~2 minute readGames & Books
A Mind Forever Voyaging
A Mind Forever Voyaging by Steven Meretsky (Infocom; Apple II 128K, IBM, Macintosh, Atari ST; $44.95)
The year is 2031. Perry Sim, 20 years old, has just been told that his entire life, from infancy to adulthood, has been a simulation. He is not a human, as he'd always believed, but a cyborg, a computer in human form. Now, after 20 years of preparation, he is ready to play his part in the crucial experiment known as PRISM.
Thus begins Infocom’s latest work of interactive fiction, an ambitious departure from anything Infocom has done before and a major event in software entertainment. Although it plays much like any other Infocom text game (you move through the story by typing commands on the keyboard), this is no fantasy world of wizards or treasures, and the intricate puzzles typical of Infocom games are subordinated here to an almost incidental role. This is a game with a social conscience.
The United States of North America is in serious trouble. Crime is rampant, teenagers are committing suicide in "joy-booths" (psychoactive environments intended as escapist entertainment), the economy is failing, an extremist sect has forcibly occupied a federal installation, our leaders seem helpless. A USNA senator has proposed a radical, far-reaching plan to deal with these problems, and a group of scientists has devised an experiment to test it. If the plan is adopted, what will our society be like in 10 years? In 20 years?
This is the PRISM experiment, and its instrument is Perry Sim. As a human, he can enter the two simulated futures and observe, interact, and accomplish certain tasks. As a computer, he can link up electronically with a news network, plug into a library mode to retrieve information about himself, his creators, and the real world, and even enter the heart of the PRISM program itself, where he can...
But perhaps we've said too much already. The game's secrets, like the puzzles in traditional adventures will be revealed only to the thoughtful, patient traveler. Of particular note is the game's lack of a specific goal. This is for the player to set for himself, when he Is ready.
For its attention to detail, incredibly smooth parser (the part of the software that analyzes your sentences and makes it possible for you and the computer to communicate), crisply written prose, and intriguing story, this games deserves the highest praise.
This article appeared in
Games
Jan 1986
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
