~3 minute readAdventure
Infocom Intrigue in Leather Lovers Shock Horror!
Ol' Whitey had hardly recovered from Brian Moriarty's Trinity hitting the stands when news of Steve Meretzky's latest creation, The Leather Goddesses of Phobos, arrived at my humble abode. As the title suggests, this is like no other Infocom game, though Steve's humour is obviously at work. It's the first 'adult' game to have come from this stable and, having seen a preview copy, I'm intrigued. Very!
You play the role of an average male or female human (your sex is determined when you go to the toilet at the start of the game -- I kid you not). Inexplicably, you are kidnapped by aliens and taken to Phobos, thelargest of the two moons of Mars. There you discover the Leather Goddesses. For some reason, they plan to turn Earth into their latest sexual playground. It is your task to prevent them (though why you should want to is another matter entirely).
Unusually, for Infocom, the game uses three levels of play, though these are not difficulty levels as such. They are Tame, Suggestive, and Lewd. Each level uses naughtier (more atmospheric?) text than the last. Some of the language becomes more explicit as well as more detailed descriptive passages. Even then there are limits. One scene is merely described as using a lot of lubricant, some rubber hosing and a yak. It is up to you to imagine the rest...
Before long, you find yourself in more traditional settings, wandering the ruins and canals of Mars in true John Carter fashion. The sexual overtones are less obtrusive here. Coming across the throne of King Mitre (otherwise known as Midas) to discover that rather than change things to gold, he turned them to forty-five degree angles for some fetish satisfaction, proves that both Meretzky's humour and the spicy nature of the game remain deeply inbedded in the program. In fact, an interplanetary tour takes place, littered with heated distractions.
When you discover that the goddesses want you for experimentation, even you agree that sexual freedom can go too far and so, accompanied by your sidekick, you set about trying to make an anti-leather goddesses machine to save Earth from the imminent invasion. Other characters in the game have their sex decided by your own choice at the beginning of the game.
Packaging is always an important way of adding atmosphere in an Infocom game, and some original ideas have been used including a scratch 'n' sniff card and a 3D colour comic showing off the 'finer points' of the goddesses. The first in Infocom's new comedy series, The Leather Goddesses of Phobos is sure to make its mark. It does wonders for your whiskers, especially at ÂŖ24.95!
MEANWHILE
Interested adventurers may not necessarily be able to play Trinity that easily. The game, which involves time travel as you try to change the course of history and prevent the Third World War, is the second in Infocom's Interactive Fiction Plus range, designed for sixteen bit micros and ported downwards where possible. As a result, only owners of a Commodore 128, disk drive (any model) and 80 column monitor will be able to run the program. Ah well, it looked nice.
STILL IN WITH INFOCOM
Following the take-over of Infocom by Activision, the latter organisation is now responsible for the marketing of their games. This means that everybody should now be able to get hold of their favourite titles via their nearest Activision dealer. No doubt my mailbag will increase in size as a result of the Infocom availability...
This article appeared in
Zzap!64
Oct 1986
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
