<!--
	Title: (SOFTWARE GALLERY) Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It
	Author: John Ryan
	Source: Run, v5(4)
	Date: April 1988
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<div style="color: #004488; font-weight: bold; padding: 0.25em; float: right; font-size: 2em;">A</div>

<blockquote style="margin: 1em inherit; font-size: 1.25em; font-style: italic;">What Would<br>
Shakespeare Think?</blockquote>

A three-legged dog walks into the Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City.
The saloon doors swing open, the sheriff stands in the opening. "Three-legged
dog," he sternly asks, "what are you doin' here in Dodge City?"

The three-legged dog turns, stares, then slowly replies: "I'm lookin' for
the man who shot my paw."

If you think that's funny (or are terrified that something that bad could
find its way into print), then add Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail
of It to your software collection.

This oddity of interactive text adventure from Infocom is, for the most part,
typically un-Infocom. There is a gray background, white text, no graphics and
a terrific interpreter to translate what you type into computer commands.
Other than those trademarks, this adventure is Info(un)Com(mon).

Infocom fans will undoubtedly love it. But Nord and Bert should draw raves,
even from those who don't like text adventures but appreciate word plays,
puns, spoonerisms and other linguistic twists.

You don't need to draw an intricate map to play Nord and Bert, and you
don't use compass directions to move about. Instead, a status line at the top
of the screen lists reachable locations, like barn, stable, yard.

Moreover, Nord and Bert isn't just one adventure game that can take days
to complete: It's eight separate scenarios. You can play any of the seven
offerings, but you can't reach the eighth (Meet the Mayor) until you've
completed the others.

Solving these puzzles requires the use of every cliche, pun, adage and word
play you can imagine—and some you won't imagine. In that case, type "hint."

Hint? In an Infocom game? And be smitten by a sarcastic response?

Nope; there are hints here. First, you'll get a list of phrases. One will probably
allude to your current predicament. Highlighting that phrase produces a
clue. If that isn't enough, ask again. An other clue may be forthcoming. If not,
you'll be greeted by "That's all, folks!" The clues should he enough to get the
ball rolling—another great cliche for Nord and Bert.

Things are not always what they seem in the land of Nord and Bert. Typing
ants when the program describes aunts turns the talking aunts into helpful ants.
When you pick up one stone, you might not know what to do with it until you
see two birds. (Hint: If you can't figure out by now how to use the stone, Nord
and Bert may not be for you.)

That example is one of the less challenging found in the story lines. Others
are more challenging and will send you running to the list of hints. There, you'll
learn that lunching mobsters can be turned into munching lobsters. It's all
a matter of perfect grammar.

This Infocom game is a welcome change of pace from its other products.
In an hour or so, you can solve a Nord and Bert adventure. Maybe you'll even
get to meet the mayor.

But not unless you take the bull by the horns, put your shoulder to the
wheel and hit the broadside of a barn.

I'd tell you more. But I don't want to spill the beans. *(Infocom, 125 CambridgePark
Drive, Cambridge., MA 02140. C-64/$34.95.)*

<p class="bold right" style="font-variant: small-caps;">—Lonnie Brown<br>Lakeland, FL.</p>
