Legends of Zork

So, talking to one of my friends the other day, she happened to mention Zork. Now... my first reaction was to get very excited. I meet very few people who have ever heard of Zork let alone know what it is or how to play. So I was absolutely thrilled at this mention. Then I find out that she was talking about Legends of Zork, "a new MMO that just came out". Alright, well, that's still kind of cool. Maybe it'll get people interested in the series again. I'm not too sure about this MMO idea, but it could be good if they've done a proper job of it. I figure I'll check it out.

What a disappointment!

How is it that this brand new game that just came out, played over the Internet with dozens of players, is actually less interactive than the original Zork that was written almost 30 years ago?

The game consists of: click an area you want to explore, push button to explore, you were attacked by monster x. From there it will display the results of the encounter. (You don't actually do anything, you just let the game play itself really.) If you won, it will tell you how much experience you got, how much money you won, and any other loot you managed to find. If you lost, you get to click the "return to base button" so you can go back home and heal.

As you collect loot and money you can buy better equipment. You can also collect Double Fanucci cards which can improve you attack and/or defense scores.

As you gain more experience, you gain levels and skill points. You can use your skill points to buy "training". Different types of training will have different effects. You might get a boost to the probability of successfully navigating a mechanical maze or a discount on items in the shops.

You get 30 action points per day. Each exploration uses one action point. Returning to base uses one action point. Once you've clicked the "explore" button a couple dozen times, that's it! You're done for the day! All you can do for the rest of the day is fiddle around with your equipment and cards. Either that, or you can pay money to buy coconuts which you can then trade in for more action points (or zorkmids, the game currency; or various other effects).

Like I said... big disappointment. The game basically plays itself. There are no puzzles. No problem-solving. No dialog. No interaction! Just "explore", "you won", "you won", "you won", "you lost", "return to base"... lather, rinse, repeat... try not to fall asleep. You don't even keep any of the treasure you loot. It's automatically sold as soon as you return to base.

What a waste!