2088: The Cryllan Mission review
By Michael Graf
Copyright (c) 1990 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
"The year is 2088, and you have been summoned before the Kinar Galactic Council. A great need has arisen for someone brave, someone bold, someone expendable, to seek out the survivors of the U.S.S. Houston on the newly discovered planet Crylla. A team of six, including yourself, will prepare themselves for the unknown, searching the surface and civilization of Crylla, for clues, items or even the lost crew of the U.S.S. Houston. Good luck Jim....."
No, this is not a lost script from an episode of Star Trek or even Mission Impossible, but the theme behind 2088: The Cryllan Mission, a new, graphic adventure game for the Apple //GS. 2088: The Cryllan Mission (2088 TCM) is the first adventure game to truly utilize the windowing capacity and power of the Apple //GS and does so brilliantly !!
Where to begin - well 2088: TCM is a large game. The planet Crylla has many roads, jungles, deserts and towns for the players party to explore, its inhabitants varying from downright unfriendly to very talkative. Combat, exploration, puzzle solving and perseverance are all part of the plan when trying to solve the mystery of the of the break in contact with the U.S.S. Houston.
Starting the Game
Firstly, let us cheer. The Cryllan Mission is not copy protected and can be installed on a hard drive, though this should NOT be done straight away. There are two phases to the game -
1. Character Creation: this is where the player creates team members at the Kinar Space Academy and joins them into a team. A character can be one of many professions, male or female, and have varying stats and only a good combination will ensure that your party survives long enough on Crylla to solve the mystery.
2. The Game: this is where your team actually does its job. Once installed on a hard drive, your game will automatically boot into this part of the game, so first create a party on floppies (3.5") and play with them for a while, before you copy the files onto a hard drive.
"Simply Brilliant"
That comment may seem a bit flippant, but having played 2088: TCM for a while, I am still impressed with many of its features. It uses the windows and dialogs in the Apple //GS's heart to great advantage, allowing sensible and enjoyable play. Under System 5.0, the Apple //GS interface is quick and smooth and 2088: TCM truly shines, and with a Transwarp GS, the game is a joy to play.
The graphics and sounds are also very good, especially the graphics which are crisp and sensible. Using an Ultima-like view (experienced adventurers will recognize the term, I'm sure), the player moves his party over the surface, seeking
new places to explore and enemies to either avoid or crush. Transports can be added, so that movement and fire power can be easily altered, but beware, for the enemy also has them. Who is the enemy, I hear you ask ? Well, I will not say here, but simply state that not all that you see is as obvious as it seems.
The menus are well arranged and the combat system is innovative and detailed enough. The player may either define each action himself, or allow the computer to fight both sides, using defined settings that the player has set up. This ensures that the game is not slowed down when minor opponents face an experienced party, but also allows a player to alter the game plan when things start going astray. A quick mouse click, and a player can interrupt combat to perform emergency healing, alter combat settings or perform one of many combat actions.
Outside combat, the party must eat, rest and set guards to look over the perimeters of the camp during the dark and hostile night. Terrain and life form scans show up in a window, showing the area around the party's present position. Water, swamp, forest and mountains are all natural obstacles, with the shadows of tall tress and mountain sides blocking a curious party's view.
A number of windows and dialogs can be easily called up, to allow a character of the party to be outfitted. An unlimited amount of gear can be carried and as the party goes along, the better weaponry and armour will become available - use it !! The character's in the exploration team will slowly improve (with experience) reaching great heights in power, as they continue searching for clues and special things, and as the story unfolds.
Conversations are carried out via an interactive dialog, where no key words or special commands are needed, only mouse clicks and a pad and pen to record what is said. The story is truly believable and actually very clever - no simple plot, but intrigue, lies and a devious plan slowly unfolds as one plays 2088: TCM.
Towns, Towers, Caverns and the Unknown:
As you explore the surface of Crylla, various interiors will become available for exploration, and these should be entered with caution. A few, once entered, cannot easily be exited (SAVE THE GAME first) and all hold some vital clue or item, and many enemies. The 3D graphics are much like those seen in game such as Questron or Ultima, and are quite adequate for most occasions. Also auto-mapping certainly makes exploration much easier.
In towns, clues and shops are occasionally found, and a nice, easy to use interface helps make the shopping easier. 'All shops are implemented as dialog boxes, providing unparalleled ease of use.' However, some towns are just unfriendly, and a little muscle may be required to gain entry; the rewards do justify the destruction.
During your travels, you may meet certain people who will ask you specific questions about your task. This is the protection system that the game uses, to ensure that you do not use a pirated version of the game, or at least have the instructions. These occasions cannot be by-passed and are very important, so have the instructions handy. You can keep trying and the person asking the questions will not get bored of asking them, so if you are not sure what the answers are, just give it a go - eventually you will get them right. Though this is annoying, I prefer this method to some complicated disk copy protection scheme.
The manual is nothing to write home about - it does contain sufficient information to play the game, though some glaring oversights and mistakes do exist in it (for example, to enter a purchased transport, place your party on top of it and click on them. Selecting ENTER, as suggested, will not work). Compared to some games, the manual is rather stark, but considering the interface and the ease of play, I doubt whether it will ever interfere with you playing 2088: TCM.
The only really failing, and I believe that this is relevant for most adventure games, is that after a while combat becomes meaningless and annoying, even using the automated, computer mode. It is a shame that designers have never realized that sensible extensions to a game could easily involve less tedious combat as the game progresses.
2088: TCM requires an Apple //GS, with at least 1.25 megabytes of memory. Since it uses System 5.0 and can be run from a hard drive, using many desk accessories or system inits will mean that more memory is required. However, it is worth it. It comes with four 3.5" disks (System, Program, Outdoors and Indoors).
Overall Impression - where can I sign up
2088: The Cryllan Mission is a great game. Firstly, I have always liked the Apple //GS interface, using mouse, menu and window. This is the first real game of this type and it has done an admirable job. Its colourful, panoramic displays and sensible features push 2088: TCM into a new category. Secondly, the story line slowly develops, with a deep and richly written plot being revealed to the player, which pushes him/her to search for more and more information.
For a change, a game has come along that has a good interface and is also well built beneath it. I believe that 2088: TCM will be enjoyed by many for years to come.
2088: The Cryllan Mission - by Victory Software
Apple //GS, 1.25 megabytes of memory minimum
3.5" disk drive required, hard drive installable
Mouse and documentation required, not copy protected.

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