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	Title: (Adventure) Starcross
	Source: Zzap!64, #7
	Date: November 1985
	Transcription by Steve Derby
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*Commodore, £11.99 disk only*

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-starcross-review/artifact-cartoon.jpg" alt="A sketch of the artifact from Starcross">

*Starcross* is Infocom's first hardcore science-fiction adventure
and is set some two hundred years from now. You play the part
of an asteroid miner, down on his luck and in control of a one man spaceship.
During a rest period, your mass detector starts signalling that it has
found something in the ship's vicinity. So, what else can one do but investigate...?

Unlike versions available for other machines, Commodore actually manufacture Infocom
games under licence in the UK and this enables them to keep the price
down. You pay considerably less than you would otherwise, you
get less fancy packaging for your disk, and the map necessary for
play is printed in black and white as opposed to colour. Not a bad
compromise for economy's sake, and something to set an old wizard's
wallet at rest! The packaging of Infocom games is normally very
important as certain miscellaneous items that come with the
game contain information necessary for successful play. This is an
interesting and viable way of protecting a game as a back up copy
can still be made to protect your investment from the dreaded cold
starts from which the 1541 sometimes suffers. Anyway, back to
game itself.

Once you have been given a description of a particular 'unknown
mass' and you have cross-referenced it with the map, you are on your way.

The game seems to have been inspired by Athur C Clarke's
*Rendezvous with Rama*, a novel which describes the discovery of a
derelict alien vessel by inquisitive human explorers. The vessel was
cylindrical in form and rotated about its axis to provide an internal
gravity via centripetal force. Of course a company of Infocom's
integrity doesn't copy other peoples material and the only idea of
Clarke's they do actually use is that of the design and nature of
the ship itself (and even then a few small details are changed). The
rest of the game is pure, first rate adventuring.

The vessel is vast as are the problems set before you, but then
this is supposed to be the hardest of all Infocom adventures! The
ship is in a terrible state and what's left of the crew has degenerated
into barbarism on the apparently centuries long voyage. Initially
there is a time limit set by the fact that the vessel's atmosphere
is running out. Once that has been solved, there are many more difficult
puzzles awaiting your attention. Some of these require interaction
with various aliens (native and otherwise) and ardent fans of the
*Zork* trilogy may well meet up with old adversaries.

The degree of imagination necessary to solve the game's
almost incomprehensible tasks does justice to Infocom's hard
earned reputation as the ultimate adventure game designers.
However, there is one factor about the game which seems a little
unfair. One of the major repairs cannot be successfully done without
either repeated trial and error or an active interest in chemistry.
(A clue: the dot -- pictures in the repair bay represent atomic
structures). The overall impression is of pure science fiction with
some humour as light relief but to have included a problem which
required specific academic knowledge was just going a bit too far.
One other very minor complaint is that with this being one of the
company's earlier games, it does not understand some of the
abbreviations used in later versions of Infologic. This will
only cause bother if you are used to Infocom anyway and interaction
with the computer is still a million miles above anybody
else's games.

The ending is really excellent however. After repairing the ship
and finding out how to reach this ship's equivalent of a pilot's console,
you have to set a course back to Earth. Fine, if you know what
you're doing but you only get one chance...

There are times when you think you are incredibly close to finishing
the game but don't be lured into a false sense of security. Some
of the most deceptive adventure techniques outside *The Hitchhikers'
Guide to the Galaxy* are used to good effect in this game. One
piece of advice; save the game frequently. You will be surprised
at how far you are allowed to get even though you may (and most
probably will) be on the wrong track. This really is the best
example of a superlative science fiction game for the C64.

<table class="larger"><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Atmosphere</strong></td><td>92%</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Interaction</strong></td><td>90%</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Lasting Interest</strong></td><td>95%</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Value For Money</strong></td><td>96%</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Overall</strong></td><td><strong>94%</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>