Po. Prune

Po. Prune's favourites:

Every now and then, there's a game that just gives you that little extra that makes it stand out from the rest.
This page will be dedicated to those games that has done just that for me (none of my own, of course ;-) )
Some will be graphic adventures, others will be pure text, but they will, in my opinion, be IF.These are the first three files... but more will be uploaded and available as I get them dusted off a bit.Click on the picture to begin download. I will mention that all games on this page is abandonware.

Gateway (also known as Frederik Pohl's Gateway) is the first game from Legend Entertainment I have played. Based on Pohl's famous Gateway Saga, the game occurs in the same Heechee universe from which the books are rooted. Highly imaginative and a pleasure to play, Legend Entertainment has become a game developer to be reckoned with since publishing this title. Gateway is underrated by many gamers when it is initially released. Fortunately, like many cult classics, it eventually rises to become a sleeper hit worthy of Pohl's name.
The Gateway is an abandoned alien space station somewhere between Venus and Mercury, filled with small faster than light starships. They are built by an alien race known as the Heechee. With these ships, a brave group of humans, so-called Gateway Prospectors, explore space searching for anything worth money to the Gateway Corporation. It is a risky business, since no one really knows beyond the basics how these Heechee starships work. The destinations of these starships are known only to the Heechee, who programmed them 500,000 years ago. One may return from a trip with a mother load of technology to make a lifetime's riches, but more likely one may die alone in a foreign land. When the scientists discover a terrible secret behind the vanished Heechee, you must battle against an ancient race so ruthless and deadly to be known simply as the Assassins.
Gateway is a game best classified as an illustrated text adventure. There is a picture for each location which is richly described in text. Still, if one is a diehard "give me text or give me death" text adventure purist, the graphics can be easily turned off without missing anything of the story. The pictures are all well drawn, and the text parser is as good as it comes. If you have played any game from Infocom before, you should feel instantly at home. There are even occasional MIDI tunes to enhance the atmosphere. As the game begins, you have just arrived at Gateway and have not yet been given a mission assignment. Do not worry! The game promises to have many! As the story progresses, you discover that there is more to the mission than just an old-fashioned treasure hunt in space. While the background story is the same as in Pohl's books, one does not have to read them beforehand to succeed in the game. Everything that is needed to be known is explained in the game's prologue. Most of the puzzles are logical and well integrated into the story without being too difficult. Some of them have more than a single solution, while others do not needed to be solved at all to win the game. Even when you get stumped, the story is written so that there are always several different places to explore to keep you moving forward but enough not to be overwhelming.
There is a lot I like about this game. First of all, the game looks good. The screen and text layouts are pleasant to read, and I have not noticed any typos and run into any bugs. The text parser is flexible and well constructed. I do not to play "guess the verb" since the parser is smart enough to guess what you mean rather than blindly execute what you type exactly, as demonstrated in this example from the beginning of the game:
> ACTIVATE PV COMMSET
[Taking the debit card first.]
You insert your debit card into the slot.
In short, Gateway is well designed and fun to play. It may not have an exceptional title, but it is still a very good one. Of all the games that are based on previously written works of fiction, this game has to be one of the best.


Legend Entertainment, best known as the heir to the sacred legacy of Infocom, follows up its original sleeper hit Frederik Pohl's Gateway with a sequel that is of equal, if not higher, quality. Based on Pohl's Gateway series of books, the story of Gateway II:
Homeworld is highly imaginative and enjoyable, much like its predecessor. This game also has the highly dubious honor of being the last, great semi-text, command line driven adventure. After the release of this game, Legend Entertainment finally succumbs to the point and click paradigm of adventure gaming. While this title breaks no new ground or defines any real advancement in the dwindling genre, it nevertheless represents a game that does everything right. Truly, the Gateway series is underrated.
At the conclusion of Gateway, you have made a fortune by saving the universe from destruction at the hands of the Heechee's ancient enemy, the nihilistic Assassins. With all the new Heechee technology you have helped to find, you think everything on planet Earth will be hunky-dory, but that is just not so! A growing Terrorist death cult, who worships the Assassins as dark Gods, menaces the world.
The game begins with you narrowly escaping from an assassination attempt. You are then flown by the Gateway Corporation to a launch site to brief a team flying in an experimental spaceship. The purpose of this mission is to make contact with a colossal Heechee ship which has mysteriously warped into the system. When another terrorist attack forces you to launch the rocket prematurely, you must now undertake the mission yourself. After a long trip, you are ready to explore the secrets in this ancient construct. Unfolding the mystery of the undiscovered land may lead you to the answers to the big questions in the series—Who are the Heechee? Why have they suddenly abandonned our galaxy many millenimums ago?
This game is based chiefly on Beyond the Blue Event Horizon that is the second book of the Gateway series by Pohl. Pohl is most famous for his Hugo and Nebula award winning Heechee Saga. There is also a smattering of material drawn from Heechee Rendezvous and Annals of the Heechee that are the last books of the same series. Legend Entertainment has succeeded in bringing Pohl's work onto the computer screen. It has also been able to breathe at least a few more years of life into the art of command line driven text adventures with this title. A text window displays a well written description of places and things, above which a window with richly drawn graphics is placed. A list with all the recognized parser words can be brought up, helping to cut down on confusion about what vocabulary is valid and what is not. Finally, all these enhancements are combined with original music scores.
Legend Entertainment has been able to create a workable compromise in adventure game design with this title. For purists, the sound and graphics can be turned off, and the game can be played as a standard text based adventure. On the other hand, for those who desire multimedia (sound, graphics, and mouse) support, these additions are a true blessing. Indeed, Gateway II: Homeworld represents the pinnacle of development for this class of game engine. While most of the game is controlled with typed commands, there are several sections in the game where you have to switch to a point and click system. Certain puzzles take advantage of this new feature. Character interaction is also a cinch with this system. Instead of trying to figure out what to ask, you are simply presented a list of available questions. Although this approach may be somewhat limiting, most players likely find it to be a fair compromise.
While there is little new or inspired in gameplay from this game, for what it does it does damn well. There are some real moments in the game where you feel the tension, especially when the terrorists are out to get you and you are working on limited time! Overall, the game moves at a nice pace that is neither too fast nor too slow. Furthermore, the puzzle design is almost perfect, with only few dead-ends. Most puzzles, if not all, are straightforward and very logical. The puzzles in this game may be a challenge for a novice player. There are some real brainteasers, but in the end there is not a puzzle that does not have a logical and believable solution.
Good music, excellent graphics, a thought provoking story, and well thought out puzzles all make this game a joy to play. All the basic ingredients for a classic adventure game are present. It may be said that the graphics are hardly the best that the time period has to offer. While its production is a solid effort, there is not very much that really makes this title stand out. It does nothing new, but it does old tricks with an unparalleled flair and panache. Such is the stuff of which a sleeper hit is made!
Gateway II: Homeworld is a minor classic in my opinion. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you are a hardcore adventure gamer like me, you definitely do not want to miss this hidden gem.


Story: You play Eric the Unready a somewhat accident-prone knight. You are a member of Local 704 and your shop steward is none too thrilled with you for burning down a certain establishment (the union is on the hook for the cost of re-building) but never the less you are chosen to go on a quest to rescue the Princess Lorealle who has been kidnapped.
Seems that that the one who is by the king’s side when he dies (according to the prophecy King the Bewildered is scheduled to die at noon in one week) shall inherit the kingdom – and the king’s second wife (who just so happens to be a witch) very much wants her daughter Grizella to inherit. You meet Bud the Wizard who tells you about five items you will need in order to break into the witch’s castle so you can rescue Lorealle – a pitchfork, a wrench, a crowbar, bolt cutters and a steak (we’re taking the meat kind here). So begins your journey to rescue the Princess and keep the evil witch’s daughter from inheriting the throne – on the way you visit Monkey Island, Phantasy Island, Milligan’s Island, Treasure Island, a white house with a mail box in front, virgins, gods (as in Mount Olympus), the original cast members of Star Trek and all other assorted adventuring type folks.
Game Play: This game is unique in that you can move via the mouse – there are direction arrows at the top of the screen that you click on in order to go that direction or you can just type in the direction you want. Same with most of the commands. If you double click on an item you will take it (as opposed to typing in “take”) Single click allows you to look at an item or read the item if it can be read. There is a dialogue tree to the right of the graphics that you can click on each word but it’s much easier just to type in the sentence. Sometimes coming up with the correct sentence was a pain and there were a few times that I got frustrated because I couldn’t get the correct wording that the game wanted but for the most part it was pretty easy.
The game is full of clever dialogue and responses to things you type in. Case in point – in one part of the game you need to open a case to retrieve the item inside. So I typed in “open case”. The game responded with: “Ah. Well. We have a slight difficulty there. The case appears to be locked and as this is an adventure game, I can hardly allow you to open it unless you supply the proper key. I consider your input to have been absolutely first rate however” In another part of the game I decided to try talking to an iceberg (heck I talked with a tree – an iceberg was not that much different). The game came back back with : “Don’t you feel rather silly trying to talk to an iceberg?” I typed back “no” – the game came back “Well looks like you’re playing the correct game then”. Still couldn’t talk to the iceberg however <g>
Graphics and Sound: Very little of both – this is more of a text adventure with pictures than anything else. There is music but all dialogue is read. Did I miss the voices? No – did I mind very few graphics? No. Will others? Well let’s just say this game is definitely not for those who want state of the art anything – nor that have to have their games “reality” based. You have to suspend your disbelief so far that it takes awhile to get it back.
By all means give it a whirl - and prepare to have fun.