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	Title: (GAMELINE) Planetfall
	Author: David Durkee
	Source: Softline, v2(6)
	Date: Jul-Aug 1983
	Transcription by Steve Derby
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**Planetfall**<br>
By Steve Meretzky

*Apple, Atari, Commodore, DEC, IBM, NEC, Osborne, TI,
TRS-80.* *Planetfall* departs somewhat from Infocom's previous science-fiction
fare. The heroes of *Starcross* and *Suspended* were an
asteroid miner exploring the solar system in a one-man spacecraft
and a man awakened from cryogenic suspension to save a planet
from its own malfunctioning control systems. The character whose
part you play in *Planetfall* is more of a comic antihero; the setting
you find yourself in at the outset is reminiscent of Douglas Adams's
*Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*. A life that otherwise might be
viewed as glorious and exciting — that of an officer in the Stellar Patrol —
is treated satirically, shown for what it really is (or could be):
pure drudgery.

Aboard the *Feinstein*, you are an ensign of the lowest class, assigned
deck-scrubbing duty by your malicious superior, Ensign
Blather, This tour of duty is punctuated by the arrival of an alien ambassador,
who, after giving you a tourist brochure about his planet,
walks off leaving a trail of highly scrub-resistant slime. That's a high
point of life on the *Feinstein*.

Fortunately — for us, the ensign, and the story line — there is hope
for excitement in the Stellar Patrol. The ship blows up after not too
much more deck scrubbing, and you find yourself in an automated
escape pod — thrust upon your own devices, so to speak — plunging
into the atmosphere of a nearby planet. After enduring the ordeal
of a rocky landing followed by an unplanned splashdown, you fight
your way to an alien shore. The planet was a human colony but
seems to be uninhabited now. The first order of business is survival.
Several abandoned dormitories give you a place to sleep and hang
your spacesuit, but finding food becomes more difficult once you
run out of the multicolored goo you found in your survival kit.

*Planetfall* is a game of discovery. If your first concern is survival,
your second is probably getting back to civilization. A third goal is to
discover what happened to the people on this planet. The more you
discover — especially as you come across certain disturbing pieces of
evidence—the more important this goal becomes.

Your first discovery is a little robot named Floyd. It is uncertain
what Floyd was built for. His typical response to any request for help
is "Enough talk. Let's play hider-and-seeker!" Floyd appears at first
to be little more than an amusing diversion, a cybernetic puppy dog.
Friendly and loyal, but not too bright. Still, among his playful ramblings
there are bits of computerized wisdom, clues, and insights.
(When you save the game, he says, "Oh, boy, are we gonna do
something dangerous now?")

Like its predecessors, *Planetfall* is also a game of repairing machines
and figuring out how to use them. Broken machines are
common in the worlds of Infocom, and repairing them is necessary
to set the world right. These puzzles are of planetary importance.
Though they're often as simple as replacing burnt-out parts, there's
usually a certain twist. The material or procedure necessary for the
repair isn't always obvious. The final puzzles are more interesting
and require intelligence and imagination to solve.

The situation you find yourself in, though it starts on the absurd
side, becomes increasingly poignant. The puzzles are good; the
character of Floyd is great. The climax is exciting, but you may find
the denouement a letdown. Not that it isn't enough: It's too much.
Instead of neatly tying things up, telling you the results of your actions,
and logically concluding the unresolved plot elements, the
ending goes a step too far, indulging in unabashed adolescent wish
fulfillment. Although *Planetfall*, like the other Infocom games,
raises the level of the adventure to something approaching interactive
literature, the ending of this game reads more like a fairy tale.
The game is excellent. You can always rewrite the final paragraphs in
your own mind to make it a satisfying piece of fiction.

Apple II, II Plus, IIe; 48K. Atari 400, 800, or 1200; 32K. Commodore. DEC. IBM
pc. NFC. Osborne. TI Professional. TRS-80, Models I or III. $49.95 from Infocorn,
55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; (617) 492-1031.