Monday 13 June 2016

Game 70: Heart of China (1991) - Introduction


Written by Aperama




Heart of China – 1991's most 'under the radar' adventure game for me


This is probably a first for me here at the Adventure Gamer – an exciting game that prior to this blog I'd never really heard of, but now I'm legitimately excited to get started in on (Countdown had me cautiously optimistic – this is full­blown finger­quivering anticipation!) Heart of China is the third adventure game created by Dynamix. If you've read Joe's work on Willy Beamish (or would like to follow that to Ilmari's post on Rise of the Dragon), you'd know that Dynamix is essentially Sierra­lite – a company best known for simulators that was bought out during the late eighties-­early nineties and decided that this change meant that they ought to start producing adventure games. This company will see quite a few more releases to be covered on this blog (with a lot of ex-Sierra employees 'jumping ship' later on – Jim Walls went from creating 'Police Quest' to 'Blue Force'.. a game about.. motorbike cops. Huge leap, as I'm sure you can tell.) This game has a few interesting quirks to it, definitely, and just from gathering information I can already begin to form an opinion of what I'm in for. But first? A little bit about the name at the dead top of the manual.. Jeff Tunnell.





Or as you all probably better know him – 'the guy who made The Incredible Machine'




This game marks a five year hiatus by Jeff, one of the founders of Dynamix – it seems to me as though this game really was his baby. He's listed under just about every aspect of the game – design, production.. even writing. He's the face on the back cover (literally). Why'd he leave (even though the following games were still published by Dynamix/Sierra, so it was clearly quite amiable)? The Incredible Machine. It was and is definitely a relic of PC gaming history, and is definitely a game I remember from my childhood. That said, this is the final adventure by Dynamix bearing his name.. well, sorta. Beamish was technically his last title, but we've taken things in the seemingly wrong chronology. Regardless, it seems to me that he spent more time on this game due to how many times I see his name popping up. Heart of China definitely appears as though it is a bit of a labor of love, as it has just about everything that someone could call 'cutting edge' at this point in time – we're getting into the days of good audio and graphics that can at least stand up compared to today's standards, with a game that promises branching pathways a la Indiana Jones, multiple playable characters... It shares the 'photographed actors' of such absolute classics as Countdown and Les Man.. urgh. Well, that's not necessarily a negative, though I must also temper that statement with a factoid from Wikipedia. 'Because of tight production budgets, Dynamix recruited the majority of its actors from the company's own employees and families.' This is something that will either be honest good fun from their up front efforts to do their best, or unintentionally hilarious. I'm not sure which, but the back cover does feature a ninja, which can only be a good thing.. right? Right?





No seriously, Tunnell's name is ­everywhere­!


I always love peeking through manuals of this vintage. Whilst gaming in this era was technically limited, it's pretty rare you find a manual where the developers weren't legitimately putting their best foot forward. They were designed to really drag people's attention, and are definitely a lost art. The opening to this is a little too wordy as compared to the 'fun' manuals I could compare it to (even of other Dynamix titles – Beamish's approach was far more interesting), but not only does it give an idea of the gameplay, but it's quick to start with a message – 'we've listened to all of the player complaints about our previous titles and are attempting to make them all better'. They clearly wanted to use every trick they had up their sleeves, attempting to emphasise through the manual that you'll be playing 'through the eyes' of characters, and that everything will have an impact. One thing I definitely don't look forward to is for all of the promise of branching plots and likely multiple solutions to puzzles... the game runs on a timer. I really do loathe timers, but hopefully it won't be particularly painful as these things sometimes can be. The manual directly says what ending we'll be 'aiming' for, also, which does give some degree of promise to me – but this game could be quite difficult to write about depending on how well this attempt actually pans out in practice, but multiple endings and branching plots are definitely something of a novelty this early in the 1990s. One very interesting note is that every time the game goes in an 'open' direction (where multiple things may occur), it will actually say 'plot branch' to give an idea of a good point to (I presume) take a save and trial things in different ways if things feel like they might not have gone quite the way I may have wanted them to.




Thankfully, this 'VCR MENU' doesn't date the game at all.. right?


The plot synopsis (which I'm gathering between the manual and back cover of the game) comes to a rather simple story. 'Lucky' Jake Masters is an ex­World War 1 pilot who has been hired by Kate Lomax's father, a 'ruthless American land baron'. She's been kidnapped somewhere in the 'lush mountains of Central China', and he's being led by a 'shadowy master of stealth and cunning from a far away land', Zhao Chi. Who is, by the way, a ninja. The manual then goes on to give an idea that there is romance to be had between Kate and Lucky (which will be measured via 'the Romance Meter'), that I need to ensure that the two are 'nose to nose' by the time they return to Paris (where Kate Lomax's father is going to be). If I've done everything right, 'Lomax will give all of your aeroplanes back, $125,000 plus a $20,000 bonus, a new car and an all expense paid trip to Monte Carlo along with free meals at all of his restaurants.' I don't get why an 'American land baron' is going to have restaurants in Monte Carlo, but I'll assume this makes sense in­game. I also assume that this means I will be losing several aeroplanes, which is a kinda sucky thought! (What happens if I don't get the free meals? Does that mean that I have to replay the game, even if I get all of the other goodies on offer?)




This is also getting up to the point where DOS and Amiga
versions of games are of a similar quality –
I've interlaced Amiga (slide 1­3­5 left to right) and DOS (2­4­6)
from an early­game screenshot via Mobygames,
 and for the most part they're pretty alike


I feel a little hesitant to read what appears to have also come via the 'Travel Guide' which appears to have also come with some copies of the game. It feels like I'm reading a little too much information within, even – but this is definitely where the 'flavor' side of things comes into full swing. It's written as though it were a dossier by a 'Josephine Andrews' in regards to several of the in­game locations and characters. I feel like I don't want to read about the main character before I see him in­game, so I'm skimming over bits and pieces. I'd be very impressed if there are actually red herrings in here, but I'm all too concerned that the short section on 'homeopathic remedies' is all but an answer to a puzzle I'm going to encounter later on, or that I'm going to know all of the locations within the game just by reading up the short list on 'Istanbul', information about rickshaws in Hong Kong, a piece on the 'ancient fortress of Chengdu'.. I will likely revisit it at a later point either during or after the game, but for the time being? I'll just give you all that I was willing to risk properly spoiling for myself..




This article on Turkish headgear!


The game promises to have a fairly similar interface to other Dynamix titles – the majority of actions are performed via context-­sensitive mouse slides, with a few action sequences – tank shootouts and a fightout atop the Orient Express are listed in the manual, though part of me wouldn't be surprised to find some other little tidbits coming my way – Heart of China seems a game that Dynamix clearly worked on throwing everything they could think of at. I'm quite excited about the prospect of a game that I've never really heard of, and hope that it has everything that it promises. If nothing else, I feel very confident that the game will be interesting, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what the game has ahead of me. Has anyone actually played this title to give me an idea of what I'm in for? I'd love to hear all of your thoughts!




At last, an adventure game with real, ultimate power.

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

Example bet (yes, I'm going to try bringing it back because Retrosmack has sadly fallen to the wayside – I'll donate 20 CAPs to the winner):

N gnyr frg hcba gur Uvtu Frnf
Bs zbfgyl yrffre ynepravrf
Uvf jbzna'f nybbs
Uvf gevny'f ol gbbgu
Bs jubz qb V fcrnx bs, cyrnfr?

28 comments:

  1. This company will see quite a few more releases to be covered on this blog (with a lot of ex-Sierra employees 'jumping ship' later on – Jim Walls went from creating 'Police Quest' to 'Blue Force

    Are you perchance mixing up Dynamix with Tsunami?

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    Replies
    1. Ack. I rushed my research and swear I saw Blue Force in their games list, mentally combining the two. Good pickup, though I do think that their staff did overlap coming into their later years.

      Delete
  2. 55

    Will be playing along.

    Thloehfu Guerrcjbbq? But that would be too obvious... Not seeing the relevance to grrgu either...

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. I've never played this but I do remember reading about it on magazines back in the day. 58 for me.

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  5. Hmm... Never played it. Going to guess a 60 for the score.

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  6. This looks like it has potential to be better than Rise of the Dragon or Willy Beamish. I'll guess 63.

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  7. I have a soft spot for this game, (as well as Rise of the Dragon). I feel they both do a great job with creating a unique mood and atmosphere. Put me down for 65 on this one!

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  8. I guess this will get to the top 10 games. Let's say 70!

    And since Joe's game happened at sea, I guess that the answer to your riddle is Enbhy Qhfragvre. (I have no idea how the last two lines fit, but perhaps they are there just to confuse us).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very incorrect. :) The character is not from a game that has been covered as yet.

      Delete
  9. Aaand my Heart of China story: I bought it mail-order from Sierra as part of a special 2-for-1 deal; its system requirements exceeded my computer's specs but I set it aside in anticipation of such a time as my computer would be sufficiently upgraded to handle it. When that day came, I bust out my old game box, put the floppies in and Disk 2 was corrupt and installation was not possible. Perhaps due to the long delay, I never succeeded at getting Sierra to replace the disk. And consequently, despite having owned a copy of this game, I have never played it!

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  10. My guess is 59. I'm not thinking it will be Top 10 material, but I hope I am wrong!

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  11. I was always intrigued by the Dynamix games. Like everyone else, I got the Dynamix catalogs and sales brochures in my Sierra boxes, and the games looked similar but different enough to pique my curiosity. I especially wanted this game back in the day, but never badly enough to displace something like Space Quest IV (still have the complete box), or Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective (was/am obsessed with Holmes). So I'll be keeping a sharp eye on this playthrough!

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  12. Incidentally, there were some news about the release date of the remake of YU-NO: The Girl Who Chants Love at the Edge of the World (best adventure game I have ever played, period): November 17 2016 in Japan. I noticed some comparison screenshots posted over at rpgcodex (NSFW) and WHAT HAVE THEY DONE!? The new artwork is much weaker in terms of composition, solidity, sense of weight, use of colour, expressiveness, and is just painfully amateurish.

    The good news is that they're going to remove the obnoxious porn/fanservice (as it's for consoles) and probably fix the tedious pixelhunting scenes, but on the other hand it's unlikely to be ever localised to the West.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What the...

      Particularly annoying/ironic as the original game was obviously Christmas Rushed and would've benefited from delays like this - it has some fundamental story problems towards the end which probably will remain in the remake (grandfather clause and all that). Hopefully the "making some adjustments to the system to make the game easier" part refers to the fake difficulty sources (the pixel hunts) and not making the game ACTUALLY easier - I thought it was already too easy!

      Not that I'll be playing this in a long time, because I don't know Japanese and don't own the corresponding consoles.

      Delete
  13. Never played, I think I've seen the title, but it never caught my interest. And the dice says... 87!!! Great, must be one of the best adventure game of all time and somehow everyone missed it.

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  14. Okay, I'm not sure if you guys just aren't too interested in the riddle or simply have no ideas, so I'll add a couple of lines..


    N gnyr frg hcba gur Uvtu Frnf
    Bs zbfgyl yrffre ynepravrf
    Uvf jbzna'f nybbs
    Uvf gevny'f ol gbbgu
    Bs jubz qb V fcrnx bs, cyrnfr?

    N zbqrea tnzr, gurer vf gur xrl
    Perngrq ol sryybjf sebz Treznal
    Bs n zna abg bofprar
    Sbe ur vf gehyl xrra
    Gb gnxr bhg gur rivy Qbpgbe...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a feeling I've heard of the game, but it just hasn't hit me yet.

      If it turns out to be a game I've played I'll feel stupid.

      Delete
  15. This game is a stinker in my memory... 46

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  16. Obdurate Hater of Rhythm Games20 June 2016 at 15:17

    I love this game and all of its satisfying endings and deaths. My favorite ones are the bad one and the penultimate one--the latter will make E.A. haters, like me very happy. I am going to aim high with a 60, because this game deserves it.

    A hint If you get stuck at the beginning of Kathamdu, you chose the wrong character. I recommend using both characters though, just to see the amusing deaths.

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  17. Obdurate Hater of Rhythm Games20 June 2016 at 15:27

    Aperama, are you talking about Sea of Thieves or Shipwreckers? Sea of Thieves looks really fun, but I hope it has a single player mode, because I like the satisfying of overcoming a challenge by myself. Shipwreckers was also pretty fun.

    Blue force was a big disappointment: It had easy puzzles, the plot went nowhere, the dialogue was awkward and stilted, and the character was very slow.

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  18. I did play this, and my vague recollections tell me it was pretty great. I'll go with 73.

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  19. By the way, I love the Amiga/PC comparison screenshot. Nice work - shows the parity perfectly!

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