Castle Infinity

STEP INTO MY CASTLE . . .

A Review of Castle Infinity

by Ron Enderland

Let me start by saying that this review is about an online game, one that is played over the internet.

That old internet is changing. It's growing in numerous directions as it hurtles towards its place as man's form of communication and interaction of the twenty-first century.

As we watch it develop, we are at the same time amazed, frightened, elated, disgusted, and apathetic. True, some of the internet's development is aimed at the baser forms of human nature. Much of the net's growth doesn't concern us, as it is being formulated by tiny specialized groups who can suddenly have their voice alongside huge mainstream organizations in the cheap world of internet publication.

However, the ones who will have the most clout as the web continues to transform are the ones sitting in your living room watching cartoons on Saturday morning.

Children are the demographic group that the smart developers are attempting to reach. As kids pick up cyber-life with the same ease that my generation handled G.I.Joes and Tonka trucks, they hold more and more say in what Webheads want from developers.

Castle Infinity has made a bold attempt to reach both the youngsters and their concerned parents. They have succeeded in doing so to a remarkable degree.

The premise behind Castle Infinity is this: You, the young cyber-surfer, must help the dinosaurs in the castle in their struggle to defeat the monster element that has slipped in. The castle is a dangerous place, as far as the existence of monsters is concerned. They lurk everywhere, ready to zap you and send you to (gasp!) your room!

Yes, this isn't Doom, Quake, or any other bloody shoot-em-up. This is good-natured, inoffensive fun that kids ages six to twelve will ravenously devour, and grateful parents will cheerfully allow.

The castle is a stronghold from the nasty elements of the internet that get all of the airplay on the nightly news. It's a well-monitored place where the feelings of others must be respected. Note some of the Ten Rules:

No swearing or dirty language.
Don't tease, be mean to, or threaten anyone.
Don't hassle anybody because of their race, religion,. . . or about any physical limitations that they might have.

These rules are enforced by the Castle Infinity folks. The manual shows your kids how they can access Security and let a monitor know if someone is crossing the line. ôThis isn't really part of the game, and it's not anything fun to do. This is here so you can tell us if someone is hassling you or ruining your fun.ö Okay, 'nuff said.

There are other rules which the parent must enforce. These are common-sense regulations that should have already been instilled in your child before they started surfing the net anyway. This includes stuff like not giving out home addresses or phone numbers; not agreeing to meet in person anyone you meet in the game unless the parent gives the okay; that sort of thing.

So, I am impressed with the premise of child safety. Observing my eight-year-old play for an hour, I saw nothing but good-natured banter going on between his avatar and the fifty or so of other players. Starwave seems to have a well-policed fun spot on the internet here.

On to the game itself: The game promises to run with America Online's winsock connection. I set mine up with the 16-bit version of AOL, and it worked fine. When I upgraded to 32-bit, it still ran nicely. It will also use your TCP/IP connection, if that's what you have.

If you're running high color (and who isn't, in the PCI video card age?), then the game will not start. Instead, you'll be greeted with a message instructing you to switch to 256 color mode. This is simply a pain that shouldn't be there. Perhaps the game is optimized for 256 colors, but forbidding play until you change your desktop to match their configuration is excessive. A simple warning message (like Sierra's Trophy Bass game gives you) stating that not every bell and whistle may play in high color mode should be sufficient.

The motion in the game is very herky-jerky. Perhaps my ancient 14,400 modem was partially to blame here, but nowhere in the literature was a 28,800 modem recommended. I suspect that the problem lies in attempting to present the incredibly elaborate (and beautiful, I might add) graphics in an online environment.

Well, stay tuned. The site has only been up since October. These might only be bugs in the system that need to be worked out.

Once your kid gets inside, he or she will find a world of fun awaiting. They will likely find themselves at the fountain, a popular gathering spot. I've seen as many as twenty other avatars there, discussing everything from the weather to correct brain-sucker-zapping procedures. It's good-natured, it's fun, and, at $39.95 for a lifetime membership (including the CD-ROM), it's a great deal.

The game itself is not too hard for an eight-year old to master. There's more help at Castle Infinity's website (found below) if it's needed. The manual promises that the castle is infinite, and that it will be expanded constantly in the future. If so, then this might be an excellent investment for the parent who's weary of buying 40 and 50 dollar games on CD, just to have their kid proudly announce after a week or so ôI whipped it!ö

To sum up, we just might be seeing the standard of kid-safe online games being set here. I recommend that you take a $40 chance (and take full advantage of AOL's new unlimited rates) and provide your child with possibly years of safe entertainment.

Gamer's Zone Scorecard

Product:	Castle Infinity
Company:	Castle Infinity Web Site
Cost:	n/a

System Requirements:

A Pentium-based PC running Windows 95
8 MB RAM
2x CD-ROM drive
Opposable Thumbs
Windows 95-compatible sound card and speakers
Internet Access

Breakdown:

Fun Factor 4
Graphics 5
Sound 4
Interface 3
Replayability 5

Overall Score:

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