Snare

Snare
by Andrew Williams

Science Fiction
1997

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

A great (if incomplete) game based on Blake's 7, June 15, 2020

I would give this 4.5/5 if I could, based on what's there so far.

The game does an excellent job of bringing the universe of Blake's 7 to life. The atmosphere, writing and plot is great, and the characters are well written (Avon is his usual snarky self). Any Blake's 7 fan will recognize the references from the series, and I highly recommend it to any Blake's 7 fan (or any text adventure fan who likes science fiction).

The game loses a little because: 1. There are several spots where it's easy to miss things and get into an "unwinnable" state (if you don't have an item when you need it, or you've missed the opportunity to go to a location). 1. There are also a few spots where it's not clear what needs to be done (usually after you've missed something earlier, either missed doing something or you missed an important piece of text) - I recommend playing with an interpreter that can scroll back. 3. Finally, the game only recognizes teleporting to the liberator from elsewhere. You can't use the command "TELEPORT TO" from the liberator - you teleport a different way. I would have liked it if it would have told me the alternative way of teleporting when I used that command rather than just telling me I couldn't.

Finally, from what I can tell, the game is incomplete (or at least, according to Orac, the rest of the map isn't connected to the playable area). Unfortunately, given the age, it probably won't ever be completed (prove me wrong!), but you can use Inform tools to get access to some of the story text and see some of the ideas the rest of the game would have touched on.

Edit: I've spotted screenshots of the game from a further point than where I got to, so it's possible there's either a later version of the game, or the game continues despite what Orac states.

I've written a walkthrough for what I've completed in the comments.

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The Defiant, June 15, 2020 - Reply
Walkthrough (at least, as far as I've managed to get):

(Spoiler - click to show)Intro:
You're Kerr Avon in the dystopian future world of Blake's 7. You're a computer expert about to embezzle hundreds of millions of credits. This segment takes place before the show proper, but it's been referred to multiple times in the show.
You'll want to show you pass to the guard. Head to your office (you can chat with the woman in reception if you want to. Show her the notepad). In your office, open drawer. take and examine the frame and then open it. Take the wafer, insert it into the slot, turn on the computer and eventually you get caught. (It sounds from other people's playthroughs that there's more you can do here, but, given that this takes place before the series, I think there's only one outcome - you get captured.)

On the liberator:
You're now Blake. This part of the game takes place towards the end of Season 2. Make sure to explore the ship and examine all the room, meet all the people, take all the items, etc. Orac and his activator key is in a room towards the south of the map. Take him and his key and activate him. Get a gun and belt (and plug it in) in the flight deck. There's various tools and other items in different places. Vila will pop in from time to time and tell you bad jokes (and I'm pretty sure he steals things from your inventory.), though he always leaves as soon as he arrives, so you can't really directly interact with him. Vila will make mention of a ring Avon is upset over having lost. You can ask Orac about the ring (you can also consult him about a lot of things).
The ring is in the strongroom, stuck behind a grille. You can try to shoot the grille, but this causes a defense mechanism which locks you in the room and slowly kills you via drowning (not sure if there's a way out if you do trigger this - from the sound of it, Cally tries to get Vila to unlock the door). Instead of doing that, just attempt to open the grille. When that doesn't work, get the wine from your room and leave it in Vila's room (Thankfully, Vila doesn't steal the wine from you). After a little while, Vila will arrive, notice the wine and open the grille in the strongroom to thank you. You can then take the ring and return it to Avon.

The Crippled Ship:
Jenna tells you to come to the flight deck. Go there and you'll learn that the Liberator has come across a crippled ship (note: you only have time to teleport once, so take everything you need before teleporting). Ask Avon for his bracelet (because Vila hid all the others). Go to the teleporter room (where Cally is) and set the dials to the coordinates. Then just walk west to be beamed to the crippled ship. On the ship, take the crystal, then proceed to the dying man. Use the beamer (from the medkit from your room) on the dying man, and he'll tell you that someone was kidnapped before he dies. Turn on the laser and proceed down, where you'll find a broken robot which you should take. Then teleport back. You can ask Orac about the Marlowe and other things you've learned about. Show and give the robot and crystal to Avon and give him the probe. You can ask Orac about citadel where the game's writer gives you a congratulations for reaching this point and informs you that the rest of the game isn't connected yet. You can use inform tools to try to extract other text from the game - apparently, Servelan would appear at some point).

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