I am about to seriously tackle the computer role-playing games that were published in 1983 and I’m likely going to start with Ultima III: Exodus. I wanted to return to the world of interactive fiction before embarking on that particular campaign and that takes us back to 1981. I perused my interactive fiction “to do” list from that year and I thought what better place is there to start than Zork II?
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz was written by Dave Lebling and Marc Blank and published by Infocom in 1981. The game was ported and available on all major platforms and widely accessible. I played the DOS version using DOSBox and it took me roughly 10 to 12 hours of actual playing time to beat the game. I stress “actual playing time” because it is much harder to quantify the amount of time my mind spent working through the puzzles while I wasn’t in front of the game. I thought about the puzzles while cutting the grass, driving in the car, and doing other “real life” things. I would choregraph in my mind the different things I would try when I had time to sit down with the game again. I am sure, dear reader, that you have had a similar experience.
Zork, in it’s original form, was released in 1977 for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. It was split up and expanded into three titles which were then later released commercially for home computers. It was a massive success for Infocom and collectively the three episodes sold more than 680,000 copies through 1986.
The commercial version of Zork II plays like a true sequel. Zork I ended with you having reached the Barrow and this is your starting point in Zork II. You once again take up your trusty lantern and sword and you are on your way.
I want to relate my thoughts and experiences with you regarding Zork II but this is NOT going to be a walkthrough nor intentionally contain any spoilers. I know in many previous games I have provided spoilers and screenshots. My belief though is that there are probably a great many people who still want to experience Zork II for themselves, as I did, and I do not want to ruin that experience for anyone.
Zork II took me by surprise a bit because in all honesty I thought it was going to be more of the same. Meaning I thought there might be an obligatory maze followed by more treasure hunting and then storing them in a particular location for points. What I encountered instead was a game that had an actual story or plot that succeeded in pulling off a clever twist on the treasure hunting trope.
I do have a recollection of a “high-school” version of myself attempting to play Zork II and failing miserably. I remember thinking that it was extremely hard. Perhaps I’ve developed some “adventuring chops” during this epic endeavor because I fared much better the second time around.
The puzzles in Zork II are diverse and wide ranging. Two of the puzzles encountered in this game have been historically labeled with “two of the worst puzzles in adventure game history”. The irony, in my experience with this game, is that I didn’t have much of a problem with these two particular puzzles. It was a couple of the other puzzles found within that had me pulling my hair out. While I understand the “labels” placed on these two puzzles don’t let them deter you from trying this little gem out. These labels created such a negative stigma that I found myself having great trepidation even before starting the game. My own childhood experience the first time around did little to ease that trepidation.
What I want to warn future adventurers about is that there is a “time” component to the game. No matter how hard you try; certain solutions will not present themselves until you’ve solved the puzzles in a particular order.
The very interesting thing about Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is that the first half of the game does deceptively seem to be nothing more than an extension of the first game. I greatly enjoyed the locations and descriptions found in this second installment; much more so than even those found in the first game. The locations and puzzles seemed to have a tighter cohesiveness and design to them than the previous game. As much as I was enjoying myself exploring the GUE (Great Underground Empire), I kept wondering “what is the point” or “where am I going to deposit these treasures”?
As I mentioned previously, you’re meant to tackle these puzzles in a particular sequence. One thing leads to another and suddenly you’re presented with a plot twist that completely changes things. The game turns the treasure hunt trope upside down on it’s head in a very clever way.
The player learns through descriptions of items and areas that the Great Underground Empire was ruled by the Flatheads. You also learn about the Wizard of Frobozz, once a respected enchanter, was exiled by Lord Dimwit Flathead when his powers began to fade. It is this very wizard that keeps appearing randomly before you throughout the game. However now he is senile and has forgotten all of his spells except those that begin with the letter F. When the wizard randomly appears he cast spells upon you that have a variety of effects. Most of them humorous. When the wizard appeared the first few times that I was playing, I found his appearance, because of the great descriptions and clever humor used by the authors, highly entertaining. Then as the game wore on the wizard really began to irritate the hell out of me and I found myself wanting to punch him in the nose.
I tried to catalog all of the different spells that the wizard threw my way. I am sure this is not a comprehensive list: fall, float, freeze, fence, fierce, fear, fumble, fantasize, fireproof, and fudge. I’ll leave it to you to discover what these different spells do. I realized, unfortunately, late in the game that the wizard’s presence and his spells really serve to diminish the battery life on your lantern and I had to start the game all over again.
I wanted to comment on the bank puzzle while avoiding spoilers. When I attempted to map it out the first time and solve it’s central puzzle, I decided to come back to it later in the game. When I later decided that I would dedicate all of my time and energy to solving the thing – I did so quite by accident. Only after solving it by accident did I deduce what might be going on. I brazenly went back to an earlier saved game and tested my theory and it worked. It was a good thing that I did test my hypothesis otherwise I may have later become trapped in the bank. So while many claim the bank puzzle as completely unfair, at least it is a puzzle you can solve quite by accident.
The puzzles that gave me the most problems were a magical well and also obtaining the red sphere beyond the well. I also had the location of where to use the brick completely wrong to the point of tunnel vision. I spent a considerable amount of time wrestling with these particular puzzles.
I greatly enjoyed my time with Zork II and beating the game checked a mighty big box for me as far as games in my journey I was eagerly anticipating playing. I suggest saving often and I also suggest, only after saving, that you try these various things in the game. The authors’ use of humor is quite clever.
Try giving the guardian lizard a crystal sphere
Read the newspaper from the gazebo.
Set the carousel spinner on high and then go back and enter it.
Attack the princess
Read the Wizard’s degree from GUE tech
Take the serpent out of the tank
Float all the way out of the top of the volcano
Drop your zorkmid in the well and say make a wish
Burn the zorkmid bills
Play around with the wand when you get it and try casting all of the various F spells
** once again, before doing any of this, SAVE lol **
I am now greatly looking forward to the sequel: Zork III: The Dungeon Master.
Next up on the docket is G.F.S. Sorceress by Gary Bedrosian. This is another game I’ve been looking forward to as I’m a huge Gary Bedrosian fan. I really enjoyed Lords of Karma and Empire of the Over-Mind and both of these games won Retrogamestrove.com awards.
Until next time…