<!--
	Title: (MARKETALK: Reviews) Enchanter
	Author: Margot Comstock Tommervik
	Source: Softalk, v4(1)
	Date: September 1983
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

**Enchanter**. By Marc Blank and Dave Lebling.

<div style="font-style: italic; margin-left: 4em; text-indent: -2em;">
<p class="tight">John John Morrison Morrison<br>
Weatherbee George Dupree</p>
<p class="tight">Took good care of his mother<br>
though he was only three. . . .</p>
<p class="tight">John John said to his mother,<br>
"Mother," he said, said he,</p>
<p class="tight">"You must never make friends with a fire-breathing dragon<br>
without consulting me."</p>
</div>

Where is Zork? Alive and well in magic school. The result? *Enchanter*,
the beginning of a trilogy sequel to the *Zork*s.

No longer is Zork condemned to subterranea. *Enchanter* takes place
in a natural — if fanciful — world, a sunlit world. Well, at first it's a sunlit
world. But the powers of darkness would have it otherwise. As the apprentice
enchanter pursues his quest, the days grow alarmingly shorter.
Soon the sun is rising at noon and setting at 2:00 p.m. Only the young
apprentice's quick study and apt use of powerful magic can prevent the
world from perpetual night.

Can magic be logical? Darn tootin'. Determining when and where
and how to use which spells provides puzzles as clever and logical as
those in any *Zork*. Without clear, innovative thinking, the enchanter's
magic is useless. Or sometimes when it's useful it's misguided. Several
spells can be cast only once; exactly the same number of puzzles can be
solved only one way — with those spells. But the spells work in plenty of
other places and even solve other puzzles that seem to be insoluble
otherwise.

In line with Infocom's new mysteries and recent science-fiction adventures.
*Enchanter* expands interaction with other characters beyond
that of earlier Infocom games and of most other games. Even animals
become confidants — or informers — when you have the right magic.

*Enchanter* is not chock-full of breakthroughs. It is simply a delightful
adventure that takes advantage of the niceties and expertise Infocom has
been nurturing at such a fast clip.

Zork's world isn't forgotten. The period is the same, or very close to
it, and, although these people live above ground, they remember Zork
even if you don't. Check the portraits in the castle gallery; see yourself
azorking in the hall of mirrors.

And don't make friends with dragons.

<p class="smaller"><em>Enchanter</em>, by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling, Infocom (55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge,
MA 02138; 617-492-1031). $49.95.</p>