Developer: Gray Design Associates
Platform: MS-DOS
Release: 1992
Genres: Adventure, Parser, Text-based
It's been far too long since I've had time to write up on this blog. Life is busy with a baby and a full time job, and on top of that I'm working on a game development project of my own called Broken Planet. Check out our progress on our website:
www.brokenplanet.co.nz
We're also writing tutorials about how to get into game development, especially about how to use the Unreal Development Kit.
Back to the game!
Plot
If you've played the original Hugo's House of Horrors or Hugo II: Whodunnit? you'll be familiar with the format. You play the take the role of the protagonist Hugo, and your objective is to obtain an antidote to save the life of your girlfriend Penelope (who's been bitten by a spider).
Gameplay
All the Hugo games are text based parser adventures. The player experiences the game through a 2D side on view of the character and his surroundings, and the game plays out through a series of "rooms" or areas.
To interact with the environment the player types in commands, for example "Look in draw" or "Pick up hammer". A lot of the commands require carefully examining the scene around you to figure out what to interact with, plus a healthy amount of guesswork.
Positives
Decent story and cohesive world.
In the final game in the trilogy the developer brought in a graphical artist to help with the scenery which was actually the reason it was set in a jungle; the artist (Gary Sirois) was particularly good at drawing vegetation.
An example of Gary Sirois' vegetation artwork.
Negatives
Too hard, frustrating beyond belief in an age where there wasn't internet to use Uncle Google to help you.
Memorable Moments
Trying to work out what to do with a bouillon cube, a term I'd never heard of before. I now know it's just a stock cube... ugh...
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