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About the StoryThe Wizard appears, floating nonchalantly in the air beside you. He grins sideways at you.The Wizard incants "Fantasize," but nothing happens. He shakes his wand. Nothing happens. With a slightly embarrassed glance in your direction, he vanishes. Expect the unexpected when you take on Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz. As you explore the subterranean realm of Zork, you'll continually be confronted with new surprises. Chief among these is the Wizard himself, who'll constantly endeavor to confound you with his capricious powers. But more than that, you'll face a challenge the likes of which you've never experienced before. Difficulty: Advanced Game Details
Language: English (en)
Current Version: Unknown License: Commercial Development System: ZIL Forgiveness Rating: Cruel
Sequel to Zork I, by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling Adapted from Zork, by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling Spoofs: Followed by sequel Zork III, by Dave Lebling, Marc Blank |
Editorial Reviews
Adventure Classic Gaming
Gameplay follows the tradition set by the previous game of the trilogy. It is totally absorbing. You meet the Wizard of Frobozz very early on when he tries to prevent you from completing your quest. He also appears at random places throughout the game and casts various spells at you that can delay you considerably, but it is well worth noting the names of them. [...] From the perspective of an adventure gamer with a passion for interactive fiction, I really enjoy the complexity of some of the puzzles. They require an awful lot of thinking!
-- Karen Tyers
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SPAG
Zork II picks up where its predecessor left off in many ways -- the beginning deposits you inside the barrow that had marked the end of Zork I, your trusty lamp and sword are by your side, and your mission seems at the outset to be more treasure-gathering. But Zork II parts company with the first of the series in a variety of important ways as the game progresses -- that sword is useful, but in a way far more interesting than hack-and-slash -- and the changes suggest that the folks at Infocom were interested less in putting out more of the same than in refining their product and heightening ths challenge.
-- Duncan Stevens
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SynTax
As usual in Infocom games there are plenty of puzzles, some easy and some very tricky. You meet many characters including a princess, (who is helpful), a dragon, a lizard's head embedded in a wall, (I never managed to locate his body) and a dog with three heads - a real pet once you give him what he wants.
-- Joan Dunn
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Member Reviews
| Average Rating: Number of Reviews: 5 Write a review |
Most Helpful Member Reviews
Off to see the wizard, January 15, 2021It’s been suggested that Zork 2 was the more humorous one of the original trilogy, which I’d agree with since I do remember more amusing bits in it. Even a simple description of the dragon being annoyed by your attempt to kill him were worth a chuckle. Might not have been Hitchhiker’s, but there was definitely more personality in this one compared to the first.
One major bit of the game which kept me engaged was the wizard who continues to pop up to troll you. Sometimes resulting in your death if he cast certain spells that really hampered you in a particular location. One example I can think of that happened to me was him causing me to float in the topiary which resulted in the hedge monsters there eventually kill me. It worked in your favor on a rare occasion though as sometimes the wizard’s spells would fail and nothing would happen.
The wizard and his actions would probably considered grossly unfair and random nowadays (Actually it was back then too) but it provided more entertainment for me. Another plus was the lack of a huge pointless maze though a few of the more frustrating puzzles probably made up for that.
It’s still a solid game in most ways, but I think this was the one where I started to realize that I wasn’t really into the whole Zork setting.
A fantastic retooling of material from MIT Zork, with some new material, February 3, 2016Zork II incorporates my favorite puzzles from MIT Zork: the palantirs, the tea room, the round room, the robot, the volcano, the glacier room. The dragon (a callback to Adventure) was a fun challenge, and the two or three NPCs made the game quite fun. I enjoyed watching the wizard travel around zapping me.
I prefer Zork I's treasure drop off system, however. It was annoying having a huge pile of treasure, not knowing what to do with it.
I used a walkthrough on a few places (especially the oddly-angled room), because I wanted to see the whole game. Having completed MIT Zork before made some of the hardest puzzles trivial.
Second verse, better than the first, May 2, 2019Rather than just collecting treasures, your goal is to face the evil wizard. Thus, the story has more inherent conflict and gives it more weight. The map is also more manageable, with no mazes (though there are some tricky room exits). Some of the puzzles are very clever, my favorites being the carousel room and the bank vault. Unfortunately, one requires familiarity with baseball, which isn’t fun for non-American players.
Probably my favorite of the three entries, though still not terribly satisfying with minimal plot and some obtuse puzzles.
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Recommended Lists
Zork II appears in the following Recommended Lists:The Canonical Infocom Games by wfaulk
This is a list of the canonical Infocom games in order of release, as according to the Infocom Fact Sheet.
Dueling With Dragons by Walter Sandsquish
Dragons are a favorite in fantastic fiction, but they don't get as much love in IF as they used to. So, here's a list of games that portray these mythological beasts.
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Old IF games.
Polls
The following polls include votes for Zork II:Solved without Hints by joncgoodwin
I'm very interested in hearing truthful accounts of at least somewhat difficult games (or games that don't solve themselves at least) solved completely without recourse to hints, walkthroughs, etc.
Wandering NPCs by Fredrik
I have always been fascinated with games that have several wandering and independent NPCs, especially when you have the ability to try to order them around. This sets the stage for a game where no one session is like any other, and even...
Villains by Victor Gijsbers
"[T]he thief [in Zork] is important to the development of interactive fiction because he functions as a true villain, not simply an obstacle or opponent.", writes Nick Montfort. Apparently, he moves around, taunts the player, actively...
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