Zork II - The Wizard of Frobozz Review by: honneydewp243 - 6.5/10
Zork II- The Wizard The first thing I notice about this game, right off the bat- The title seems to be a reference to the hit movie "The Wizard of Oz", just with Frobozz instead of Oz. Now, to get back on topic, this game is supposed to be a step up from it's predecessor, Zork I. However, it doesn't quite live up to it's title. There are minor changes, but nothing much. On to the review!
GRAPHICS-- This is a part where it differs from Zork. The same text based theme applies, but this time the background is
blue. Huge change, right? But, still, as with Zork I, due to being N/A, Graphics: 5
SOUND-- This section is rather repetitive for the series. No sound, no graphics, no score. So, due to lack of music, Sound: 5
ADDICTIVENESS-- This is the first of many sections where it disappoints. The overall quality of game-play is just... sad. It throws you into a random world with no explanation as to what to do (whereas in the last game there was a flier in a mailbox welcoming you to the game and helping you start), it is very slow with it's reactions to commands, and tends to forget that objects were mentioned in room descriptions. This greatly affects how much one wants to play a game such as this one. If you got a 1-UP in Mario, and right as you died, it forgot you ever got it and you got a game over, that would make the game a
little less fun, especially if it did that frequently. Any examples and I fear I would reveal a spoiler, and I wouldn't want that, so for the lack of consistency, Addictiveness: 4
STORY-- Story-wise, this section is just as good as Zork, which makes it just as bad. As I said, it gives no direct background, although some enemy dialogue reveals that you are continuing a foolish quest, suggesting that this is a direct sequel to the first Zork. It's little things like this that let you get the story. If you really look into it, it can get pretty deep. It's so difficult to get the entirety of the story, however, that it's very little known, even by hardcore fans such as myself. Due to the difficulty, but good story, Story: 8
DEPTH-- The depth of this game is adequate, but fairly good. It gets pretty big in the world you roam, but not too big, as there are a lot of limitations as to where you can go to leave a room or enter. In a large portion of the game, it's just a large stretch of 1-exit rooms, and then maybe one or two rooms with crossroads or forks in a road. However, when this isn't happening, it is a very large place, described in great detail, so GOOD+BAD= Depth: 7
DIFFICULTY-- Here we go. Back to this part of the review. The easiest part. It's black or white, up or down, it's easy or it's hard. Or is it? Yeah, yeah it is. This game, as stated in ADDICTIVENESS, has no assistance unless you have the box, which you don't. *cough cough PIRATING*. So, yeah, this game, controls aside, is crazy hard. You can't stay in the dark too long or you'll die, there are little things here and there that make a certain path reach an impasse, and above all,
the fights. These thing are hard, though rare, but worth the items retrieved, usually. However, they're so hard, you'll die before knowing what to do.
Overall, this is a great game if you are experienced with it's controls and commands. Other than that, I would actually advise against playing this game until you use a Zork wikia, or even just look up the instruction annual, because you will most certainly die. If you give up, though, do it like a boss. Find a weapon or item and do the commands "Kill self with <weapon or item name>". Then quit and try again later. This game, when you know how, is worth a shot. But, I think that about wraps it up.
Don't get eaten by a Grue!
Case, closed.
Graphics
5 Sound
5 Addictive
4 Depth
7 Story
8 Difficulty
10
User Notice 
