Craig Majaski
The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble (Adventure) by Sierra,
has got to be the strangest game I have ever had the joy of playing. Even
the
title of the game is so different, it demands a second glance. So what’s the
game about? Read on for some answers.
Many years ago there was a nuclear war on earth that destroyed practically
everything.
The few human survivors took cover in their underground
hideouts. Finally, one day the survivors decided to leave their underground
homes and see what the world looked like. Most of the lands had evolved into
a vast jungle. As they explored the new world, they encountered a new race
of kind people known as the Boozooks.
The humans misunderstood the Boozooks, and went to war with them. The
humans were victorious and enslaved the remaining Boozook population. The
Boozooks were forced to build the City for the humans. After its completion,
the Boozooks lived at the bottom of the city, while the humans lived in the
upper sections.
Objecting to the conditions the Boozooks were forced to work under,
Professor Azimuth became committed to finding a way to free the
Boozooks from their torture. He learned of a mythical magic called the
Schnibble that’s supposed to create peace in times of need. He began to
search for the Schnibble in hopes of making things right.
Unfortunately, the evil Bigwig learned of Azimuth’s plan and broke into his
house, kidnapping him.
Before they took Azimuth away, he was able to hide
his adopted son Woodruff, and place the Viblefrotzer on his head. This
device caused Woodruff to change into an adult. However, a side effect of
the device was memory loss. And so the adventure begins with the player
controlling Woodruff.
As one can probably gather, the story is very different, umm, original. In
fact,
the entire game is very twisted. Your goal in Adventure is to help Woodruff
find Professor Azimuth and take the Bigwig out of power. Pretty easy task you
say? Sure. I hope you are up to learning a new language.
That’s right! As you travel around in Adventure, you will come across many
items that have strange names. The Tobozon, for example, is your portable
videophone. The Boozooks don’t have the normal numbering system. Their
numbers consist of 3 or 4 letter sounds. The number1 is KAH and the number
2 is ZIG. Luckily when you find a new phone number it is stored in the
Tobozon’s memory so you don’t have to write it down. It’s important to use
the videophone as it will provide access to different areas in the game.
The control of Woodruff is pretty standard fare. It’s almost identical to
Sierra’s other adventure game, King’s Quest VII. As you move your cursor
around, certain objects will be highlighted. Woodruff can interact with these
objects. Many items can be picked up or read. Your inventory is easily
accessed by pressing the right mouse button. Just place the item on the area
you want to use it, then click the left mouse button. If the item won’t work
with the playing field, Woodruff will let you know by performing a funny
gesture.
In order to progress in the game, it’s essential for Woodruff to talk to the
many inhabitants of the City. He will meet a lot of strange people. They
often offer advice on what to do. Some, like the tax collection guy, do
nothing but add comical relief. It’s important to talk to the same person
more than once as they will often have new information. Sometimes they
may even help you out by giving you an item.
There are many puzzles for Woodruff to solve. As in any Sierra adventure
game, they range from very easy to extremely hard. At least if there’s a
puzzle that can’t be figured out, there are usually other areas ready to
explore. If you get stuck, it’s usually a good idea to move to a different
area. Often the item you need will be there.
Graphically, Adventure is pretty nice. The backgrounds are especially rich
in color. If you sit around in one area long enough,
you’ll see a lot of
humorous things taking place in the background. Woodruff is animated
fairly well. His strut as he walks is a sight to behold. Most of the other
characters don’t move. Many of them just sit at a counter motionless, as if
they were pasted to the background.
The voices in the game are very well done. Woodruff almost sounds like
Bert from Sesame Street (yes, I’ve seen Sesame Street once or twice). The
voices fit all the characters nicely. The sound effects are zany and managed
to make me crack a smile more than once. They easily could have been
taken right from a cartoon.
As good as the voice and sound effects are, the one area that needs
improvement is the music. There really is not one good music track in the
entire game. The music repeats every 30 seconds or so and doesn’t set the
mood for the game. It was such an annoyance that I ended up shutting it
off (a point for including that option).
Overall, Adventure was a descent game. There wasn’t anything ground
breaking, but it was fun nonetheless. The humor is very off the wall and
I guarantee that you will be laughing along with this game. However, if you
were looking for a really funny game, I’d suggest Sam and Max over this
title.
Even with all the humor, something was missing. It really didn’t keep my
attention like other Sierra games usually do. Perhaps it was due to the zany
storyline. I suggest buying Adventure only if you like games with bizarre
twisted humor and a mediocre quest.
Gamer’s Zone Scorecard
Product: |
The Bizarre Adventures Of Woodruff and the Schnibble
|
Company: |
Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Bellvue, WA 98007
(800) 757-7707 |
(* 0 rating, 0 votes)
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