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DELRON
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Obedience
Reviews
Author: Rip_CPU
Date: 2009
Inform
What does AIF stand for? Adult Interactive Fiction.
If you likely to
be offended by games with sexual content, you are advised not
to open these
files.
Reviewed by A. Ninny (Inside
Erin: The AIF Community Newsletter Volume 5 Number 7 – July 2009)
Overview: One of two superhero-themed games in this mini-comp; this time you
play the supervillian. You’ve captured a superheroine and have her in your lair.
What fun do you think you could have trying to
break her?
Review: Like in In Darkness, Obedience begins with you having no knowledge of
your true identity. Unlike In Darkness, though, the PC knows exactly who he is.
So there’s no reason - other than to toss in a
useless puzzle - for me not to be told right off the bat who I am, who I’ve
captured, and what I’m about to do. Once I sort that I’m a supervillian, there’s
nothing in my way of getting it on with the superheroine
I’ve captured. Not that she’s willing, of course. She gets into it (don’t they
always?), but essentially this is a rape fantasy.
I had some thoughts on improving this game, the most obvious would be to have
another superhero or superheroine that I had to defeat in order to get at my
quarry. Another would be to somehow corrupt the
superheroine to come to my side and conquer the world (and, as a bonus, initiate
action in the sex scene).
Concept: C-. This game is simplistic to the point of being meaningless.
Writing. B-. I didn’t have as big a problem with the quality of the writing as
the story itself.
Characters: C-. The characters were really generic. Next time, create a bigger
difference between the superheroine and the villain.
Hotness: C-. The non-consensual aspect and the lack of emotional quality mostly
did this in for me.
Technical: C. Some opportunities to improve the tech in this game were missed.
For instance, give the player the opportunity to manipulate the apparatus
restraining the girl.
Enjoyment: C. This game simply lacks the impact to make it very enjoyable.
Reviewed by ExLibris (Inside
Erin: The AIF Community Newsletter Volume 5 Number 7 – July 2009)
First things first. The comics geek in me wants to point out that Ben Urich was
the author of 'Legacy of Evil', not Ben Ulrich. Sorry about that.
Obedience was one of two superhero themed games in this year’s minicomp, though
it takes the opposite tack to The Mechano-Menace!. Coincidentally it also has a
very similar basic premise to BSG 22, but I
think it managed to execute it a lot better. In particular, I found the way in
which information about the PC and his aims is slowly drip-fed to the player to
be very effective, and a prime example of the virtues of
showing rather than telling. The subject matter isn't something that would
immediately appeal to me, but this introduction allowed me to slowly submerge
myself in the character. This was something that didn't
happen with BSG 22's abrupt infodump, and consequently I was more resistant to
that game.
Having so many items hidden under other items did get a bit repetitive, but
there were plenty of warnings about that so I'm not going to complain too much.
Objects mentioned in the room descriptions were also
consistently implemented in the game, which is always nice to see. Obedience
also delivered one of the more satisfying puzzles of the competition, in the
shape of finding your way into the PC's secret lair.
There wasn't a good deal of obvious characterisation, but what there was went a
long way. Due to the way in which the PC was characterised I was never in doubt
about his motivations or desires. The character of Polaris was a little flat,
but given her role in the game that was perfectly sufficient. The premise of the
game also gives the player concrete reasons for wanting her (reasons other than
just the fact that she's hot, I mean), rather than just letting the relationship
between the principals fend for itself, as seemed to happen in Prosperity of
Cheaters or The Mechano-Menace!
The sex scene was among the better written, and was possibly the best
implemented as well. The addition of the PC's 'tools' gave it that x-factor
required to distinguish it from the rest of the pack. The many different
possible variations and outcomes added extra interest as well, and kept the
scene from becoming mechanical or predictable.
Overall, I think Obedience is a good game rather than an outstanding one, but
it's a game that is consistently good in every area. The only thing I can really
say against it is that it had a few too many
typos.
Reviewed by Gary Plume (Inside
Erin: The AIF Community Newsletter Volume 5 Number 7 – July 2009)
This was a fun segue from mundane to extraordinary. Again, domination is not my
cup of tea, but this was certainly better than BSG. Being the supervillain
created some fun, but the toys seemed to become useless
too quickly. Aren't there more ways to use my supervillain powers? Sex was hot
but again not really consensual. The scale of obedience that the XYZZY-summoned
author seemed to allude to was too subtle
for me to grasp; perhaps a status bar meter would help me understand what was
helping or hurting my cause. The "look under _____" puzzles seemed awfully
simplistic for game play. I'd have preferred a
secret narcissistic closet/shrine for the uniform.
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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