GAME TESTING
HIBERNATED 1 Almost a year ago, in the Italian version of RetroMagazine, we published a indepth insight into this game by Stefan Vogt and Pond Software. Back then the choice was made to “only” review the unboxing of the physical edition, since the game is a text-adventure and, as such, it is kind of difficult to review visually. That physical edition was just way too good to go unnoticed since it basically contains formats and media for anything in the late 80s/early 90s: tapes (yes, tapes!), 5.25" and 3.5" floppies, and even a Micro SD card, just in case you were out of physical disk drives to try the game on and you were in need of using an emulator. As Tony wrote back then, it is sure difficult to write about a text adventure, but I recently finished this game and thus I simply had to report back. Actually, in the last couple of years, I did write about text-adventures, namely Zork and Leather Goddesses of Phobos, but this is the first time that I review a C64 game (meaning that I played it on a real C64, but that was just my personal choice). I think that the best choice here is to let the author speak, so here are his words: "Have you ever dreamed about a journey far beyond the known regions of the universe? Hibernated 1: This Place is Death is a science-fiction text adventure for C64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, and PC DOS. It is the first interactive story of an epic trilogy centered around Olivia Lund, who has been sent on an interplanetary exploration mission by the Terran Alliance. After being in hypersleep for more than 200 years and with more than 800 light-years being traveled, her ship, the Polaris7, crosses paths with a gigantic alien vessel and is captured by a tractor beam. Olivia soon finds out that this may not be her only problem. There is no communication and there are no signs of life. The extra-terrestrial spacecraft just
Developer: Stefan Vogt Publisher: Relics Year: 2018 Platform: Amiga/C64 Genre: Adventure
keeps on drifting through the cosmic void, which is something it seems to be doing for thousands of years now. This is a tomb in-between the stars, which Olivia has to enter to extricate herself from this interstellar trap. Io, the navigation robot of the Polaris7, is probably her only friend. Far away from home and surrounded by death and decay, she found the answer to one of the greatest questions of mankind. Are we alone? The answer is: yes, out here, we are more alone than ever." The adventure dates back to 2018 and, one year later, Pond Software published an add-on for the game (named Eight Feet Under) unveiling further details on the story. The game is available on itch.io but, despite it being a stand-alone product, it is strongly advised to play the main adventure first, to avoid spoilers. For the same reason, I won’t delve further into the story, but let me just say that a sequel has recently been announced. I really can’t wait to play it. What about you? Just be patient, and keep the flame alive.
by Gianluca Girelli RetroMagazine has established a strong collaboration with AmigaGuru: https://blog.amigaguru.com/a-lookat-hibernated-1-all-in-one-edition/ https://blog.amigaguru.com/ hibernated1-review/
RETROMAGAZINE ENGLISH YEAR 1 - ISSUE 0
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