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Prom Night Reviews
Author: Christopher Cole and Sir Gareth
Date: 2002
TADS
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
Overall thoughts:
Prom Night is one of the most repayable games out there. It is very well
balanced between puzzles and sex, it has good characters and well-designed and
described settings. You play a high school senior arriving at prom with your
dream date, but she starts off a bit chilly towards you. In fact, at one point
she leaves you for an extended period of time to go to the bathroom. This gives
you the opportunity to explore the surroundings and the available entertainment.
Of course, the entertainment to be had exploring is far more entertaining than
hanging out with Laurie. Thinking back at my own senior prom, I probably did not
spend near enough time apart from my date or I (apparently) would have had a lot
more fun.
The puzzles and solutions thereto add great irreverent atmosphere to the game.
The PC has a bit of a fuck-all attitude and seems to enjoy taking advantage of
the situations. Even though he’s an anonymous PC (you enter your own name), he
comes to life better than most unnamed and even some named PC’s. The female
characters are also reasonably well-rendered and none of them seem too flat or
stereotyped.
Sex:
I found the sex in Prom Night to be varied and immersive. No common commands or
scenarios are omitted from the sex scenes, and the descriptions are very
detailed. Also, the NPC’s are more aggressive than in most games, and will
occasionally call you back in for more sex if you try to leave. The three-way in
the game is one of the better three-ways I’ve come across, and it was well
deserving of the Erin in that category last year. The scene that takes place in
the pitch black room was also extremely hot.
Technical:
The main technical glitches I’ve found are some missing vocabulary and a grammar
error every now and then. I also found a few wardrobe malfunctions that do not
detract from the game. A few extra commands pertaining driving, entering and
leaving the car would also have been welcome – it offers a few guess-the-verb
entanglements. Otherwise, the game seems very technically sound.
Puzzles/Game play:
The aforementioned abandonment of Laurie during the course of the game makes it
seem, at times, like you’re on the wrong track, even when you’re not.
Conscientious players will have a difficult time suspending their disbelief at
how badly the date goes for Laurie. You only have to look at the top of the TADS
screen (the turn counter is a clock) to see how much time you’ve spent with
other women and how little with her. If I were she I’d leave me. Instead, for a
long while she sits at a table in the ballroom and is a rock. You apparently
can’t make her get up, not to dance, not for anything. This is my main complaint
about the flow of the game. There should be more urgency to solve Laurie.
As to the puzzles, I found about half of them to be reasonable and half somewhat
counterintuitive, if not altogether difficult. There are several points in the
game where there is only one possible course of action, but you can spend ages
wandering around trying to find it – and the map isn’t even that big.
Intangibles:
The game has some fun ‘bonus’ voyeuristic scenes and a couple of alternate
endings that help round it out and make it seem like a finished piece of work.
Final Thoughts
Prom Night is a game that I return to every now and then, mainly because the sex
is so well written. I think the flow of the game is awkward, and the sex
scenarios a bit contrived, but overall a strong effort.
Rating: B
Reviewed by A. Bomire
Overview:
This was a thoroughly enjoyable game. It plays out pretty much as you'd expect -
meeting girls from your school and getting it on with them - but there are some
interesting twists and turns along the way that really surprise you. As can be
expected from two such authors as these (Sir Gareth who compiled the SEX.T
library used in so many other games, and Christopher Cole whose list of credits
is much too long to go into here), it is well-written and fun.
Puzzles/Game Play:
The game played very well - at only one point was I wandering about not knowing
what to do or where to go next. It turns out I missed a whole section of the
ballroom, so that was really my own fault. Most of the puzzles were fairly easy,
although there were a couple that required some thought and careful examining of
your environment. The only part of the game that bugged me was a scene with one
girl in a pool hall. The only reason that it bothered me is that it is such a
public place; it just didn't seem right to me, somehow.
Technical:
This game has very few technical problems. There are a few wrong words used here
and there, and a number of locations where something mentioned in the
description is missing, or just missing a noun. For example, your date, Laurie,
is described as wearing a gown made by Armani. However, you can't examine her
'gown', only her dress. However, things like this are really minor and the
average player will only find them if he is really looking for them. One other
minor technical glitch is the ‘clock’. At the top of the screen is a clock
letting you know what time it is. This is an obvious realistic addition, except
that it can lead to some unrealistic scenarios – such as a prom that runs for 24
hours or more if you spend enough time just wandering about or pressing “z”.
Again, a minor problem in the overall game design, which actually tells you how
well designed the game is – I have to look for stuff that is wrong with it.
Sex:
The sex in this game is well done, and hot. There is something for just about
everyone - sex in a public place, voyeurism, girls of varying body type and even
a threesome. The girls will even take the initiative sometimes. What you may not
expect, and is a part of every good game, is that the girls have distinct
personalities, and this holds true even during the sex scenes. This is something
that I found really refreshing, and enjoyed the quiet shyness of Jen as much as
the raunchy "anything goes" attitude of Debbie.
Intangibles:
What I liked best about this game wasn't the stuff you expect to find in this
type of game, but the stuff you don't expect. I'd love to tell you all about
some of it, but I think that would really spoil the game, so I won't. So there!
Final Thoughts:
The game was a joy to play. It was well written, hot, and full of fun surprises.
Despite being full of seemingly every cliche about the high school prom, it
managed to come off as fresh and new. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope you do
as well.
Rating: A-
Reviews should be considered copyrighted by their respective authors.
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