Preface

The first adventure games were text only. As computers such as the
Apple and the C-64 made their way into people’s homes, adventure
games acquired graphics. At first they looked like the line drawings
in children’s coloring books. Then they became like the cartoons
on children’s TV. And then came Myst.

Myst was the first popular adventure game for grownups. The graphics
were more like Gainsborough then they were Hana-Barbara. The sound
was less PacMan and more Pachebel. The story was more than just an
excuse to present the game. The puzzles were actually integrated
into the story. It’s success was legend.

Overnight, adventure game
designers decided that success depended on throwing out your hand
drawn backgrounds and learning how to use
a 3D modeler. Forgettable titles such as Entombed and Milo came came
out almost monthly taking mediocre games and wrapping them up in
a ray-traced package. They became known as “Myst Clones.”

But the term “clone” implies an identical twin. It should
be hard to tell a clone from an original. Very few of these so called
clones came remotely close to the quality of Myst. Playing these
games did nothing to remind you of Myst. Personally, I think a better
term for these cheap games would be “Myst Knock-off.”

And then came Alida. And it was like deja vu all over again. Everything
about this game from the story to the graphics, from the sound to
the navigation system reminds you of Myst. So I would like to present
to you Alida, one the of the few true Myst clones.

Introduction

Alida is the product of one man: Cos Russo. If you have read my
other reviews then you know that I tend to place independent developers
on a pedestal. To create an adventure game worthy of the name requires
skill in multiple arts and technologies, a passion to conceive your
inspiration and an obsession to actually birth it into existence.
It is the rare individual who can pull it off.

And pull it off he did.
Alida pulls together story, multimedia and puzzles in a way which
surpasses most of the “professional” titles
on the store shelves. It is a loving tribute to Myst, paralleling
that classic game in many respects.

Alida was first released and reviewed for the Mac computer over
a year ago. It has just been released for the Windows PC. So I thought
it would be appropriate to write a review for the PC version so that
it would also show up on non-Mac radars.

The conversion to PC appeared
mostly successful. I say “mostly” because
there was one puzzle, the huge organ or “water pipe,” which
crashed the program every time I ran it. Fortunately, I was able
to get enough of the clues out of it to solve the puzzle. Alida‘s
web site also contains its own walkthrough which can get you around
this, should it give you trouble.

Story

From the web site:

“… The story centres around four young men in the band Alida
that attained phenomenal success with their first CD release. Loads
of money coupled with wild imagination resulted in construction of “Alida” –
the theme park.

…As Alida was nearing
completion things got complicated, their popularity was waning
and money stopped coming in. Distrust set in.
Each of the band members claimed different areas of Alida for themselves
where they devised weird and elaborate systems to protect their wealth.
They retracted from each other finally leaving Alida uninhabited.
Fifteen years later one of the guys is missing on Alida…”

So that guy’s wife enlists you to go to the island, find her husband
and maybe even find out what’s going on. The game starts with you
on an apparently deserted island covered with strange buildings and
no clue as to what is happening. Sound familiar?

The story plays out well. There are newspaper clippings, notes and
journals scattered about which gradually explain more and more of
what happened. The island is given an interesting history apart from
the band and I found myself truly interested in finding out more.

I had only three issues
with the story: First, it only resolved the fate of three (if we
count the manager) of the band members.
What happened to the other two? Second, you begin the story on a
balcony overlooking the sea, but with no access. How did you get
there? Where is your ship/plane? How will you return? And third,
the band apparently built the island to be a theme park, yet nothing
is built to handle crowds. Transportation systems can only carry
one person at a time and there are no public facilities (this seems
to be a common problem with adventure games – a severe toilet
shortage).

So we have a good story,
but with a few minor plot holes. That earns it a “B”.

Navigation

The navigation is identical to the one used in Myst, from the static
slide show screens right down to the Apple-esque pointing fingers.
This really brought back the memories.

The system is tried and true, but did have one significant shortcoming.
The cursor which just floats around the screen when there is nothing
to do is the same as the cursor which tells you to move forward which
is the same as the cursor which you use to click a button. So, you
don’t know if you can move forward until you click all over the screen.
Neither do you know if any of those little things on the counter
can be pushed until you click on them.

Needless to say, I missed
a lot of hotspots because the cursor did not change to acknowledge
them. This affected gameplay and brought
the Navigation score down to a “C+”.

Puzzles

Again, similar to another famous adventure game, the puzzles are
almost entirely of the logical variety. There is only one inventory
puzzle in the entire game.

The puzzles are logical and can be solved without a walkthrough
if you are willing to make the effort. But it will take some effort.
The solutions are there, but are not obvious. You will have to pay
attention to your surroundings and be able to relate things you see
and hear on one side of the island with things on the other side.

The puzzles are also nicely layered with the solution to one puzzle
giving you the clue you need for another.

Integration with the story is good. The only plot hole from the
puzzles pertain to the band member’s vaults. The vaults were supposedly
built to separate the members as they grew apart, but the combination
is the same for all and one vault contains the clue you need to get
to the next one.

My only major complaint with the puzzles is that they occasionally
get very busy. It may take a bit of effort to solve a puzzle as you
flip a switch on one side of the island, then go to another side
to set a dial, then go to a cave to read the results. Fair enough.
But then you have to repeat the entire process a dozen times to get
all the clues you need from all the settings. That is just busy work
and no longer fun.

But the consistent quality
of the puzzles give them a “B” rating.

Graphics

Beautiful, 3D modeled ray traced environments reminiscent of ….
you get the idea. The technology is contemporary with nice water
effects and full color pallets.

The atmosphere is not strong, but very appropriate. You are alone
on a strange island and it feels lonely.

My only complaint is the common problem with all static slide show
engines; the lack of peripheral vision. I missed I couple of paths
because they were right next to me and I couldn’t see them.

Graphics gets an “A”.
Nothing revolutionary, but they nailed it.

Sound

The sound effect were quite well done. Wind blew, birds sang, crickets
chirpped, water dripped and stereo placed them all in the right places.

Music was moving and inspiring. It swelled at the appropriate times
and really helped to make you feel like you accomplished something.
The last time I remember hearing music like this was back in 1999
when I was playing … well, I did say it was a clone, didn’t I?

Sound gets an “A” and
for the same reason as the graphics.

Addictability

Yes, I wanted to keep playing it. Yes, I lost some sleep over it.
Yes, I went to bed thinking about and woke up with new ideas. No,
my job was not placed in danger.

But it was not obsessive. The puzzles were difficult enough that
you will want to set it aside every so often to contemplate and collect
your thoughts. Which is not a bad thing.

Addictability gets a solid “B”.

Conclusion

This is a classic adventure game. If you enjoy adventure games,
then you will enjoy this one. The fact that it was created by a single
person is just amazing.

I really wanted to give
this game an “A,” but the navigation
system was so flawed that it dragged the final score down to a “B”.

Still, get this game. Pay retail for it. Visit the website and send
a nice email to Cos. We need more games like this.

Final Grade: B

System Requirements:

Windows version

Macintosh OS X
version

• Macintosh G4 350 or faster
• Mac OS 10.1.2 or higher
• QuickTime 5 or later
• approx 285 Meg hard
  disk space
• 640
  x 480 screen
• 24bit (millions) colour