The Starquest series was an attempt to pay homage to and capitalize on pulp science fiction heroes & stories. The manual even dedicates the game to Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Hawk Carse, James T. Kirk, and others. Automated Simulations uses the Dunjonquest engine again but this time adds new commands and science fiction elements.
The 31 page manual which comes with the game is once again top notch.
Automated Simulations has a history and reputation for producing amazing manuals to coincide with their games. In Temple of Apshai their dungeon room descriptions offered a deeper level of immersion in the early days of CRPGs and made them an early industry darling. The manual was huge in size, beautifully rendered, and perfectly executed. They did not want to break this recipe for success and continued producing top quality game manuals for all of their products. SSI would later replicate this same system for their Gold Box series.
Veterans of the Dunjonquest series will feel right at home. The Display setup is the same as well as many of the movement commands. New features have been added for this science fiction setting. You now have a powergun (or a zapgun) with strength settings ranging from 1 to 9. You also have a Thunderbolt Mark II blaster which is more powerful but makes more noise and can draw the attention of enemies. You have a shield which works much like the starship shields in Starfleet Orion (a 1979 science fiction based wargame from Automated Simulations). The shield is connected to your energy pack and you can turn the shield on and off with a simple keyboard command. The shield acts like a force field by absorbing incoming energy and thus reducing damage done to you. Lastly you have at your disposal an AMBLE unit which stands for accelerated movement through bio-electronic enhancement. This unit has been biologically implanted into your system using bionic implants, bone reinforcement and drug triggers, Activating AMBLE allows you to move extremely fast but greatly reduces your Fatigue rating.
The plot of Rescue at Rigel reminds me a bit of Datestones of Ryn but with a science fiction twist. You are taking on the role of Sudden Smith (a character from the Orion games who is introduced to us via a short story in the manual) who has teleported down by transporter beam inside a six floor, sixty room complex inhabited by an alien race, the Tollah. Scattered throughout the base, which has been hollowed out of an asteroid orbiting Rigel, ten humans are held captive. You have to make your way through the six floor, sixty room complex to find as many of these captives as you can and beam or teleport them out. You have 60 minutes to accomplish this mission and then your teleportation window to the rescue ship closes.
The teleportation part of the game is very well done and entertaining. When you discover a prisoner you move into contact with them and then hit T for teleport. This will beam the prisoner to safety aboard the rescue ship. The sound effects and visuals of the teleportation beam are reminiscent of Star Trek which is what I believe they were going for. When you are ready to beam out, and are by yourself, you can hit T at anytime and you will be teleported safely to the rescue vessel as well. Your goal is to find as many of the ten prisoners as you can before your allotted time or your energy pack runs out. If your energy pack runs out you will not be able to power your powergun or the teleportation device. Delilah Rookh, Sudden Smith’s love interest, is one of the ten prisoners and you receive bonus points for teleporting her to safety.
It is necessary to map out the six levels of the alien base. The game introduces drop shafts and lift shafts which act much like elevators between the levels. You’ll have to correctly map out where these are located on each level. Each level has the same basic room types however they are in a different configuration on each level. Certain doorways will also instantly teleport you to a different level. These can be an advantage when you want to quickly reach that level or they can be a bane when you need to rescue prisoners on the level you are on and then suddenly you’re teleported elsewhere. When you’re on a 60 minute rescue clock this becomes a problem. Once you have the map complete it remains the same throughout the game. It is not randomly generated. Once I had mapped out the entire complex and was familiar with the mechanics, my rescue attempts became more successful. I moved from rescuing to 2 or 3 prisoners to 5 and then 8. I am sure I could have rescued all 10 with only 1 or 2 more tries but quite honestly it didn’t have enough replay value for me to continue.
All of these additions to the dunjonquest engine and science fiction nuances sound great on paper but still resulted in a “flat” experience for me. I enjoyed using the zapgun and teleportation beam for awhile however I couldn’t help but feel that this entire adventure seemed like nothing more than a retread but with new trappings. I had explained earlier that the scenario reminded me of Datestones of Ryn but with a science fiction veneer. I also couldn’t help but feel that the alien race in the game, the Tollah, simply looked like “retreads” of the ant-men from the Temple of Apshai as well.
The biggest disappointment for me is that for all of the new science fiction trappings; there was no roleplaying game experience left. It had all been stripped away. Your only connection to this character is by way of a short story in the manual. There are no inventory items to find, no experience to be had or levels to be gained. There is nothing in the way of puzzles. Your only goal is to find the prisoners and quickly teleport them out. This may have been advertised and sold as a dunjonquest game with science fiction trappings but it is really nothing more than an arcade snatch and grab game.
I had always wondered what the science fiction version of the dunjonquest engine was all about and was excited to have found a copy to play. I had never played any of the dunjonquest titles while growing up and I am enjoying taking a historical trip through time with each of the entries in the series. I played the Apple II version of the game and probably spent about 2.5 hours with it.