| Zork II | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Infocom |
| Publisher(s) | Personal Software / Infocom |
| Designer(s) | Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling and Bruce Daniels |
| Engine | ZIL |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple Macintosh, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore Plus/4, CP/M, DOS, MSX, TRS-80 |
| Release date(s) | Release 7: 1981
Release 15: March 8, 1982 |
| Genre(s) | Text adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Media/distribution | 3½" or 5¼" disk |
| System requirements
No special requirements |
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Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is an interactive fiction video game published by Infocom in 1981. It was written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson. It was the second game in the popular Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of computer systems. It begins where Zork I left off and leads into Zork III. It is Infocom's second game.
Contents |
The player begins in the Barrow from Zork I armed only with the trusty brass lantern and sword of elvish antiquity. The purpose of the game is not initially clear.
The Wizard of Frobozz is soon introduced. The wizard was once a respected enchanter, but when his powers began to fade he was exiled by Dimwit Flathead. Now bordering on senility, the wizard is still a force to be reckoned with. Your goal, as you venture into the wizard's realm, is to avoid his capricious tricks and learn to control his magic.
Like its predecessor, Zork II is essentially a treasure hunt. Unlike the previous game, the ten treasures are tied together by a crude plot. Finding the treasures does not end the game, nor are all the treasures needed to finish the game. Instead, the adventurer must figure out a way to use the treasures in order to reach the game's finale.
12 of the spells are cast commonly throughout the game, the other seven are only cast by the wizard in special circumstances. The twelve common spells are:
The seven special spells are:
Ten treasures need to be collected in order to complete the game. Once collected, the treasures are given to a demon who will complete a single task in return. If all ten treasures cannot be recovered (for whatever reason), the demon will accept the sword itself in place of one of the treasures. The sword can also be used as payment to one of the gnomes (see below) if the player finds himself stuck in either the bank or the volcano.
Zork II contains the difficult Bank of Zork vault puzzle, in which the player must walk through what appear to be solid walls. In this puzzle, the player controls his or her destination depending on the direction from which he or she entered the room. The game also includes the "Oddly-Angled Room" puzzle, which relied upon the player being familiar with baseball. Infocom apologized for the American-centric puzzle in their official hints for the game. [1] The Bank of Zork and Oddly-Angled Room puzzles have been called "infamously difficult."[2]
If a player gets stranded on a volcano ledge (e.g., by forgetting to tie the balloon to the hook), after some time a "volcano gnome" appears:
Similarly, if the player gets trapped in the bank, another gnome appears:
If the adventurer puts non-valuable items in the box, the gnome tosses them out and they disappear. If the adventurer doesn't give the gnome something valuable after a while, he will leave the player stranded. If the adventurer presents the lit brick (bomb) a suitably amusing response is made, followed also by abandonment.
[After solving the well puzzle.] "You are at the top of the well. Well done."
[Bug in certain versions when giving an unintelligible command.] "I can't see the Gnome of Zurich anywhere!"
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