~5 minute readreviews
Nord And Bert Couldn't Make Head Or Tail Of It
Since my first look at Nord and Bert, I've been chafing at the bit, wanting to let the cat out of the bag. Obviously, I can't tell you everything I've learned —- we don't do that with interactive fiction puzzles —- but I may be able to tell you enough that you won't be buying a pig in a poke. (Clichés.)
Nord and Bert is unique in several aspects, the first and most obvious being that it is not one adventure, but eight. In fact, since the only conclusive ending to any of these stories is the attainment of a maximum score rather than a triumphant climax, one might even say that these are "pieces of eight." (Pun.)
In an onscreen prologue to Bord and Nert (spoonerism), you're told that the town of Punster is undergoing a severe syntactical crisis. And though we don't wish to make a mountain out of a molehill, this strange crisis is enough that the citizens of the town are having trouble communicating. As usual, it is up to you and your computer to save the world.
To begin saving the world, you choose from one of the eight listed scenarios. In "Eat Your Words" you do battle in a restaurant with a sleazy waitress and will probably not prevail unless you can turn the tables on her. In "Buy the Farm" you take over land that has gone to ruin during the crisis. Your job is to try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. In "Visit the Supermarket" you cruise your cart through the British aisles and may even be forced to engage in gorilla warfare. "Playing Jacks" puts you in charge of a wonderous device called a jack-af-all-traits, but it's up to you to figure out which of its traits will be helpful to you. And "Shake a Tower" deposits you in the magical section of Punster, where a pan of keys or a rare hazing experience must be carefully examined for evidence of spoonerisms.
Those who have previously been daunted by adventure games, from Infocom and others, should know that Nord and Bert is unlike any other text game. There are no magic spells (although uttering a cliché or spoonerism at the right time might drastically change the scenario, as well as win you some points); the only mazes are those created by the convolutions of language; the one character trait needed is a wagging tongue; and the necessary wisdom can be confined to what we might call —- lumping everything together —- a knowledge of folk language.
Nor is it necessary, in using the vernacular, to worry about the proper syntax. The parser accepts a truncated version as well as a long one, provided the key words are there. The interface, by the way, is as good as or better than any parser I've seen from this parsermonious company.
In moving about the game, you'll find all possible destinations listed in an area at the top of the screen. To go to any of them, simply type the one word description, and after a moment of disk access, you are there. Since you can't always get to there from here, the possible locations change as you move from place to place.
Also displayed in this section is your score, listed as so many points out of a possible number of points. This changes and is updated as you triumph over the quirks of language. At the end of a game —- which can be the attainment of all but one or two points -— you'll be given a congratulatory message.
Those who have previously been daunted by adventure games, from Infocom and others, should know that Nord and Bert is unlike any other text game.
For some time now, those of us who became hopelessly lost in Zork or Planetfall have relied on Infocom's "Invisiclues" booklets, available separately, to carry us through situations that would otherwise remain hopeless. In Nord and Bert, the Invisiclues book is on the two-sided disk and may be accessed at any time by typing the word "hint." As with the real book, which reveals clues only as needed by the device of painting over them with a marker, Invisiclues on disk reveals only as much as you wish to know at the time.
The first screen presents a list of artifacts and happenings that may have you stuck in one spot. Choose the one you wish and the next screen will give you a very broad hint. If that isn't enough, press RETURN and you'll read something more specific. Though the number of steps varies, you can eventually reach a point where you are given the complete answer. Return to the story at the point you left off, type it in, and away you go.
Be aware that there are some wild-goose chases here. As is Infocom's way, and in keeping with their corporate humor, a real goose is used. Well, almost real. You know how these things go.
Should any of the stories seem hopeless, you can at any time type the word beginning to be transported back to the opening menu, where you can then choose to enter a new story.
And it may well be that you will succeed easily at some stories, and fail miserably at others. The Supermarket story relies on your use of puns, the Farm story on your use of clichés, the Tower story on a search for spoonerisms, Playing Jacks on a knowledge of words and phrases containing the word jack, and so on.
The eight stories do hang together. I was unable to play "Meet the Mayor," however, because I could not prove I had solved another story. This seems to be because Mayor is the final story and —- to those who solve it —- offers the grand climax.
Documentation is slight, as in all Infocom games: Infocom doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag. And, as usual, there is a very good section on how to play such games and on your interaction with the parser. It has become my custom to immediately rip open any Infocom game and see what crazy items have been included and how they might relate to the game. Here, the item is a cartoon booklet by Kevin Pope —- whose style is to illustrate plays on words.
Since Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It is, itself, a computerized play on words, the booklet serves as a perfect introduction. The game title, in fact, is from an original cartoon by Pope, and it sets the tone for all that follows. This one should appeal to most everyone; I especially recommend it to those who have previously bypassed text games. Nord and Bert is truly different, and that's as sure as little green apples.
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
