Game Review

Nord and Bert is a fairly unusual entry in Infocom's catalog of text-based adventure games! Rather than present a single story, it is broken up into eight chapters with each chapter presenting a different style of wordplay with a different goal. Set in the town of Punster, Idioms and clichés have somehow become literal and (as tends to happen) it's up to the player to fix all of the chaos. The puzzles are not of the usual adventure game type, and instead involve providing correct responses that correspond to the wordplay style of each chapter. As an example, early on you'll come across a molehill blocking your path; to get past it, you'll need to make a mountain out of a molehill. The game is filled with creative wordplay like this, however, this also makes the game harder for many players as there aren't many clues actually in the game itself — you need to have on hand a decent knowledge of the English language and its idioms. If you are a master linguist, this is definitely a game you'll want to check out for it's unusual style and great humor. Even if you aren't, it's worth trying as it does have some pretty good entertainment value for a while. Unfortunately, it will also become frustrating quickly if you aren't already familiar with the many phrases and references needed to complete the game which is why I decided to give this one a C rating. But despite that it is still a rather humerous adventure and a clever change from your typical interactive fiction!