<!--
	Title: (Reviews) Moonmist
	Author: Neil Randall
	Source: COMPUTE!, v9(7)
	Date: July, 1987
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

*Requirements: IBM-PC or compatible, Apple II series, Macintosh, Amiga, ST,
Commodore. 64, 128, or Atari Xl/XE computer.*

By now it's probably safe to say that most computer owners have seen or
played an Infocom text adventure. *Zork I*, *II*, and *III*, *The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy*, *Infidel*, *Enchanter*, *Wishbringer*, and *Witness* have all spent time
on best-seller lists, and high-circulation magazines like *Newsweek* have printed
articles about the company. Infocom has become famous for its interactive
fiction, and its customers look to it not for new kinds of products but for
variations to the old.

As pioneers of the sophisticated text adventure, Infocom is expected to
set the standard for future text adventures. To this end, Infocom has
introduced Interactive Fiction Plus, a line of text adventures designed especially to
take advantage of machines with 128K of memory (though they're also
available for 48K and 64K machines). The differences are certainly not dramatic,
and in many ways the games look the same as they always have, but Infocom's
newest adventures are different from the old in several important ways.

*Moonmist* demonstrates the differences. Like all Infocom games of the
past two years, it is superbly packaged, but unlike the earlier games, the
packaging is needed to play the game. Infocom does not copy-protect its disks
(and has certainly suffered its share of software piracy), so this reliance on the
packaging is perfectly justified. Inside *Moonmist*'s package are two letters from
your acquaintance, Tamara, the latter of which suggests a murder plot against
her. Also included is a brochure about Tresyllian Castle in Cornwall, where
Tamara is staying, which provides many descriptions necessary to play the
game. The documentation introduces the "Legendary Ghosts of Cornwall,"
and a *Moonmist* iron-on transfer is included for those who still own T-shirts
with no writing on them.

## In The Castle

Your task is to uncover the murder plot, in the meantime dealing with some
very interesting characters inside a well-described medieval castle
complete with torture devices and a wandering ghost. You must collect clues,
talk with the characters, survive an encounter with the ghost, and even figure
out what outfit to wear at certain times. *Moonmist* is an introductory-level
adventure, so it moves along quickly and is not overly difficult; but the sheer
number of things you have to do make it a long, challenging game.

The differences between *Moonmist* and earlier Infocom games are subtle.
The parser — the part of the program that interprets your typed commands —
continues to grow more sophisticated, and more specialized. Room descriptions
are more precise, more detailed, and more helpful, all of which gives
you a stronger sense of your physical location. At each stage, too, there
appears to be a greater choice of actions available, with fewer actions being
blatantly wrong. And the characters in the story are, for the most part, genuinely
interesting, even if they don't do as much as perhaps they should.

The must subtle change, though, and the most important, is in the role
taken by the reader. In *Moonmist*, as in most of the newer Infocom games, you
feel that a story is actually taking place, and that you are a part of it. In the
earlier adventures, your actions forced the story from one point to the next, but
unless you did something, nothing happened. While this is technically true of
*Moonmist*, the authors, Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence, manage to make you feel
that you are caught up in a story beyond your own actions. The time limit helps,
of course, but somehow the castle seems far more "alive" than the caverns in *Zork*
or even the spaceship in *Starcross*. The people in the castle all know more about
it than you do, and the result is that you feel like an intruder. This effect is a good
one.

For those who have not yet tried an Infocom adventure, *Moonmist* is a good
introduction. It is challenging without being frustrating, and it offers what
interactive fiction is supposed to offer: a chance to participate in an interesting
story. For Infocom veterans, *Moonmist* demonstrates how text adventures have
changed since the heyday of *Zork*.

Moonmist<br>
*Infocom<br>
125 Cambridge Park Dr.<br>
Cambridge, MA 02140<br>
$39.95 IBM-PC and compatibles, Apple II, Macintosh, Amiga, and Atari ST versions<br>
$34.95 Commodore 64, 128, and Atari XE/XL versions*