''Knight Orc'' is a text adventure, with limited graphics on some platforms, by Level 9 released in 1987. It comes with a short novella by Peter McBride ("The Sign of the Orc") explaining the background to the story.

Plot

After a night of heavy drinking with friends, Grindleguts the

orc An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially ''The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugly, a ...

awakes to find himself strapped to a horse and about to joust with a human knight. His "friends" are nowhere to be seen, and he must somehow escape from his predicament and get even with them. Grindleguts must survive in a world of hostile humans while seeking revenge against his tormentors. After the first chapter, the game switches to a science fiction setting, where Grindleguts is revealed to be a malfunctioning

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

in a futuristic massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Using his power of transitioning between fantasy and reality, he convinces several other bots to join him, and escapes from the

simulated reality The simulation theory is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by quantum computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds that may or may not know that they live i ...

facility.

Gameplay

The game is a text adventure with limited graphics on some systems. Gameplay is similar to the later Level 9 adventure ''

Gnome Ranger ''Gnome Ranger'' is a interactive fiction, text adventure game designed by Peter Austin and released by Level 9 Computing, Level 9 in 1987. The Atari 8-bit family and Apple II ports are text-only. The disk version for other systems includes still ...

'', which uses the same game engine (KAOS). The game flows in real time; each person and creature goes on about their daily lives and follows their schedule. The player must explore the settings while collecting useful items and interacting with various

s to solve puzzles and problems.

Reception

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was publi ...

'' had this to say:

"''Knight Orc'' is no ordinary adventure. Oh no, this is a multi-user adventure ... only the other players are simulated. One nice touch is the little bits that are added on to the end of descriptions which tell you what the other players are doing, such as 'Somewhere, a male voice cries out "Has anyone got any spare treasure?"' ... The location descriptions are exquisite and more than make up for the absence of graphics ... The humour worked into the text is like something out of a Douglas Adams novel, quick-fire and very enjoyable. Never droll... But the high spot of the game is the interactive characters... All have their own characters and their own goal to complete. And, the one thing they all have in common is that they all hate Orcs... Technically ''
The Pawn ''The Pawn'' is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rainb ...
'' may be superior, but in plot, enjoyment and atmosphere ''Knight Orc'' wins hands down."

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' stated that the graphics were a waste of disk space and the puzzles were "uneven". However, the excellent parser and other virtues resulted in an "above average" game. '' Your Computer'' magazine said it was "Disappointing", while the Atari magazine '' Page 6'' said it was excellent value for money about the Atari 8-bit version. ''

Computer & Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website w ...

'' gave the Knight Orc the C+VG HIT! award, praising the story and the unique protagonist perspective, additionally noting that the accompanying novella, The Sign of the Orc, is "a good read in its own right."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Level 9 1980s interactive fiction 1987 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari 8-bit computer games Atari ST games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Classic Mac OS games Commodore 64 games DOS games Level 9 Computing games MSX games Orcs in popular culture Single-player video games Telecomsoft games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games