<!--
	Title: Border Zone: From Litzenburg with Love
	Author: William E. Carte
	Source: Questbusters, v5(2)
	Date: February 1988
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prevent the assassination of
an American diplomat in Litzenburg. Make no mistake about it, your very life
will be in danger. One small mistake, one very small mistake, could cost your life
and the life of our diplomat. This review will self-destruct in ten seconds....

Marc Blank's first Infocom game since he collaborated with Dave Lebling on
*Enchanter*, *Border Zone* is a spy thriller in a *Mission Impossible* setting that would
do even James Bond proud. The excitement erupts not in the USA or Russia, but
in the Eastern Bloc countries of Frobnia and Litzenburg, where all strangers are
suspect and all actions observed. It consists of three acts that are actually different
stories, like chapters in a book.

The unique thing is that all three revolve around the same plot, but with the player
changing roles in each. In Act One you're an innocent American businessman on a
train passing through Frobnia, asked by an intelligence agent working for our side to
help stop the diplomat's assassination. In Act Two you assume the role of that
agent, wounded, freezing and running for your life. And in Act Three you'll wear
the cloak and dagger of the evil spy, who needs to ensure that the killing takes
place—but without it being attributed to his own country. The different
stories can be played independently and in any order, but the later ones won't make
much sense unless you solve them one, two, three.

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/questbusters-border-zone-review/spy-sketch.png" alt="Sketch of a spy">

## *The Clock is Running*

In addition to the novelty of wearing several hats in the same story, you'll find
another special feature unique to the world of Infocom adventures: a
built-in clock runs through the game. It can be slowed down but not turned off.
This means that while you're thinking of what to do next, the dogs may close in on you
and attack, or the guard may burst into your room and search you.

I found this annoying, since it makes it almost impossible to map. Disaster has a
way of striking while you pause to draw boxes and lines and write in location
names. It's also cumbersome for those who like to thoroughly think through
their next move while scrutinizing the current text display. (The ability to print
the game text has never been more useful in an adventure than in this one.)
There's certainly no time for that here, though the running clock does add suspense
to the story—and it is a thriller, after all, so some people will probably
relish the extra challenge and realism that results from the real-time nature of
the action.

The puzzles consist mainly of object-oriented puzzles, but there are several
characters with whom you must interact successfully for ultimate victory. You
don't get points for puzzle-solving, so it's like *A Mind Forever Voyaging* in this
sense. The prose, too, is well-written and propels you straight into the world of
border guards, passwords and clandestine meetings.

The events are linear, always occurring in the same order. After playing
through the scene a few times, you can count the number of turns before the guard
always crashes in to search your car on the train. Each story can have various conclusions:
If you've done everything right in the first one, you can just hand your contact
the item he desires at the end; otherwise you'll have to employ a
bit of subterfuge in passing it to him.

Like *Nord and Bert*, *Border Zone* has built-in Invisi-Clues. If the mail we get
concerning our walkthroughs is a fair barometer, I suspect this feature
will be greeted with mixed feelings. I'm sure many people will
resort to the hints the very first time they get stuck and will go on to expose
the answer to every tough puzzle, thus ruining the game. If you have the
willpower, though, proper use of this feature could prove very helpful. I
could certainly have used a built-in clue when stuck for two weeks trying to get
past the guard in *Ballyhoo*. This isn't likely to happen in a game where the clues are
only a keystroke away.

Documentation is very good, including a background of the story and setting, a
Frobnia Tourist Guide containing an English-Frobnian phrase book that serves
as copy protection, a map of Frobnia and a discount coupon for *Deadline*,
ZorkMaster Blank's first solo adventure. The parser is exceptional, with a vocabulary
of over 800 words. You've got to play the Apple and C 128 versions in an
80-column display, but the C 64 is seen in 40-columns. It can be transferred to a
hard disk and copied to make back-ups.<br>
**Conclusions:** Some Infocom games are what I consider truly great. They just grab
you. You get engrossed in them and don't want to put them down. *Lurking Horror*,
*Beyond Zork* and *Hollywood Hijinx* come to mind. *Border Zone* doesn't fall into
this category. It's more along the lines of *Stationfall*, a good game that's worth your
while if you like the genre. So anyone who enjoys mysteries or spy thrillers, and
especially fans of *Deadline*, will definitely like *Border Zone*. [Editor's Note: This
game and Infocom's previous release, *Beyond Zork*, both have the same initials.
Will we soon see a combined sequel: *Border Zork*?]

<hr style="border-top: 6px double;">

**System:** Apple (64K), C 64, IBM, Mac<br>
**Skill Level:** Expert<br>
**Protection:** In Manual<br>
**Price:** C 64, $34.95; others, $39.95<br>
**Company:** Infocom
