Shade

aka: Shade: A Brief Story, Shade: Interactive Fiction
Moby ID: 22586

DOS version

More or less linear, but creepy nonetheless

The Good
Andrew Plotkin is a well-known figure in the interactive fiction community; the quality of his games is fairly well known, and this is no exception.

This is a short story, you can probably play through it in a half hour or so. And while your actions are more or less guided by a to-do list, there is still enough room to explore a bit and do some different things.

The game starts off fairly traditionally, but quickly becomes a little eerie, then spooky, then just downright surreal. I found it similar -- not in the plot itself, but rather in the way that events unfold -- to the film Mulholland Drive by David Lynch (which I liked very much). You get enough information to keep you going, even as things get more and more strange.

The Bad
Much like Mulholland Drive, the ending doesn't answer all your questions about the game. This can be both intriguing and frustrating, depending on whether you are the type of person who likes endings to tie up all the loose ends or to leave you to put the pieces together in your own way.

I seem to recall a couple "guess the verb" situations, where I was trying to do the correct action but was phrasing it wrong. Nothing major, certainly not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the game.

The Bottom Line
This is a quick game that will draw you in, but leave you with more questions than answers. A very well-told story, overall.

by Mirrorshades2k (274) on February 15, 2007

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