User Reviews (1 - 11 of 35)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Zork Nemisis was better

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: March 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I think Zork Nemisis was better, this was a stinking sequal to Zork.

Zork Grand Inquisitor - disappointing follow-up

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I thought that the previous adventure, Zork Nemesis, was one of the best puzzle/adventure games I've ever played, compelling storyline, atmosphere, mystery and challenging puzzles - took 6 months of intensity to complete. I couldn't wait for Zork Grand Inquisitor, rushed out and bought it as soon as it hit the shelves, but was disappointed by the lack of depth and simplistic puzzles. Nice graphics, great humour but only 18 hours total gameplay to complete wasn't worth the $$.

was not to Crazy about his one

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: March 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

was not to Crazy about his one, I think Zork Nemisis was much better. This one has this most Annoying voiced lamp that guide you through your journey. I was not too impressed with this one, the puzzels were too easy. Zork Nemisis was much better.

Cleverly Done

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: May 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This Zork game follows in the grand tradition of the text-only Zork games. Overall, the graphics are good, the plot interesting and funny, and the gameplay fun. Though a bit harder to navigate if you are used to the text-only games where you can ask lots of questions, for the most part it is pretty fun to play. It is very similar to Myst because there is no fighting or other movement. There is 360 degree scanning so you can search all around the landscape but for the most part you are stuck in one place that the computer places you in. The humor is funny which makes it a good game to play and it is cleverly done, so I recommend this game to anyone who likes strategy role-playing games. I also definitely recommend this to fans of the text-based Zork games.

The best Zork game Activision has done yet...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: January 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The first Zork game done by Activision was Return to Zork, which looked cheap in many spots and although had some innovations it wasn't very impressive. Next was Zork: Nemesis, which was worlds better but also very dark and serious. The only thing that made it a 'Zork' game were a few familiar names and locations thrown around. It lacked the humor of a true Zork game.

Grand Inquisitor is both high quality and a true Zork game. The humor is there, familiar locations are there, and the mood is most assuredly Zork. From a Brogmoid eating rocks to shoving a river raft in a dragon's nose to getting a house drunk... the game is pure Zork humor.

The visuals are from first person perspective much like Myst and Riven, with video of various characters (CGI and live action) interspersed throughout. It's a 2 CD game with one Cd devoted to being above ground and the other below. As an added bonus, you can also play ZGI in multiplayer. As far as I know this is the only multiplayer first person adventure game in existance.

The premise is that magic has been banned by the Grand Inquisitor and the head wizard has been trapped in a lantern. Said lantern makes interesting wisecracks as you play ("Your sword is blowing glue! I mean.. er... glowing blue!") and helps keep a light edge to it all.

If you like the humor of Monkey Island and are a fan of zork you'll enjoy this game, or even if you just want to play an adventure game with a light mood and good quality graphics.

very fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is exactly the kind of game I enjoy. It has a story line, a goal for the user and I didnt have to kill anyone to play.The puzzles were pretty easy but it just gave the game momentum.

Good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: February 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This Zork is good, but not as good as Zork Nemesis, I just don't like the complaining lamp in the game it is so annoying, they should have has a feature to be able to turn it off, otherwise this game is good.

Enjoyable, but lacking in many areas

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As a longtime player of Infocom's original Zork series and other text adventures and having played a number of other graphical adventure/problem-solving games, I enjoyed Grand Inquisitor a lot. In retrospect, however, I found the puzzles to be a bit obvious and forced in many places (would Activision dare to release something as challenging as "Spellbreaker" in graphical form?). I also wish there was a bit more terrain to explore. Quite honestly, I found Zork Nemesis more challenging despite it being sinister and not in the spirit of Zork.

The interface is part of the problem. While necessary to some degree, I sometimes wish the changing/highlighting cursor interface could be downplayed a bit. The 360-degree motion is a nice improvement over typical "slide show" adventure games such as Myst and Riven, but the graphics and rendering are still a tad subpar. If there was fluid motion throughout the environments (i.e., true forward and back motion), well that would truly be something. The pop-up "menu bars" for inventory and spells is useful.

The humor in Grand Inquisitor is about right: a bit corny at times but always with its tongue-in-cheek sarcasm intact. The use of low-key actors such as Dirk Benedict, Rip Taylor, Erick Avari and Michael McKean as the voice of the Dungeon Master were all well-chosen and the video sequences were good.

Here's hoping the Zork legend continues...this time though, I hope Activision strives to make the next one bigger, more challenging and with an improved interface.

A Great Game, but Needs More Stuff

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: March 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I received this game (believe it or not) FREE with my computer. I had no idea what it was, but I tried it out. It's pretty cool! It ranks up there with Myst and Riven, but it has more interaction, more video sequences, more comedy (which, I must say, I have never seen in Myst or Riven.) Anyway, I just wish that there was more stuff you had to do, like, after you beat the game, you unlocked a portal to a new challenge, or to a harder level or something. Bottom line is if you like adventure, but don't want to get involved in something as complicated as Riven (now, I'm not saying Riven's a bad game; it's an awesome game), then Zork: GI is for you!

Midnight in the Underground Underground

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 30
Date: February 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The storyline: Zork has been conquered by a failed former wizard with MDD (Magic Deficit Disorder). This Grand Inquisitioner (tyrant) is hand-in-glove with the Frobozz Electric Company, and is using force to replace all magic with Frobozz technology. The game takes you on a fantasy quest-adventure in the famous Underground Empire. Your mission: to restore magic to all of Zork.

Pros:

1. Highly inspired zaniness of the best kind. A six-armed, invisible monster with an Irish accent. A walking castle that whistles "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." A way to lose the game that exiles you to New Jersey.

2. Colorful, archaic, fantasty-land-type graphics. Journeys through time and through the looking glass. A spell system that reverses itself, with hilarious results.

3. Some unique ways to die and to be transformed. An opportunity to become something akin to a paperweight, or perhaps an ash tray. A chance to find Love in a bottomless pit.

Cons:

1. If you don't turn the text option on, you're likely to miss some of the funniest wisecracks in the game. (To do this, click at the top of the screen on Prefs, then flip the Captions switch to "On.")

2. A very cynical view of the phone company.

Bottom Line: A delightful place to adventure, loaded with crazy characters and some fun, wacky puzzles. You need not have played any previous Zork games in order to have a grand time with this one.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions