''Return to Zork'' is a 1993
graphic adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
in the ''
Zork
''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded and ...
'' series. It was developed by
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
and was the final ''Zork'' game to be published under the
Infocom
Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''.
...
label.
Gameplay
Unlike the previous games in the ''
Zork
''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded and ...
'' franchise, which were
text adventure
''
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...
s, ''Return to Zork'' takes place from a first-person perspective and makes use of video-captured actors as well as detailed graphics and a musical score; a
point-and-click
Point and click are the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse, usually the left button (''click''), or other pointing device. An example of point and ...
interface replaced the
text parser
{{Refimprove, date=August 2007
In adventure games, a text parser takes typed input (a command) from the player and simplifies it to something the game can understand. Usually, words with the same meaning are turned into the same word (e.g. "take" a ...
for the first time in a ''Zork'' game. The overall gameplay style was somewhat similar to ''
Myst
''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's character t ...
'', although ''Return to Zork'' predated ''Myst'' by a few months. Unlike ''Myst'', which had no extraspatial dimensions of functionality, ''Return to Zork'' features multiple ways of interacting with each object in the game world, as well as with several non-player characters also present in the world via a menu which appears on the left side of the screen. It also offers multiple ways to "complete" the game.
It is possible to kill several of the game's civilian non-player characters, whereas in every other Infocom or Zork game, such actions are either impossible to accomplish or immediately punished by death. Killing causes a masked
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...
who is also the "Guardian" to come and remove all the player's items, with the intention of rendering the game
unwinnable
A no-win situation, also called a lose-lose situation, is one where a person has choices, but no choice leads to a net gain. For example, if an executioner offers the condemned the choice of death by being hanged, shot, or poisoned, all choices lea ...
. As in the ''Zork'' text-adventure games, there are several ways to make the game unwinnable by using or altering an object or item in an unintended manner.
Game bugs make some of the puzzles harder, or more specifically, stop the game from providing hints. A patch was released that fixed these bugs. However the patch also introduced a new bug that made an inventory item disappear, rendering an endgame challenge unsolvable by its intended solution, though alternate solutions exist.
Development
''Return to Zork'' was a key part of Activision's attempt to revive the company, overseen by new president
Bobby Kotick
Robert A. Kotick (born 1963) is an American businessman who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Activision Blizzard. He became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a company stake the previous year. Kotick engineered a merger ...
. Purchasing the company with his business associates, Kotick "fired all 200 employees and implemented a bankruptcy reorganization plan", according to Jeff Sengstack of ''NewMedia''. The goal was to capitalize on Activision's lucrative back catalog of licenses, chief among them ''Zork''. Kotick noted in 1996 that "''Zork'' on a brick would sell 100,000 copies".
Among the actors who appear in the game were a number of recognizable
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
s as well as a number of well-known younger actors:
Robyn Lively
Robyn Elaine Lively Johnson (born February 7, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the 1989 films ''Teen Witch'' and '' The Karate Kid Part III.'' She is also known for her roles in the TV shows '' Doogie Howser, M.D.''; ...
of ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
'' as "The Fairy",
Jason Hervey
Jason Robert Hervey (born April 6, 1972) is an American actor and television producer. He is best known for his role as Wayne Arnold on ''The Wonder Years''.
Early life and acting
Hervey was born in Los Angeles, the son of Marsha, a talent agent, ...
of ''
The Wonder Years
''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age situation comedy, comedy/Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol L. Black, Carol Black. It ran on American Broadcasting Company ...
'' as "The Troll King",
Sam J. Jones
Samuel Gerald Jones (born August 12, 1954), known professionally as Sam J. Jones, is an American actor and former football player. He is known for playing the title character in the 1980 film ''Flash Gordon'' and for starring in the short-lived ...
from the 1980 film ''
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...
'' as "The Blind Bowman", and
A.J. Langer
Allison Joy Courtenay (née Langer, born May 22, 1974) commonly known as A. J. Langer, is a retired American actress andsince 2015the Countess of Devon. She is most known for playing Caroline Larkin in season 2 of Baywatch and as Rayanne Graff ...
of ''
My So-Called Life
''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The Bed ...
'' as fellow Zork explorer Rebecca Snoot.
Game designer Doug Barnett worked independently with Activision and wrote several "choose your own adventure" style books. Writer Michele Em developed game scenarios and the characters' dialogue. Art designer Mark Long (co-founder/owner of
Zombie Studios
Zombie Studios was an American independent video game developer. It was formed in 1994 as Zombie, LLC by Joanna Alexander and Mark Long, formerly of the Sarnoff Research Center. Alexander and Long founded Zombie after they completed the design o ...
) had several goals in mind to "make the game realistic" and "avoid things like mazes in text adventure games," and "multiple ways to solve puzzles, and to finish the game." In an interview in 1999, he stated these concepts:
# All of the puzzles in the game reference real, albeit esoteric, references to various cultures and
archeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
history and studies. A common example would be the exploration of the
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
s in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
along with the
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
that surrounds them, but uncommonly known examples were chosen over better-known ones. Mark's overseas duties in the U.S. Army (retired
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
) combined with a year of historical research enhanced the puzzles that must be solved to finish the game.
# Navigation is "always correct; if you move north then south, you are always in the same place. Solving mazes was overdone, dull, and annoying."
# There are multiple ("at least three") ways to solve puzzles, as well "as a half-dozen ways to complete the game." His reasoning: "I didn't like games that you had to follow a single, specific,
obfuscate
Obfuscation is the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language. The obfuscation might be either unintentional or intentional (although intent u ...
d path for each puzzle, and just one way the game could be finished." This was contrary to text-based adventure games and the widely popular
''Myst'' series. It also "gave the player a reason to play the game more than once, trying to discover new ways to solve puzzles and to finish the game. Serious gamers said they had worked out dozens of combinations to complete the game."
Plot
''Return to Zork'' is set in the year 1647 GUE, later than any other game in the fictitious history of Zork, including those made after it. Even the relevant backstory postdates all other games, beginning with the Great Diffusion in 1247 GUE. The events of earlier games and even the Great Diffusion, to a degree, have come to be regarded as archaeology or even mythology by this time. Some locations and items place 1647 - such as a club for viewing
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
performances - as contemporaneous, or at least similar, to the late 20th century.
The player's character is a
sweepstakes
A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...
winner who wins an all expenses paid holiday to the Valley of the Sparrows, in Zork. Upon arrival, however, the player quickly learns that the entire area has fallen under some dark and sinister influence, becoming decayed and dysfunctional. Whole buildings have mysteriously vanished, murderous vultures infest the land, people have frequent and disturbing nightmares featuring some dark being which refers to itself as Morphius, and many of those who have survived have become reclusive and paranoid. The player must survive countless perils whilst exploring the valley, investigating the causes of the powers that have gripped the land and ultimately putting a stop to them.
Release
Roughly half a year before ''Return to Zork''s original release on PC, Activision announced that the game would also be released for the
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, also referred to as simply 3DO, is a home video game console developed by The 3DO Company. Conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company ...
. This version was later cancelled. Two months later after release, it was announced that Activision was working on a conversion of ''Return to Zork'' for the
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and the ...
after they were signed by
Atari Corporation
Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than two months later when WarnerMedia, Warn ...
to be a
third-party developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
for the system. The port was then announced in video game magazines in 1994 as one of the first upcoming titles for the
Atari Jaguar CD
The Atari Jaguar CD is a CD-ROM peripheral for the Jaguar video game console.
Atari announced a CD-ROM drive for the Jaguar before the console's November 1993 launch. Codenamed Jaguar II during development, the Jaguar CD was released on Septemb ...
add-on. It was kept being advertised as in development on magazines in 1995,
however, it was never released for unknown reasons.
Reception
''Return to Zork'' was made on a budget of $1.5 million,
and became a commercial hit. In its first six months, the game achieved global sales of 300,000 units.
By September 1994, it had earned $2.4 million and sold 600,000 copies—"more than half from bundled systems", according to ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
''s Stephanie Losee.
The game shipped roughly 1 million units by October 1995.
According to Jeff Sengstack of ''NewMedia'', its success helped to revitalize Activision, which had recently been purchased by
Bobby Kotick
Robert A. Kotick (born 1963) is an American businessman who serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Activision Blizzard. He became CEO of Activision in 1991 after purchasing a company stake the previous year. Kotick engineered a merger ...
.
Charles Ardai of ''
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 ...
'' wrote in a November 1993 preview of ''Return to Zork'' that modernizing the Zork series was "treading on sacred ground. It's a little bit like daring to remake ''
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
''".
The magazine's
Scorpia in January 1994 criticized inconsistencies with previous Zork games and other flaws, but stated that "Considered as a game without the Zork label, however, it's not too bad", citing the "pretty" graphics. She suggested that Activision should have published it as a standalone game instead of "trying to recycle the magic of the past", concluding "A new direction is needed here, and if Activision can find it, they may yet produce adventures worthy of the Infocom label".
In April 1994 the magazine said that despite some poor acting, the game's "marvelous visual and sound presentation" and "many plot twists and engaging characters will keep most players engrossed".
''Return to Zork'' was named the best adventure game of 1993 by ''
Computer Games Strategy Plus
''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...
''.
It was also a runner-up for ''Computer Gaming World''s 1993 "Adventure Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to ''
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers'' and ''
Day of the Tentacle
''Day of the Tentacle'', also known as ''Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle'', is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game ''Maniac Mansion''. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli a ...
'' (tie). The editors wrote that it uses "Hollywood talent and sophisticated techniques to up the ante of production values."
In 1994, ''
PC Gamer US
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'' named ''Return to Zork'' as the 26th best computer game ever. The editors wrote that it "masterfully ... balances the traditions of a classic gaming series with cutting-edge graphics and CD-ROM technology."
References
External links
*
*
''Return to Zork''at
GameFAQs
GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...
''Return to Zork''at
Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs (often called HotU) is an abandonware archive founded by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, in October 1998.
Before shutting down the original version in 2009, the site provided reviews for over 5,300 games and offered downloads of so ...
Disaster Labs' satirical review of ''Return to Zork''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Return To Zork
1993 video games
Activision games
Cancelled 3DO Interactive Multiplayer games
Cancelled Atari Jaguar games
DOS games
Adventure games
First-person adventure games
Point-and-click adventure games
FM Towns games
Games commercially released with DOSBox
Infocom games
Sega Saturn games
Classic Mac OS games
PC-FX games
PlayStation (console) games
ScummVM-supported games
Zork
Video games developed in the United States