C&VG


The Worm In Paradise

Publisher: Level 9 Computing
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #52

The Worm In Paradise

With The Worm In Paradise ends the saga of the colonists of Eridani, which started with their journey in the Snowball, led by Kim Kimberley. After her survival in Return To Eden, the plant has been tamed, and the colonists live in a high-tech utopia run by robots. Eden is a benevolent right wing bureaucracy in which there are no taxes, government revenue being raised by fines and health charges.

If the general idea sounds familiar, then remember it is ruled by a woman, The Third Kim. Whilst no 'right-thinking' person would consider challenging the system, there is a thinking minority who dislikes it, and are branded 'potential socialists'.

The adventure starts in a garden, with beautiful lawns and full of fragrant flowers. Its walls, festooned with roses and other climbing plants, are seemingly unclimbable. An ever-growing worm might lead you out if you succumb to the temptation, but it will not take you far, and one way or another, Reveline will bring you to your senses, and you will find yourself in the city of Enoch.

The Worm In Paradise

Exploration of the city brings you to places like the museum, casino, theme park, and dozens more.

Questions gradually form, and produce a feeling of unease - that all is not well in the ultimate of civilisations. Questions, but no real problems bar your passage through the city. But if you are the nosey type - eventually something will click, and (if you were sensible enough to play it) memories from Snowball will come flooding back. Then the problem is there, in the form of a puzzle - crack it and you may be on your way to the seat of power, to save the world.

The Worm In Paradise is the first product of Level 9's new adventure system, and certainly in the presentation of text it is reminiscent of Interlogic, and Infocom system. The Worm In Paradise has a vocabulary of over 1,000 words plus many abbreviations, yet this is all in memory! The range of commands understood is very flexible; full sentence and multiple complex commands are accepted, such as "EXAMINE ALL BUT THE TATTOO". When I first tried "EXAMINE EVERYTHING" I got a list which included descriptions of objects I hadn't even discovered!

The Silicon Dreams trilogy is now complete, having spanned the evolution of Level 9's Adventure System from the original 2-work input, text only format in Snowball, through the introduction of graphics in Return To Eden, to this smooth and flexible new form of presentation.

Here is science fiction-based political saga which you can just sit back and enjoy, or, if you prefer, involve yourself at a more challenging level in an attempt to reach the seat of power and save the world. Play it either way - I'm sure you'll agree it's superb!