by Will Moczarski
It's time to boldly go where only Joe has gone before...for this blog, at least. Riding on the success of Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, Interplay decided to do a quick follow-up using the same engine. Star Trek: Judgment Rites was released just in time for the holiday season in November 1993 and is generally considered to be the better game. Taking into account that 25th Anniversary scored a respectable 45 points although it was impossible to skip the bothersome action sequences (Joe was ultimately and understandably unable to beat the game fair and square) I'm mildly optimistic that we will have fun with this one.
The game was designed by a band of six among which the name of Michael A. Stackpole (yes, it's the author!) is probably the most famous. However, some of the others can pull their weight, too. Elizabeth "Liz" Danforth's career in game development began in the mid-1970's, and she apparently has been part of the industry to this day. The latest famous game she worked on is Wasteland 2 (2013) although it may just be me who's unfamiliar with the others. Scott Bennie contributed to 25th Anniversary as well as Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (1997), Star Trek: Starfleet Command (1999) and Starfleet Command II: Empires at War (2000). He was also involved with The Lost Vikings (1993), Descent (1995), and Fallout (1997) to name but a few. A varied and storied career if I ever saw one.
Then there's Jayesh Patel who also has a credit for programming the game, plus Bruce Schlickbernd (gotta love that name!) and Mark O'Green. The second programmer was one Paul Allen Edelstein, and the responsible producers were Jacob R. Buchert III and, once again, Bruce Schlickbernd who had been "only" a designer for the previous game. The strangest game he would go on to work on must surely be Bridge Deluxe 2 with Omar Sharif (1996). And the most peculiar credit must be his being listed as the "Interplay Graphics Wizard" when he helped out during the development of Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep in 1995 (another game I remember fondly).
Gotta love Omar Sharif! (Source)
The gameplay appears to be very similar to its predecessor's, and once again the narration is separated into (mostly) unrelated episodes, TV series style. I didn't want to spoil the game for me but a quick glance revealed that there will be eight of them. I'll try to stick to one episode per post whenever possible.
That said, I won't be playing the version featuring the original cast as voice actors because that one was released later in 1995. I'll surely fire it up after having finished the 1993 version, and, depending on the number of road blocks the game throws at returning players, maybe even finish it once again in order to provide a second PISSED rating taking into account the (ostensibly) higher score in the D category.
Most of the graphics online are from the 1995 edition.
Interestingly, while Gabriel Knight I and Day of the Tentacle tied for best adventure game of the year in the traditional CGW ranking, Judgment Rites was one of three honourable mentions (the others being Myst and Return to Zork). I remember playing Judgment Rites for a little bit back in the day but I only finished two or three episodes before losing interest while Gabriel Knight and Day of the Tentacle both got me hooked all the way (never cared for Myst, never/not yet played Return to Zork). The Sierra game is still one of my favourite adventure games ever and the LucasArts game is a bit better than Morpheus thinks it is (in my humble opinion, of course).
Because time is never on my side these days this is quite a short introductory entry. Why? I'm currently trying to play through 25th Anniversary as a primer before I get started with Judgment Rites. I'll dive into the contemporary magazine reviews after having finished the game in order to avoid spoilers, so without further ado please make your score guesses now and don't hesitate to tell me about your (spoiler-free) experiences with the game in the comments!
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I'm so glad I'll be able to skip the action sequences.
Next time: a brief look at the manual and my take on the first mission of the game!
Hmm, haven't played it yet and want to, so might (have to) consider (partly) skipping or just skimming the entries, though... at least the puzzle / story details.
ReplyDeleteI'll guess 55.
Never played judgement rites because I didn’t even realize it was different than 25th Anniversary (which was great in the Amiga). Crazy to think it’s now the 60th Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing 51.
Just guessing the score without any reason: let's say 58
ReplyDeleteMy recollection is that Rites is a modest improvement over 25th. I played the non-voiced version, though, which maybe gives 25th a slight edge. I recall that the hint book is LESS good than the hint book for the previous game, but I can't imagine that entering into the calculus. I'm going to guess 50
ReplyDeleteIf you're playing the original floppy version, you might optionally consider installing the Sound & Movie Pack - a floppy-only expansion pack that was sold separately, which adds several extra cutscenes and sound effects.
ReplyDeleteMost of these extra cutscenes were NOT ported over to the DOS CD version. However, oddly enough, they were included in the later Macintosh CD port. So if you want to see them on DOS, you'll have to install the expansion pack for the floppy version.
However, the installer for the expansion pack (like the OG installer for the regular floppy version) doesn't work in regular DOSBox, due to relying on CPU features which vanilla DOSBox doesn't support.
If you want to install it, you'll have to use a different version of DOSbox that supports the installer (perhaps DOSbox-X might work). Or you could install it on a virtual machine with a floppy disk drive (something like Win95 or 98) and then copy it over to DOSbox.
Or, just let me know if you want a pre-installed copy, and I could just email it to you or send it to you via Discord or something, since I have an installed version of it.
Thank you, ATMachine! I was unaware of the Sound & Movie Pack. I'll give it a shot but if I run into any trouble your offer is much appreciated.
Delete48
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been looking forward to this one. It's been on my to-play list for as long as I can remember, so I'll be playing along with you. I didn’t really get on with 25th Anniversary, but I've always been told that this game is an improvement on it.
ReplyDeleteI will guess 47 (for the Star Trek connection).
Didn't play this one, not really sure what it'll get, but I'll give it a guess of 60 for 60 years of star trek!
ReplyDeleteI wanted be optimistic for a change and say 60. But I’m the sort of guy that changes lanes into one that comes to a grinding halt, so I’ll be realistic and say 45.
ReplyDelete*to be
Deletenever played this one, but I think it's generally mentioned as one of those less known games that are quite good, specially because there was almost no other Star Trek games back then.
ReplyDeleteIll guess a 60
ah everyone said 60, 61 then
DeleteOkay, while I have no interest in Star Trek at all (always preferred the Lucas films instead) I'm looking forward to Will's experience. Using the same engine but being able to skip action sequences? I think it will jump up to 54.
ReplyDeleteI'll guess 59
ReplyDeleteAnd just as I started building the Lego Enterprise, such timing! Too bad the series is not on Netflix anymore it would have made a nice triad if I could follow a TOS game, build the TNG Enterprise and watch DS9.
ReplyDeleteI'll take 52 though, let's see how much it improved!
Yeah, Netflix has been losing much of its killer content over the past few years due to the event of so (too) many new streaming services. Building the Lego Enterprise and following a TOS game is still a powerful 1-2 punch, though!
DeleteNever played this. I'll go with 62.
ReplyDeleteMuch better than the first one. Let's say 57.
ReplyDeleteI'll go 55, based on no experience with the game whatsoever...
ReplyDeleteA very good adventure game. I'm very excited to see it covered, so I'm guessing 72.
ReplyDelete