Zzap!64, #31

~2 minute read

Nov 1987

Adventure

Stationfall

Infocom, £24.99 disk only

Contemplating your latest thrilling assignment to pick up yet another supply of forms, you drift back in your mind to a happier time some five years ago. Alone, a lowly Ensign Seventh Class, shipwrecked on Resida (a supposedly deserted planet) you had a chance meeting with an enthusiastic little droid named Floyd. The two of you soon became friends and together uncovered the planet's mysteries -- eventually bringing it back from the very brink of destruction. The officials at Stella Patrol were so pleased with what you had achieved that promotion was automatic. Naturally, you thought that the company would then become more like the image portrayed in the ads before you joined -- romantic, daring and exotic... how wrong you were!

The promotion brough you up to the rank of Lieutenant First Class, with new duties including collecting and dispatching forms, including the 'Request for Stella Patrol Issue Regulation Black Form Binders Request Form' forms which you have been assigned to pick up today.

Stationfall opens with you on deck 12 of the SPS Duffy -- the administrative section. Armed only with three forms, an ID card, a chronometer and an all-weather uniform, it's your task to find transport and fly to Space Station Gamma Delta Gamma 777-G 59/59 Sector Alpha-Mu-79. However, to ensure a successful mission you are to be aided by a droid. One of three can be chosen from the robot pool: Rex the bionic who's big and butch; Helen the spindly synthetic and -- wait for it -- Floyd the droid, your old pal from Resida. Choosing the wrong computerised companion results in a quiver of Floyd's lower lip and your swift demise.

The spacetruck is not hard to find, and successfully navigating it to the Space Station is a breeze (unless you don't have the assignment completion form which comes with the packaging).

Upon reaching G-D-G 777-G, your suspicions are aroused by the lack of a welcoming committee in the docking bay. The creases in your brow deepen as a swift reconnoitre of the surrounding corridors reveals no life at all (apart from Plato the droid who likes to read). Very soon you find yourself discovering objects and situations which point to what may have befallen the Space Station. Slowly, unerringly you are drawn into another investigative quest.

Stationfall's author is Steve Meretzky, a man who has written several games for Infocom including such classics as Planetfall (Stationfall's predecessor), Sorcerer and Leather Goddesses. His latest adventure creation is certainly on a par with his previous work, incorporating atmosphere, humour and a plethora of puzzles which combine well to pull you in and let you live the life of a Lieutenant First Class for a while. Footnotes are welcome additions to the text, aiding those of us who have not played Planetfall or are perhaps a little confused by some of the objects or places which appear.

One small niggle -- is it my imagination or has Infocom's disk access time increased? Input 'insert robot form into slot' when at the robot pool and the wait is 37 seconds before you receive a reply. Perhaps my perpetuity coordinator is malfunctioning sufficiently to slow time down for me while I'm in the human continuum, and this delay may not appear to drastic to mankind!

This article appeared in
Zzap!64
Nov 1987

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