10 /10 1 Votes
Artist(s) Donald Langosy Mode(s) Single player Developer Infocom Publisher Infocom | 5/5 My Abandonware Engine ZIL Initial release date 1989 Designer Marc Blank Genre Interactive fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Platforms Commodore 64, Macintosh operating systems, DOS, Apple II, AmigaOS Similar Infocom games, Interactive fiction games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Journey: The Quest Begins is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Marc Blank, with illustrations by Donald Langosy, and released by Infocom in 1989. Like the majority of Infocom's works, it was released simultaneously for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, and PC. Journey is unusual among Infocom games in that it could be played entirely via mouse or joystick with no typing required. It was also the thirty-fifth and last game released by Infocom before parent company Activision closed the Cambridge office, effectively reducing Infocom to a "label" to be applied to later games.
Contents
Plot
The game package acknowledges the strong influence of Tolkien on the plot of Journey. A land reminiscent of Middle-earth has been ravaged by a mysterious, evil power. Crops, water, and the inhabitants themselves suffer from unexplainable illnesses and blights. A group of villagers ventured forth to seek the help of the reclusive wizard Astrix, but they have not been heard from in months. It is feared that few will survive the additional hardships of the coming winter, and so a second group is being dispatched. The four chosen are Bergon (a young carpenter), Praxix (a wizard), Esher (a healer), and Tag (a merchant). They leave their village behind to cross unknown lands with two goals: to discover the fate of the earlier party, and to plead Astrix for assistance. While Bergon is the leader the group, the story is told by Tag and, for the most part, seen through his eyes.
Feelies
Infocom game packages traditionally contained feelies, or "extra" items related in some way to the game that sometimes served as copy protection. The feelies for Journey were:
Critical reception
G.M. magazine described Journey's storyline as lovely, and a refreshing departure from the graphical tile-based RPGs that were contemporary at the time. Computer Gaming World gave the game a glowing review, giving particular praise to the game's command interface, but also saying "Journey is full of delightful puzzles, superb prose, and finely honed legends."