EARTHRISE

 EARTHRISE places itself firmly within the genre of the classic text adventure,
the type of game Infocom used to do so well. You wake up in the dark, in a
strange place, with only a vague idea of the task you're supposed to accomplish.
EARTHRISE has a large "world" to explore, and lots of things to do; so far, so
good. Unfortunately, EARTHRISE is an animated _graphic_ adventure game, and
that's where it falls down: The graphics are almost embarassingly primitive.
(This review is based on the IBM-PC version.)

 EARTHRISE is set in a future where Earth's mining takes place in manned bases
on asteroids. The personnel on these bases use computer-controlled rockets to
move them into Earth's orbit, all the while digging for whatever ore the
asteroid contains. As you might have guessed, something has gone terribly wrong.
The crew on the asteroid Solus radioed back reports of encounters with alien
life forms, after which contact was mysteriously lost. The asteroid's rockets
shut down, and it's presently on a collision course with Earth. You must find
out what happened, and get everything fixed.

 You wake up from suspended animation in your rocket ship, already in orbit
around Solus. You'll have to hunt around the ship, figure out what you need, and
how to get down to the surface of the asteroid. Once there, you can explore the
surface, as well as the subterranean base (on two levels, with about 20 rooms
and some installations on the surface, as well).

 Most of the puzzles here consist of finding objects scattered around, then
figuring out which object is appropriate for which task, and in which order
these tasks must be accomplished. Tasks include more than just repairs to the
base: You'll also encounter various species of alien lifeforms, all of them
hostile. I'd rate the level of challenge here as moderate. If you remember to
LOOK at everything (and I do mean _everything_), you ought to be able to find
what you need. Of course, sometimes it's not just a matter of knowing what you
need, but how to use it. And often, you'll frustratingly blast away with the
right object, getting nowhere, because you're not using the correct syntax.

 An added wrinkle is that the structural integrity of some sections of the base
has been breached. Quite often, you'll find yourself walking into a vacuum. If
your helmet isn't on, your head will explode. (You do have a gauge for checking
things like this.) Since you'll spend much of your time in your spacesuit, and
since the game is played in "real time," you'll have to keep a constant watch on
your oxygen supply. (Hint: There are a couple of ways to get "refills.")

 Game author Matt Gruson has provided a fairly large, well thought-out game
world to explore. There are dozens of rooms and corridors (even a holographic
representation of a forest back on Earth), as well as the surface of the
asteroid, and your space ship. There are lots of things hidden away, often in
the most unlikely places. All of these will earn you points, but not all of them
are essential to completing the game. (You can even find Gruson's CompuServe ID
number, if you look in the right place!) It's possible to complete the game
without having amassed the full 800 points.

 Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, the graphics are awful here; credit (or
blame) one Van Collins for that. In this age of truly splendid-looking games
from companies like Sierra, EARTHRISE is like stepping back into the stone age.
The images are okay for seeing what's there, but they are so low-resolution even
in EGA mode that I had to boot up under CGA to make certain I really _was_
getting EGA! (The only difference between the two, by the way, is that EGA
offers more colors; the game does not take advantage of EGA's possible higher
resolution.)

 EARTHRISE comes with a brief but well-written instruction booklet that includes
a cut-away diagram of your ship. You're on your own for mapping out the planet
and the base. The IBM box includes six 5-1/4" diskettes, and three 3-1/2"
diskettes. The files can easily be copied to your hard drive via an included
installation program, after which the game relies on manual copy protection.
(The game can also be played from floppy disk if you have two drives.) 640K of
RAM is required.

 Support is provided for CGA, EGA and Tandy 16-color modes. As I said, the
graphics are archaic. No support is included for soundboards, but aside from the
opening music, the only audio in the game is the occasional sound effect.

 EARTHRISE is played from the keyboard: You use the arrow keys to walk around.
Some of the most frequently used commands have also been assigned to function
keys, and if you wish, you may redefine them. Naturally (for an adventure game),
you can save a game in progress, and there are "slots" that can hold up to a
dozen different saves.

 All in all, I enjoyed playing EARTHRISE. The game world is large and well
designed. The graphics are truly awful, but they don't really affect gameplay.
One final note: EARTHRISE offers you many gruesome ways to die. A lot of them
involve your character's head exploding, or becoming impaled on a sharp object.
Although most people will probably enjoy falling down a pit, only to land
head-first on a pick-axe (to the extent that the graphics allow), some might
find it objectionable.

 EARTHRISE is published by Interstel and distributed by Electronic Arts.

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