Net Zone

GameTek

graphic line

Your father, Zel Winters, is still missing and the police have just returned your father's belongings. He was working for Cycorp on some artificial intelligence experiment which may have some connection to his disappearance. You decide to search through his e-mail on his portable PC for some information that may explain what has happened. He has send you an SOS message revealing that his former colleagues from Cycorp are planning to take control of the global computer network. They are to be stopped and he has revealed to you a way to enter Cycorp which is in fact a cyber world. You go to place the neuronal interfaces on your head and your quest begins . . . except you encounter one small problem which is that your security access level is reduced to a maintenance engineer. So you either have to find your father or his intelligence and memory in this virtual world.

The game is an adventure game where you have to do some detective work to find passwords and clues to discover which way you should be heading. Connectors are available throughout the game where you can connect your portable PC to download important information or new software to run on it. Sometimes these connectors will give you access to a descrambler facility which can be extremely useful. One small defect that I have to mention is that it isn't always easy to know if you are connected to a specific device or not. You've done all there is to establish your connection, you think you've logged in and yet nothing happens. You repeat the process and bingo it works, but you don't have a clue as to why. If this was to make the game more realistic, then they've done a great job!

The game isn't difficult to play if you are accustomed to adventure games, but if sometimes you feel a bit lost or blocked by an access code, always remember to check the latest e-mail you have received. This doesn't mean that the game is an easy ride as you still need to your brain to get through the different stages.

The presentation of the game is fantastic, the developers have put much work into this one believe me! Of course it is a cyber world and everything is virtual, but they have kept a very good sense of reality. In the first stage you are introduced as a technician who has to check on a zeppelin with a control gizmo. No problem identifying the zeppelin even if it isn't as you expected it to be. There are some stairs that look like they are made of pure metal floating from one platform to another. Everything is very well textured and has a very nice impression of volummes. In fact, if you believe that cyber worlds exist, you will think that these are actual pictures taken from one and not something that a graphic artist invented on his computer. The choice of colors is also very good, quite relaxing and goes with the music and the way virtual people talk. Everything is cool, smooth, with no flashing colors. The messages are read with a good human imitation, but without feeling and life. I wouldn't say it is New Age, but it is a bit in that direction.

In the game you move yourself from place to place by clicking with the mouse on the screen, nothing new there. The cursor is shaped in a sort of mechanical arm, and if it indicates a movement you can choose to do it. When standing in one spot, you can use the right mouse button to do a 360 degree turn by scrolling and at the same time you can look up and down. The high quality image is very impressive. While travelling along in this cyber world, you have a portable funny shaped PC with you. The very best thing on this PC is the screen with it's video animations. There are some characters with semi transparent bodies with moving light sources within them giving a very special effect. One of them even has three pistons in his head that are very well drawn. They really didn't have to go into such nice details and yet they did.

Conclusion:

This is a very good game, simply lay back and enjoy the full beauty of it, let yourself be lead by it. Some very nice moments lie ahead.

Written by Frederic zur Nedden

Click here for screen shots.

System Requirements:

486 DX-50 MHz or higher,
Min 8MB memory,
Dos 5.0,
Hard disk,
Double speed CD-ROM drive or faster,
256-color SVGA video graphic card VESA compatible (VESA Local Bus or PCI recommended),
Microsoft mouse or 100% compatibles.

Creative Labs; Media Vision and Gravis Ultrasound cards supported.

Supports Windows 95.