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	Title (COMPUTER GAMING: Passport to Adventure) Seastalker
	Author: Charles Ardai
	Source: Electronic Games, v3(2)
	Date: February 1985
	Transcription by Steve Derby
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*Infocom/Most computers/Disk*

The sea has been the setting for many mysteries in the past, among them the
unsolved mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle and the puzzle of the lost continent of
Atlantis. And now, with Infocom's release of **Seastalker**, there is a new underwater
mystery to titilate would-be detectives for years to come.

*Seastalker* pits the adventurer up above, in a comfortable laboratory stocked with
all the modern conveniences, against the Snark, a mythical sea beast which is
terrorizing the scientists in the Aquadome Underwater Research Station. As the leader
of the corporation that created Aquadome and a member of the "Discovery
Squad," the gamer has been commissioned (read: ordered) by the President
to get everything working smoothly by the time he comes to christen the Aquadome
and the firm's new mini-sub, the Scimitar.

No easy task this; the trouble starts as soon as the emergency call comes in over
the videophone. Then it's touch and go as the gamer fights his way through a variety
of problems, from the mundane, as in figuring out how the heck to get the Scimitar
started, to the more unusual, as in how one goes about subduing a hideous sea
monster which is larger than a submarine.

The problems are all devilishly simple once the players work out the solutions, which
are perfectly logical. And Infocom has included all necessary maps in the cleverly
designed game package, as they did in **Suspended**. All of this leads up to one
thing: Infocom bills *Seastalker* as the first in its line of "Junior Interactive Fiction."

<figure class="float-left">
	<img src="/public/img/articles/eg-computer-gaming-seastalker/seastalker-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Seastalker Screen Shot">
	<figcaption style="text-align: center;"><strong>SEASTALKER (INFOCOM)</strong></figcaption>
</figure>

In other words, *Seastalker* was designed for kids. The only problem is that most kids
who are capable of understanding an adventure game are likely to enjoy the
intricacies of complex games like **Enchanter** and **Planetfall** the most. In *Seastalker*,
opening a closed door is never a matter of, for example, finding an oil can, oiling the
control panel and crawling through the opening created by the resulting short circuit,
but rather something to the order of "Open door." And, worst of all, if the player
spends too much time on a given problem, the solution appears on the screen.
True, one must refer to the "Infocards" which accompany the game to decipher
the solution, but it still is a bad idea to give away answers.

After all, who would pay $49.95 for an adventure game that poses no challenge?

On the other hand, aside from being overly simplified, *Seastalker* is a relatively
good game. The story is interesting, and there are plenty of plot twists to hold the
player's attention. The prose is magnificent, and the vocabulary tremendous. The
game's locations are all mapped out, and so hold no surprises, but this is somewhat
counteracted by the fact that there is a cast of nine very realistic, unique supporting
characters who do their best to help -- and hinder -- the mission.

All in all, *Seastalker* is recommended.

