Temple of Gloom
A Review of Flight of the Amazon Queen
by Susan Davis
As the multimedia game fever reaches out and infects computer game
players around the world, game designers are rushing to produce
products to meet the increasing demand of adults and children alike.
WarnerActive, as the multimedia publishing arm of Warner Music Group,
Inc., is no exception. However, not all of the games hitting the
market are created equal. While entertaining and somewhat amusing,
"Flight of the Amazon Queen" is not among the upper echelon of
groundbreaking games.
Like most adventure games, Amazon Queen involves a small group of
characters trying to solve puzzles and mysteries that they have
accidentally stumbled across. Joe King, a pilot-for-hire, and his
mechanic Sparky are flying the beautiful, but snobbish, actress Faye
Russell to a movie set when the plane goes down in the Amazon Jungle.
In the course of his attempt to deliver Faye to the movie set, Joe and
his companions must solve the mystery of a missing Amazon princess,
foil the world-conquering efforts of the mad Dr. Ironstein, and escape
from a lost tribe of Amazon women. There are plenty of little puzzles
and mysteries to keep you busy throughout the game, but experienced
adventurers aren't going to find anything too tricky, or original.
The game's tongue-in-cheek approach to adventure games seems designed
to allow you to laugh at the game at the same time you enjoy its
puzzles, but the humor is somewhat weak. The wisecracking Joe King
prefers complaining about how he is just a pilot-for-hire, instead of
actually solving problems or even making intelligent witticisms. The
dialogue scenes include a wide variety of branching interaction, some
of it actually based upon the current situation, but with far too many
lines included just to poke fun at whatever situation Joe is in at the
moment.
And, unfortunately, unless you follow each branch through, you
are often unable to find the necessary clues you need. In one
instance, as Joe faces down a gorilla, you have to plow through
several sets of boring dialogue before uncovering the secret to
getting rid of the beast! And, once you have exhausted dialogue paths,
and the character has no more to say, the program just refuses to let
you talk to him anymore.
With the exception of the dialogue, most of the interface is standard adventure game fare. You point-and-click your way around picking up objects, combining them, and interacting with such interesting characters as a witch doctor, Trader Bob (owner of a 24-hour jungle convenience store), and some jungle explorers. The Save Game and Load Game interface takes a few minutes to understand, as it is disguised as Make Journal Entry and Read Entry in the journal you carry around. The game controls for sound and other functions are there also.
The game, while somewhat amusing to the ear, is disappointing to the
eyes. The graphics are technologically at about the same level as
Indiana Jones adventures and the Secret of Monkey Island series.
Everything is just a little cartoonish. Instead of giving the
impression of spoofing other adventure games, it gives the impression
of being far behind the times. The cut scenes are very simplistic, and
the characters are really one-dimensional. As a multimedia game, it is
very disappointing.
While "Flight of the Amazon Queen" is reasonably entertaining
adventure game fare, and as a spoof it does have its humorous moments,
it has its limitations as a truly enjoyable game.
Because of its
simplicity, it is not likely to be much fun to play again and again,
and the characters are only superficially amusing. The graphics are
not particularly stunning, and the plot, once solved, doesn't provide
enough branching to give you many options next time around. However,
it is relatively inexpensive, and as such, has the opportunity to
provide some limited entertainment.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
Flight of the Amazon Queen |
| Company: |
WarnerActive
|
| Cost: |
$20.00 |
System Requirements:
IBM PC/Compatible, 386/33 minimum
DOS 5.0 or higher, CD-ROM drive,
256-color VGA graphics,
4MB RAM minimum,
1MB hard disk space and MSCDEX 2.1 or higher.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor: 3
Graphics: 2
Sound: 1
Interface: 3
Replayability: 1
Overall Score:
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