Legends of Zork

Game : Legends of Zork

Ted Puffer's characters: Sandow, Suggoth

Short Review: Entertaining, but impersonal. Excellent stylized graphics which are cartoonlike without being cute.

Long Review: This browser based MMORPG without the massively multiplayer aspect. True, there are many online players at any given time, but there is essentially no interaction with other players during play. When you start the game you create a character with some very broad characteristics. You can be a tank, rogue, DPS etc., but these designations have much less relevance than you might think. After making and naming a character, you are unleashed onto a world and given 40 turns to interact with the environment. If you run out of turns, you must wait until the next day to get more. Additional turns or equipment can be purchased through a shop for real cash. I've played this game for about two months now and havne't seen a real need to buy extra time. 40 turns is easily enough to poke around the world for a bit before going on to bigger and better adventures.
     You start out as a level one player, and gain experience points through battle which allow you to beef up your characters stats. Through adventuring around the map, you can also gain gold (zorkmids) which are turned in for better gear. As an aside, you can also fight other players in a PVP arena and bet on the outcome of the fight. Fights are very hands-off. You are given a roster of other players along with their major stats. When you select a player to fight, you are taken to a betting board for wagering, and then the fight is tallied automatically.
     Here is the rub, and the opportunity to exploit the game.
     Lets say you start two characters at the same time. Call them fighter A and B. Fighter A start off in the wild world and tests his or her might against the local beasties. After one week of playing, A has amassed enough gold and XP to become a level 10 fighter with 100 strength points and 100 defense points.
     Fighter B starts off a little differently. Fighter B spends exactly one day gathering gold and upgrades his or her equipment. At the end of day one, B is a level 2 fighter with 20 strength and 20 defense points. B immediately heads to the PVP area and starts picking fights with other characters of the same level. Now other level 2 players have likely not upgraded their armor or weapons yet, so B has an edge on them. B fights PVP battles, wagering the maximum amount and gathering XP from every fight. B does this for the rest of the week.
     At the end of the week, B is a level 10 fighter, just like A, but B has amassed so much gold that he or she can buy armor and weapons to boost their stats to about 300 strength and 300 defense. Player B then goes on to glory, easily walking over all opponents for the next 30 levels or so. Player A muddles on cursing their ill luck while hacking and slashing the local hog, rat or puddle of slime.

     As I'd mentioned, I've been playing Legends of Zork for awhile and enjoy it mostly for nostalgia sake. It's a quirky little game and only required about 15 minutes of play per day. The fights and quests are impersonal, you get the impression that the world would be the same weather you were out adventuring in it or not, but aside from that it makes for a good browser game. Beware of the constant Evony adds. Ug. They refresh after each turn and are an eyesore and a distraction. Computer generated heaving bosoms lose their appeal on the hundredth viewing.