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	Title: (SOFTWARE REVIEWS) Beyond Zork
	Author: David Langendoen
	Source: Family Computing, v6(4)
	Date: April 1988
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/family-computing-beyond-zork-review/beyond-zork-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Beyond Zork screen shot">

Amiga, 128K Apple, 512K Atari ST, C 128, 192K IBM PC,
512K Macintosh</br>
PUBLISHER: Infocom<br>
PRICE: $45-$5O

In the beginning there was *Zork*, and it was good. And lo, *Zork II* rose
up. and it was good as well. Never one to rest on its laurels, Infocom
gave us *Zork III*, and it was great. But now something wondrous this
way comes. Something that transcends its predecessors, something
that goes beyond ... *Beyond Zork*.

*Beyond Zork* goes far beyond the ordinary text adventure. With the inclusion
of role playing, humor, and many unique options, it forms a
package that is hard to beat.

At the outset, each player creates a character by distributing a set number
of "points" among six characteristics: endurance, strength, dexterity,
intelligence, compassion, and luck. (Optionally, a pregenerated
character can be chosen.) The player's final goal is to save the Southlands
of Quendor from the wave of misfortune and evil sweeping over it.
There is only one thing that can save the day — the fabled Coconut of
Quendor.

On your quest you will encounter rich, detailed, text descriptions and
thought-provoking puzzles. However, you will also have to battle monsters,
garner treasure, and gain experience as you would in a role-playing game.
*Beyond Zork* never quite takes itself seriously, and many humorous interjections
are interspersed regularly. The game is easier than the previous
*Zork*s in the sense that the problems are generally simpler, but
death is still a very real threat, especially considering some of the monsters
the player has to confront (dust bunnies, discipline crabs, a
cruel puppet, and of course, grues).

Many new commands are available. The most interesting is
"Undo," which, if your computer's memory allows, causes the last command
you entered to become undone; it's as if you never typed it.
Another good feature is that the program automatically maps where
you've been and displays it on the screen.

Perhaps it's my imagination, but it seemed that *Beyond Zork*'s vocabulary
was smaller than that of other Infocom games. On a few occasions I
had trouble communicating what I wanted to do, and sometimes had to
give up on a particular course of action. But if that is the sacrifice that
has to be made to incorporate the role-playing aspect, it's worth it.

*Beyond Zork*: let there be many more.
