of the classic Zork universe. It is an adventure that can be appreciated by both fans and non fans of the series. With this game, the great Underground Empire has once again been rediscovered in its full glory.

This is a huge game -- almost as big as some role-playing game environments and what's more, it doesn't rely on miles of twisty passages that all look the same. Each location is richly detailed -- the graphics are very impressive and the music is superbly evocative and at times quite eerie as befits the nature of the story. (Though I will admit to missing the rather stirring theme from Return to Zork.) The 360 degree panning enables you to thoroughly explore your surroundings and immerse yourself in the fantastic locations that comprise the world of Zork Nemesis, but be warned you will need a fairly high powered system to get the most out of it and, though not essential, Windows '95 is strongly recommended.

Nemesis gefällt mir aber wesentlich besser als das Vorbild Myst: Die Welt wirkt lebendiger, die Puzzles sind abwechslungsreicher. Man klickt nicht nur Bildelemente an, sondern dreht und verschiebt zumeist große Objekte per Mausbewegung. Wer auf edle, anspruchsvolle Rätselkost steht, darf sich das neueste Zork nicht entgehen lassen!

While Zork Nemesis may be too graphic and intense for children, adults who loved Myst or Phantasmagoria will find a lot to like about this CD-ROM. With Broderbund Software pushing the sequel to Myst back into 1997, computer gamers might not find a better substitute than Zork Nemesis.