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I Am the Law Reviews
Author: djchallis
Date: 2008
ADRIFT 4.0
Reviewed by Abbi Park
I Am the Law, by djchallis (7
rooms, 9 objects, 11 tasks, 3 events, 5 characters)
1. What was your initial impression of the game, when you first opened it up,
and how did the game compare?
I thought it might be fairly involved even though the restrictions kept it a
small game. It was, to a point, as far as asking characters about things. It
was begging to be more involved as far as objects, but, as we know, it could not
be, for this competition.
2. How did the author do within the restrictions?
The game suffered from not being able to have enough objects to cover all of the
ones in the story. It's not very fitting for a detective to refuse to examine
something that could lead to a clue. However, that makes it quite convenient
for players because it means we know what to focus on more than the objects.
Everything but the objects was fleshed out very well in keeping with the
restrictions.
3. How were the puzzles and/or storyline?
The only "puzzles" were saying clearcut subjects to characters. Simple. Aside
from some typos, the storyline was very well-written and made me curious to find
out more. I kind of liked the ending and kind of didn't, because something
seemed partially unfinished. But it made sense and was described very nicely.
4. What did you like best about the game?
Somehow my favorite part was finding out what the mystery was that I was
supposed to solve. It was a downward spiral from there. No, just kidding! The
rest was good too. The explanation of what happened was what made me switch
from passively interested to actively interested in hearing more of the story,
though.
5. What did you like least about the game, and how could this be fixed?
The paragraph/sentence spacing, or, rather, lack of line spacing. It would be
much easier to read with one blank line between every line/couple
sentences/whatever instead of long and short lines strung together into a long
sort-of-paragraph. Also, there were too many screens before the game started.
No wonder the author asked if intro/title screen tasks would be included in the
task count or not. It would have helped the game to have them.
6. What stood out most to you from/about this game?
Wow, that's a lot of text for a small game.
7. How did this game compare with the others in the competition and/or what set
it apart?
Most in-depth mystery.
Any other comments?
Djchallis, you shouldn't worry so much about disappointing us with blandness or
emptiness! Your story carried the game well.
Reviewed by revgiblet
I saw that coming...but not that.
AWARD: The "Would Make the Best Full Game" Award
An independent investigator called in to solve a murder that takes place on a
space station? I started designing a game with exactly that setting. No
really, look! Here's my notepad. I made about six pages of notes - maps and
everything. And now I can't use it because someone else beat me to it. I was
going to make it conversation driven as well! It was going to be about finding
clues in the things that people said! But, I never really figured out how I
would make that work. I suppose that using text formatting to highlight
important clues is not a bad idea. Well, OK, it's a pretty darn good idea
actually. I wish I'd thought of that.
This was another entry that surprised me with the amount of game fitted in
around the limitations.
The author is clearly a fan of story-driven IF, so we have that in common.
There's a shed-load of text to read in this game, and as someone who watched
all of the cut-scenes for Metal Gear Solid I get quite excited
thinking about the prospect. The story is also pretty decent. I don't want to
give too much away, but I guessed the identity of the killer quite early on in
the proceedings - though the motive for the killing was not something that I
predicted and I thought that it tied things nicely together.
It would have been nice if the notepad you carried around with you kept a list
of all of the 'blue text' that you had discovered, as there was quite a lot to
keep track of. I also found that a couple of topics I tried to talk about
didn't get the responses that I thought that they should. I would put both of
those down to the limitations of the competition.
One thing that I found distracting throughout the game was the fact that I was
invited to put myself into the shoes of Joshua Kent, but was then forcibly
detached from the character by being told what I should be feeling. For
example, a couple of times I was told that I 'admired' the responses from some
of the suspects, though I confess that I didn't really feel it. My immersion in
the game would have been greatly improved if I had simply been told what was
said and left to explore my own emotions about it. Am I Joshua Kent, or am I an
omniscient observer? If I am him, then don't tell me how I feel about the
situations that I am encountering. Let me feel it for myself.
Despite this, I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed playing this game.
I'm a sucker for story-driven IF, and this was probably the most solid example
of the genre in the whole competition. It's a very good game, and a great
example of what can be done with ADRIFT within a very tight set of restrictions.
I expect many more positive reviews, and hope that the author finishes
Project Clocks and goes on to write more IF.
This entry seemed fairly ambitious, and I think that the foundations are here
for a great full game. Well, of course I would think that. I had the same idea
after all.
Reviewed by Dan Blazquez
A meaty whodunnit with an obvious
nod to an old classic. I Am The Law makes great use of ADRIFT's built-in
conversation system, highlighting possible subjects in a blue color. While at
first I found this a nifty idea, during play I realized that this color-coding
just lessened the impact of the game and made it a little *too* easy. The
lengthy introduction does a fine job of easing new players into the fray, but
also comes off as annoying or overbearing. These two points make up the bulk of
complaints against this interesting work and are ruthlessly stomped by its
gauntlet of strengths:
First, I Am The Law is big, considering the restrictions. Weighing in at double
the size of the nearest contender and quadruple the size of the average entries
in the comp, there is a lot of dialogue in this game, most of it well written
and integral to the progression of the story. Ultimately that is what I Am The
Law does best - it tells a story, and a good one at that. I saw the twist coming
early on, as did other reviewers, but that did nothing to bar my enjoyment of
this detective romp.
The setting, characters, and events are fleshed out and the writing, although
long and plentiful, is interesting... I never found myself wanting to skim over
the text dumps, although the bright blue subjects contrasted jarringly with the
rest of the text and kept catching my eye while I was trying to read! I played
through this in one go and was enthralled by the plot's linear, logical
progression. I felt that inner fire that you can only get from reading a good
piece of literature.
The implementation of few objects made the game feel bare in that respect,
although with the focus on narrative and characters this is a minor quibble. The
game practically plays itself. Between the barrage of info screens at the outset
and the color coding of important subjects (which is the only way to progress in
this game) the adventure is over way too quickly and with too much hand holding.
Obviously the author strove to wring a good story out of meager restrictions
(and did so brilliantly... this is excellent as a narrative driven story) and
while the story shines brightly the game struggles as a highly interactive work.
Arguably the best use of the restrictions as a good yarn unravels here. Very
polished and professional feeling, if a little too easy. I'm eager to see what
the author has in store for us next, as this game demonstrates a level of
cohesive
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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