<!--
	Title: The Greatest Story Ever Told?
	Author: Andy Green
	Source: Big K
	Date: April 1984
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<img class="float-left" src="/public/img/articles/big-k-planetfall-review/id-card.png" alt="Stellar Patrol ID Card from Planetfall">

INFOCOM, AN American company, have been about for several years. They
first made their name by writing the excellent *Zork* trilogy, a series
of adventures so cleverly written and subtly interwoven that it's got
its own *Zork* fan club with stickers and the like.

The INTERLOGIC TM System that Infocom uses to create the adventures has
Its critics. It works on text only. People who've played *The Hobbit* or
*Valhalla* will instantly think "Hah! Garbage!" But look at it this way.
Take the pictures out of *Habbit* or *Valhalla* and you're not left with
a very good adventure. Infocom have used the memory space graphics
adventures would otherwise take up and put it towards making a far better
game.

<img class="float-right-half" src="/public/img/articles/big-k-planetfall-review/planetfall-cover.png" alt="Planetfall cover">

This means that Infocom adventures won't have the instant appeal of the
pretty (for a Spectrum) pictures, but (as Infocom point out) well-chosen,
carefully-selected words paint a mind-picture that no mere primitive 2D
image can compare with.

Because the adventures are large and complex, you have to have a disc
drive to run them on. And they're only available for the Commodore 64,
Atari 800, Apple II and IBM — all American micros. Pity.

*Planetfall* is of course written in machine code, but because it's so
big the bulk of the program is actually stored on disc and called up
when it's needed. On the Commodore 64, the command processing time is
reasonable, but a touch slow (this I suspect is due to the unbelievably
slow disc drive Commodore sells).

At the start of the game, you are a poor, downtrodden ensign (7th level,
your ID card informs you bleakly) aboard a spaceship, the S.P.S. FEINSTEIN.
You have only your scrubbing brush, and orders from a certain Ensign Cadet
First Class Blather, who storms about the ship terrorising innocent ensigns
like a cross between a geography teacher and God. You will meet alien
ambassadors, a demented robot called Floyd and other characters during your
explorations of various planets and deserted Institutions. Strange
mysteries need to be solved. Identity cards need to be found. And you'll
need sleep and food too...

Commands are entered into the computer in full sentences that need almost
no modification to be understood. The computer responds intelligently and
often very wittily. Another excellent point in *Planetfall*'s favour is
that the game is not always exactly the same each time you play it.

The major drawback of *Planetfall* is its cost of over £30. In fact, in
Lion House, Tottenham Court Road, London, It was going for £37. But It's
the best adventure game you'll see for quite some time.

**Game:** PLAITETPALL<br>
**Maker:** INFOCOM<br>
**Machine:** Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari 800, IBM pc<br>
**Format:** disc<br>
**Price:** £30.00<br>
**Rating:** KKK
