Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders

You get to discover secrets like: Where was Atlantis? What was the Stonehenge really used for? What happened to »The King«?, and even, what do Yaks really think and do in their free time? You get to explore different locations around the globe, and you even get to be the first man on Mars (where you're greeted by two women). All in all I'd give this game 5 out of 5, because of its great plot line and puzzles, as well as its great playability (before point-and-click you had to type every single word in the game).

In fact, right from the bizarre beginning to the eccentric ending, Zak is compelling, enthralling and utterly hilarious – simply the best action/adventure combo I've seen.

Witziges Grafik-Adventure mit guter Benutzerführung. Sowohl für Einsteiger als auch für erfahrene Spieler geeignet.

Overall you've got a first-rate game which doesn't take itself too seriously. Go on! treat your mind.

The year is 1997 and the fiendishly ridiculous (one of them is an Elvis fan) Caponians are poised to invade Earth. They have taken over the phone company and are using the telephone system to make everyone down here more stupid than they otherwise would be without the benefit of alien intervention. (Given the rise in popularity of mobile phones the aliens' dastardly plan seems to be right on track!)

Go on, do it – name a fate worse than death. Being stampeded by a herd of sheep in green wellies? Being forced into close hair-to-hair contact with Gordon Houghton's blubber belly (aaargh! I can't stand it!!)? Swallowing ten gallons of cod liver oil in one go without breathing, being forced to listen to a bloke screeching his ten foot nails down a blackboard for FIVE DAYS? Pretty bad, eh?

Ha! Still not as bad as the fate Zak McKracken faces. Nope, not half as bad as that, not a tiny weeny bit as bad as that. I mean, if you were just an average, ordinary newspaper journalist trying to make a crust reporting about two-headed squirrels and the like, you'd be pretty horrified if you found out that nasty bald-headed aliens were trying to invade the world. Shock, horror an' all that and everyfin'. And how are they trying to invade it? They're slowly sapping everybody's intelligence so that they end up as stupid as Maff... er... I mean as very stupid people in the end.

Dennoch hat 'Zak McKracken nicht viel von seinem Reiz verloren. Die urkomische Story und die liebenswerten Charaktere schaffen es auch heute noch den Spieler in ihren Bann zu ziehen und lassen ihn erst wieder los, wenn die Welt gerettet und die Caponier besiegt sind. Zweifellos gehört 'Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders' zu den größten Meilensteinen der Adventuregeschichte.

I'd have to say that this is probably one of the top 5 adventure games I've ever played, with the only ones on the list that top it also being LucasArts games. It's really a shame that nobody writes these games as well as they used to. I mean, every once in a while you get occasional flashes of wittiness, like the, "Max...you're a video game" sequence from Max Payne, but for the most part, nobody's really put together a really solid, witty, intelligent adventure game that wasn't named LucasArts in a long, long time.

Με αφορμή τη συγγραφή του παρόντος review διαπιστώνω ότι δεν ξέρω κανέναν που να μην έχει ακουστά το συγκεκριμένο παιχνίδι όπως επίσης ότι δεν ξέρω και κανέναν που να το έπαιξε και να μην το ξεχώρησε. Αν τώρα αυτή (η λιγάκι αυθαίρετη) στατιστική δεν σας πείθει, έχει καλώς. Αν πάλι η προοπτική ενός κλασικού παιχνιδιού που φέρει τη νοοτροπία της εποχής του συν το 'ο ήρωας σώζει τον κόσμο και παίρνει το κορίτσι, θέμα' σας φαίνονται ικανοποιητικά τότε καθίστε αναπαυτικά και ετοιμαστείτε για την επέλαση του Zak.

Il giudizio complessivo, comunque, è più che positivo: "Zak" entra di diritto nell'Olimpo delle avventure grafiche, grazie alla sua trama dal respiro epico che coinvolge i più grandi misteri dell'umanità, bilanciata dalla demenzialità delle caratterizzazioni di tutti i personaggi che incontreremo, nonché alla varietà di situazioni proposte e alla presentazione degna di nota (cosa che include anche il manuale, la sequenza introduttiva e via dicendo).

"Zak Mckracken" gehört zu 100% zu den Meilensteinen der Adventures. Spielspaß, sinnvolle Rätsel und eine perfekt erzählte Geschichte sind kennzeichnend für das Spiel. Wie es bei den ersten Adventures von "LucasFilm" noch war existieren leider auch Möglichkeiten in so genannte Sackgassen zu kommen oder sogar zu sterben. Jeder Adventure-Fan sollte dieses Spiel gespielt haben!! Traumhaftes Adventure.

All in all, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a very quirky, amusing game, with a wide variety of locations, an engaging story, and unusual characters. With better characterisation, more dialogues, and perhaps fewer mazes, it could have been even better. Still, it's a very good game with much to offer even today, and one deserving of a lot more attention that it receives. If you've played through the more celebrated LucasArts games and are wishing they still made them like they used to, Zak and the gang might be just what you're looking for.

Trotzdem, wer Adventures mag und es nicht kennt, sollte auf jeden Fall mal einen Blick riskieren.

Perhaps the slowish pace, the simplicity om many of the puzzles and the limited number of verbs spoiled it for me. Overall, Lucasfilm's Zak McKracken is worth playing but falls well short of the content and humour of Sierra On-Line's adventures.

So it’s a bit hit and miss with Mr. McKracken. There’s still not a lot of talking, though the dialogue that is available has improved tenfold over MM. The graphics are a whole lot more detailed, and each room isn’t filled with items that just fill up space, a la MM. And best of all, you’re not limited to just one building anymore. McKracken will see you in Seattle, Stonehenge, and even away from Earth.... All you need to know is that if you didn’t like MM, you may struggle to enjoy Zak, simply because it does more or less use the same engine and way of playing. However, the fact that there’s no longer a three-character system or shit dialogue and you don’t feel as limited means that there’s a far more accessible game to be played through here; but please get the FM Towns version. No other touches it.