First rate text adventure
The Doom series of text adventures are fairly obscure examples of the genre (and nothing to do with the more famous shooters!) but which remain fine games which are well worth seeking out for fans of Zork and the like. The original, Countdown to Doom, told an intriguing sci-fi tale of a pilot crash landing on an alien planet and saw players exploring this exotic world in order to repai their ship and escape to safety. This first sequel sees you returning to the legendarily dangerous planet, responding to a distress call from an ambassador who has rather embarrassingly been kidnapped by robots. This being a text adventure, the whole game is presented via written descriptions of your surrounding and with commands being entered via a parser system. As you explore the world, you'll find items to collect, puzzles to solve and characters to interact with (including an adorable robot dog), and while the game starts out easy, those puzzles soon crank up in difficulty and provide even veteran adventurers with a hefty challenge. However, although difficult they are rarely unfair and prove immensely satisfying to solve. Like many of Topologika's other games, including Acheton and Kingdom of Hamil, the writing on display here is first-rate which makes the whole thing highly memorable and enjoyable. The characters and situations are brought vividly to life through descriptions that are witty and detailed and which create a wonderful atmosphere, while the story is filled with entertaining twists and turns. If you've played things like Planetfall or are just curious about the interactive fiction genre, this makes for a great experience. Check out the original and the final part of the trilogy, The Last Days of Doom for more such adventures.
