Eric the Unready (1993)

Eric the Unready

Eric the Unready is a very well developed game, a fact that is betrayed by its sarcastic and comical setting. Having coming out at a time when text adventures were quite passé (came out the same year Myst did), it takes that fact by making it perhaps one of the strongest and most streamlined games of its kind. Apart from the interactive and well-made graphics, the game accepts parser, clickable hotpoints on screen and a drop down menu, as well as a text only mode. Complementing the pictures, the descriptions are plentiful and endearing and there is even a Beyond Zork-like map. I wouldn’t say every joke is a hit, particularly some which are even for 1993 were already past topical, but it is well written, the rhythm well paced and even something that falls flat might still originate a low chuckle.

The setting is that of the bumbling unlikely hero in a time of medieval cloak and dagger along with a lot of humourous anachronisms and magic. Bumbling heroes are, of course, a dime a dozen in adventure games, a staple that has proven time and time again to be a good fit for this medium as the various interactions with the gameworld inevitably result in hilarity. There are of course many classic medieval games, especially King’s Quest and Defender of the Crown and Eric rips into them delightfully. One also imagines there is quite a bit of Spamalot in here as references are not just limited to computer games – later a whole episode on Star Trek and many other topical references that have lost relevance or meaning.

Despite the game being long and with many locales, unlike Zork or Adventure type games where you can freely roam around the map and have a few puzzles to solve at the same time, here you’re usually presented with a setpiece at a time. Think of it somewhat like an episode, as almost everything is self-contained, apart from some items. This makes the game a lot more focused and less frustrating. The absurdist setting might presuppose equally absurd puzzle solutions but it is not (always) so, at least at first. For the most part puzzles make sense and are not absurdly challenging. The story strings you along and what you need to do is clear and how to do it as well. The streamlined gameplay makes interacting with the gameworld a breeze. Even while I preferred to use the parser it accepted complex sentences and “understood” most of what was thrown at it. Nonetheless, perhaps due to the comical and magical setting, some puzzles do take some imagination to fathom and are occasionally groan-worthy in their solutions (in particular pun-based solutions). Some episodes, then, are quite harder or easier than others, and not in a continuous way. Apart from the very last one, which was more frustrating than hard, the second to last is quite accessible, though two of the middle ones were quite difficult to get through.

In all, a fun game to play, with many mechanics implemented to reduce frustation, a simple story that is most enjoyable as small episodes and varied gameplay. A note as well for GOG version (presumably Steam’s as well), which includes not only the scan of the original manual but an original hint book as well with both vague and specific hints. In all, a very complete package that, while making fun of its history, is at the same time one of the most accomplished and entertaining commercial text adventures I’ve enjoyed.