What is it?
Zork Nemesis stands out among the many, many Myst clones as well as among the Zork games. Among the former, because it (re-)introduces classical elements of adventure games like an inventory, and among the latter, because it mostly lacks the Zork-typical humor and is, in parts, even disturbing.
When I bought my first DVD drive in 2000 or so, it came with two games. One of them was Zork Grand Inquisitor, which I played a while but didn't like all that much. But on that DVD there was, as an add-on, Zork Nemesis.
This game had me fascinated at once. I had never seen anything so beautiful. I walked around the temple, the library with the huge globe, the fountains in the courtyard. I opened a stone sarcophagus, a violin floated out and played a tune.
But I never finished the game. I enjoyed the beauty, but couldn't really figure out the puzzles (I've never been very good at that). So I looked up walkthroughs and hint pages, but found that this way there was little point in playing it at all.
This about sums up my problems with adventure games in general. Looking back, it's hard for me to tell whether the puzzles were more difficult than, say, those in Gabriel Knight, which gave me fewer problems, or whether I was just too inexperienced then. From the reviews, I suppose the former.
At this point it is probably fair to say that Zork Nemesis should be viewed and played as a stand alone game as it may very well disappoint the Zork purists despite the scattered references to the Great Underground Empire, Lord Dimwit Flathead, Grues and Flood Control Dams. Many of these slightly humorous references I found to be incongruous within the context of the dark and rather more serious vein which this game adopted. Though I did thoroughly appreciate the picture of the "Grue in his natural habitat" (how did they know it was a he?) and to actually blunder into one in a darkened tunnel brought back fond memories.
We really don't understand why this is called a Zork game since it is one in name only. It is actually only a thinly disguised horror story that has little, if anything, to do with the old Zork series. We suspect that Activision was simply trying to capitalize on Zork's reputation and fan base, but their occasional insertions of Zorkian humor in this otherwise macabre game wind up being merely incongruous and jarring: they just don't fit. But, if you like horror stories, this one is extremely well done and is disturbingly realistic.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Zork Nemesis is probably the best "pure" adventure game I've ever played, although some devoted Zork fans would strongly disagree with me, citing this episode's dark atmosphere and (apparent) lack of humor. From the exquisite sound and graphics to the detailed materials supplied with the game, Zork Nemesis positively drips quality.
Zork Nemesis is an enjoyable game with quality art, lots of puzzles and some surprising story twists. The environment is rich and detailed and exploring it is fun, although the amount of information can be overwhelming at times, making it difficult to spot clues. When everything is summed up, my final grade is an A-.
Although Zork Nemesis is billed as a sequel to Return to Zork, the story in Zork Nemesis bears no authentic link to previous Zork games except for occasional references. Such a risk taken by Activision are met with mixed feelings from numerous Zork fans. To those who are unfamiliar to the Zork series, however, Zork Nemesis stands well by itself as an adventure title and commands a welcomed challenge. The debut use of Z-Vision Surround Technology allows for the first time a grandiose 360° immersing view of the Zork Empire, bringing scenes which once can only be described in the original Zork text adventures onscreen. Together will a hefty dose of puzzles, Zork Nemesis represents as a dark side of the Zork universe that a gamer will be enticed to experience.
Don't expect Zork Nemesis to resemble either the early text-based Zork adventures from Infocom or the later Return to Zork: the campiness and the wacky sense of humor are gone. To be sure, this latest installment in the Zork saga still offers some scattered specimens of the Zorkian lingo and lore, and you might even run into a Grue if you are not careful; but this time Activision decided to make the product appealing to Myst devotees, and as a result the mood is more somber and haunting, the graphics are lavish, and the puzzles definitely Myst-y.
