Macintosh

Zork: Grand Inquisitor

Zork: Grand Inquisitor is an extraordinarily entertaining game that can be replayed time and time again.

Grand Inquisitor is a worthy inheritor of the Zork name. The designers have created the "Blazing Saddles" of computer adventure games, poking fun at the source material, but always with a love for the subject. It's also a hell of a game in its own right. Here's hoping that, like Myst, ZGI spawns another rebirth of the puzzle-adventure game.

If you enjoyed any of the Myst, Starship Titanic-esque adventure titles will enjoy Grand Inquisitor. At times, I feel as though Douglas Adams' spirit has descended on this game to remind the world that life, sometimes -- ok, most of the times, can be funny. And Zork fans, like Tolkien fans, can sleep peacefully knowing that MacPlay has brought a faithful representation of the original series to the Macintosh platform.

My only real complaint about the game is the same complaint I have for other games like this, like the Myst series or The Dig or a host of other puzzle/quest type games. Once you've figured something out it is very slow moving through the game to get back to other points, even when there are short cuts, as there are in ZGI. Still that's a small complaint and it is common in the genre so I give Zork: Grand Inquisitor four out of five GiN Gems for being tons of fun and a great addition to its genre.

I found Zork to be very entertaining. Its graphics are not on par with anything released today, but Zork was not meant to be a pixel jewel. Zork is all about the story. For me, it was a welcome trip down memory lane to all those late nights back in the day when I was supposedly writing term papers on my old Commodore128. Those term papers were so hot off the press my professors took to wearing asbestos gloves. If you like killing time with a good puzzle, put down the newspaper crossword puzzle and pick up Zork: Grand Inquisitor. Your only disappointments will be its lackluster graphics and its shortness.