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A Walk at Dusk Reviews
Author: Eric Mayer
Date: 2005
ADRIFT 4.0
Reviewed by David Whyld
New ADRIFT games - and by "new" I mean those not entered in the various competitions which seem to have comprised about 90% of ADRIFT's recent output -
are a rarity these days. The only exceptions seem to be the joke games put out by people who aren't anywhere near as clever as they like to think or the games
people upload when they're "learning the system" and would be better off sent straight to the recycle bin. So when I saw there was a new game out, I hurried
over and downloaded it.
Initial Impressions
Some games start well and then go bad, others start bad and then become good. A Walk At Dusk was a bit of a mixed bunch. It started fairly well and if the
storyline - involving the player deciding to look for a tree frog during a walk - didn't blow me away, it at least wasn't so horrible I thought about quitting.
At least it made a nice change to the "save the world" storylines that populate so many games and nor was it some deep and fundamental game with 'serious'
issues.
Purpose
My first time through the game led me feeling as if there wasn't a lot of point to what happened here. I wandered around, examined a few things, became
alternately impressed with the decent standard of writing and depressed with the
often clumsy programming, and then I found what I was looking for - a tree frog - and the game ended. It told me I'd achieved four of the ten things I would
have wanted to do and nicely listed them for me (I say nicely because it was nice idea not because of the formatting used for the listing which was a bit of
a jumbled mess). Which left me sitting thinking "well, is that it?"
I played it again to see if there was anything else I had missed. There were a few things, mostly to do with examining bits of the scenery I hadn't thought to
examine the first time, but overall it seems that, yes, that is it. Which isn't to say that what's on offer here isn't enough for a bite-sized game to while
away half an hour on a rainy afternoon.
In the end I was left with the impression that A Walk At Dusk isn't so much a game as an exercise for the writer in telling a story using ADRIFT. The intro
states that this is "an interactive essay" and there is a definite 'story' feel to the game that is a break from the norm.
Looked at from the viewpoint of "something to pass the time" or "a story with ADRIFT", it's quite likeable. It's certainly well written (mostly anyway) and
while the occasional lapses in programming are a pain, they don't distract too much from the game itself.
Problems
As with the writer's last game - Wax Worx - there are some great pieces of writing in A Walk At Dusk often let down by some exceedingly poor game writing
and general lack of attention to detail. Some objects listed in the room descriptions can be examined, others can't. Some obvious commands are missed out
in one location yet equally obvious ones in another location are covered; this leads to the sneaking suspicion that this was a game written very quickly indeed
and subjected to no more than cursory testing.
The lack of attention is bad in several places, notably the very first location in the game where the room description notes a field off to one side but trying
to examine the field produces the default error message: "You can't see that here." Strangely, just about every other item in the location can be examined
and most of them have nicely detailed descriptions.
In other places, the description of a single item seems to have been used to cover the descriptions for many (a case of the writer cutting corners?). The
description of the trees and shadows in one location returns the same description for each, which also happens to double (triple?) as the room
description. Clearly the three are separate and should be treated as such for the sake of descriptions.
Sometimes the responses you get from the game aren't what you'd expect. I walked
into a spider's web at one point and tried to break it with some wire I was carrying yet the game seemed to think I was trying to break it with the board.
There are no real puzzles in the game* but sometimes the game's unhelpfulness can lead to unexpected puzzles arising. One command, in particular, needs to be
repeated at the end of the game yet why would the player type it twice when the first time it didn't produce anything special? As it happened, I only typed it
the second time because I had run out of things to do and was going through the various items in the room description and just typing "x [item]" one by one to
see if there were any that I had missed. By chance I typed the same one as I had
already typed and this time I got a meaningful response whereas the first time I
hadn't.
* Okay, there's one but it's so simple and straightforward that I doubt many people are going to struggle to get across the stream.
The only other problem I had with the game was with its often strange spacing between various parts of text. Sometimes the room description will immediately
follow the direction command, other times there will be several lines between the two. There are also quite a few instances of weird spacings in the text
itself with multiple spaces separating words in the middle of a sentence. No big
deal and hardly the sort of thing that is going to either make or break a game but a little unusual all the same.
"I don't understand what you mean!"
The default ADRIFT response of "I don't understand what you mean!" pops up often, usually in response to commands that really should have been covered but,
for some reason, aren't. There's a stream the player has to cross at one point yet the option to swim across it isn't covered despite this being the first
thing a player is likely to attempt. Elsewhere there's a fence but it can't be climbed. The same goes for several trees.
Conclusion
Although I wasn't much impressed with A Walk At Dusk after my first play through
it, subsequent playings (as I tried to figure out just what it was I needed to do to get the best possible ending) impressed me more. There's quite an involved
game here and the idea is a lot cleverer than it first appears. Puzzle-less IF has never been a favourite of mine (despite the fact that I'm hopeless at most
puzzles and inevitably start typing "help" the first time I come across one instead of trying to figure it out myself) but, handled well, it can certainly
work and while I don't think that this game has quite succeeded it was nevertheless worth playing. A more polished version, or perhaps a larger and
more ambitious game along similar lines, might be an interesting idea.
5 out of 10
Reviewed by DIY Games
This is a short and very easy interactive fiction game. You are out in the woods
at night, trying to find the frog you’ve been hearing for years, but which you’ve never actually seen. Completing the game is no challenge, but the writing
is superb, striking the perfect balance between literary and utilitarian. It’s
neither too verbose, nor too short, and it sets the mood perfectly. I know what I’ll be doing tonight once it stops raining…
Reviewed by Laurence Moore
There is a certain style and flair about Eric Mayer's writing style. That's the thing: it has style. It's not just words strung together. You are on a hard road. The trees are swaying in the wind. Exits are north and south. Not, of course, that there is anything wrong with that type of description. It's just
that when Mayer writes you get the feeling that here is a guy who labours over
very word and every sentence. Nothing is wasted. Everything has purpose. Here is a guy comfortable with words. But, does that, alone, make an enjoyable gaming
experience...?
Read on...
A Walk At Dusk is the first new Adrift release of 2005 (where are the others? Stop
vaporising, get writing!!) It is billed as an interactive essay (whatever that is supposed to be) and the opening description is nicely drawn. A country
road. Hard packed dirt. You can feel embedded pebbles beneath your worn out running shoes. Nice, very nice, but who am I? What's going on here? Okay, I'm
out for a simple walk in the country to locate a unique frog that I have never seen. Well, it's a refreshing change from searching for the golden wotsit in the
dungeon of the wotsit demon. Here, the more obscure verbs in text adventures - such as listen, touch and smell - have all been implemented and, when used, the
resulting descriptions are nicely detailed (and well written) evoking a true sense of just being there. Average writers tell you where you are. Good writers
make you feel where you are.
So, here I am, but am I enjoying the stroll? Well, yes...and no.
It's detailed. It's well-written. It's a small game intended to be nothing more than a pleasant diversion but...perhaps I would prefer to be searching for the
golden wotsit rather than looking for a frog in dusky, tranquil surroundings...but I am now noticing a few odd display problems - double spacing appearing here and there and not after comma's. Sometimes I don't notice it. Sometimes it makes the text look a tad disjointed.
Anyway (minor spoiler) I have now acquired a plank (no lamp or keys here) and I'm trying to use it across the stream (or the pond). No joy, the stream is too
wide, but didn't I see the stream elsewhere? Okay, that's the place, I'm across.
At this point I am still enjoying the outing but, equally, I know there is not going to be a dramatic shift in tone or development in plot. This lovingly rendered environment is not about to darken with something malevolent. This is akin to a nature hunt. Nothing more. However, the writing is good so I am
determined to finish it. Now I've eaten a strawberry, found another object and I'm trying to fend off rampant poison ivy.
Okay, okay, is this any good?
Well, it depends what you are looking for. If you want a detailed and pleasant trip through the dusk hunting a rare frog, sniffing and smelling and touching
everything in sight, then download and enjoy the well crafted words. If you're hoping the frog will turn into a killer frog and the game will open up into a
pretty big adventure then...you might be a touch disappointed.
A one shot deal.
6.5/10
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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