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The Home of Otter Interactive Fiction


Motion Reviews
Author: Abbi Park
Date: 2010
ADRIFT 4.0


Reviewed by Lumin
 
This was...different. Not at all what I was expecting when I loaded it up, but as a gimmick game (or is the term parser abuse?) it was done with some serious style and was a blast to play. I'm not even sure where one would start in actually WRITING something like this, and I'm willing to bet it was a headache to implement, but for me at least it was a loads of fun to play. (Even if I did keep crashing my rocket...) 

'Rich guy controlling expensive machines' may not be much of a plot, but what was there was serviceable enough and obviously wasn't the point anyway. The technical aspects and gameplay were seamless in my playthrough, and really, the only complaint I have is that it was way too short. 

It took me a few tries to get the rocket high enough in the first segment, but the other two I just breezed right through. Maybe the point IS just to be a fun, awesome little toy, but I felt like either more levels, or greater challenge in the levels that existed would have made it seem more like a fun, awesome, sizable game. (And can we get some old-school little bleeps and blips and crashy noises in there, please? This is the first IF game I've ever played where I felt like it actually NEEDED sound.) 
 

Reviewed by TDS

Motion is an experimental game. How experimental? Try, figuring out how to launch and land a rocket safely, experimental. The game makes extensive use of ASCII graphics, representing the rocket by dashes, slashes, underscores, and other symbols. 

The game is divided into three parts, or tasks: (i) launch the rocket, (ii) land the rocket, (iii) return the rocket. It is a quick game, but it’s fun while it lasts. There’s not a lot to say about replayability though. Once I beat it…I didn’t feel like there was anything else left to do. It is true that the replayability factor doesn’t matter so much for modern IF (most people put games away the instant they beat them), but considering how short the game is, and it’s arcade-like action, you would think there would be some kind of replay value to it. 

Also, it is an experimental game but it is not really experimental IF. I thought it was fun, but it was more of a showcase of what can be done through a text adventure’s parser than a substantive adventure. I suspect it was intended to be the former rather than the latter. With that in mind, I say “pretty good,” but I also say, “I don’t see how I can judge this alongside other adventures.” So, if you want a quick, fun game to play: you got it. But if you want an actual adventure, look elsewhere. (For what it’s worth, I’m impressed by how the thing works; it’s surprising something like this could be made, or that anyone would have the patience to make it.)

Reviewed by Hensman Int'l

Reminds me of the old arcade game "Moon Lander", but backwards to the DOS games (ASCII characters to build an image). Unlike an actual timer to race against, it's knowing when to not just hit [Enter]. The first time around I quit the game on the second 'chapter' bored with enter, enter, enter, etc. But to do justice in evaluating the game for the competition, I persisted and plowed through to the end. 

The descriptions were somewhat brief and simplistic - would have liked to see more 'Adventure' to the game. That said, making the ASCII images stay in the correct layout took some skill and patience on the part of Abbi Park.

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