Return to Ringworld

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Name: Return to Ringworld Year: 1994 Publisher: Tsunami Media Developer: Tsunami Media Platform: PC Genre: Adventure Total rating: 80% - rated 4 times rate now: please log in to rate Submitter: Ss_guitarist Score: 10 points Added: Feb 20 2006 Warez status: Abandonware

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Author: Ss_guitarist Date: Feb 21 2006 - 23:41 Score: 50 points

Return to Ringworld was released in 1994 and is the sequel to Tsunami Media's "Ringworld: Return of the Patriarch". It is a typical science fiction adventure set in Larry Niven's 'Known Space'.

The game begins where the previous game left off, aboard the stolen starship, "The Lance of Truth" crewed by three individuals. Your ship is disabled and many of the races of Known Space want you dead, silent or at least out of the way. You've got to find the Ringworld you left and find out what the hell put you in this mess.

There is no need to have played "Return of the Patriarch" as the story so far is explained in dialogue between the characters at the start of the game. These three characters are Quinn, a male Human problem-solver, Miranda, a female Human engineer and Seeker - a male Kzin (a race resembling a cat-like being) pilot.

The player can choose to control any one of these characters at any given time in the game. This not only is fun to play around with (if you are someone like me) but essential to solving some of the puzzles in the game. For example, there are some puzzles that cannot be completed by one character until one of the other characters has done something else, which may not be at all relevant to the problem at hand.

The interface is your typical point-and-click interface with the basic adventure commands (Walk, Look, Talk and Use) which can be selected by pressing the relevant initial on the keyboard (e.g. "L" for look, "T" for talk, etc) or cycled through by a click of the right mouse button which brings up a graphical menu similar to the verb-coin used in Lucas Arts' "Full Throttle" and "The Curse of Monkey Island". There is a computer system on the ship which provides a database of information about Niven's 'Known Space' which can be very interesting to read if you are not familiar with his books. The database also holds clues to solutions of some of the puzzles in-game too.

Graphics are easy on the eyes, consisting of detailed backdrops and nicely animated characters. The sound effects are great in my opinion, these include the humming of The Lance of Truth's engines and the sounds of the ray guns being fired. The background music is varied and not annoying and the voice acting is very professional (maybe not so much with Miranda though, but I think this was intentional).

There are some aspects of the game which are more annoying than problematic. These can mainly be found once the player reaches the Ringworld itself. It would appear the designers decided to give the player an idea of the sheer size of the place by using screen after screen of similar or even identical backgrounds on the way from one point to another. A fine example of this being when you must walk along the top of the Ringwall to find a monorail car. This goal can only be achieved by travelling across about ten screens that all look exactly (or near as damit) the same. This obviously creates a problem with players thinking they may be heading in the wrong direction and turning back, only to travel another what seems like hundreds of copies of the same artwork and going absolutely mad...(I know I did).

But that aside, my overall verdict of the game is that it is indeed a fantastic one. A solid story, both fun and interesting. Good graphics and fair puzzles, backed by great sound effects, music and voice acting...

I give this game two thumbs up, recommending it to adventure game and sci-fi enthusiasts alike!

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By Romanviper - Oct 18 2008 - 21:52 I bought this when new, I never got past the part where you had to assemble a sonic device to destroy an ice wall

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