Babel

by Ian Finley

Mystery, Science Fiction
1997

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4 star:
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Number of Ratings: 151
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- LoquySSS46 (Longueuil, Québec, Canada), March 27, 2024

- aluminumoxynitride, March 12, 2024

- Max Fog, February 16, 2024

- Space45, November 25, 2023

- Titania Lowe, November 20, 2023

- Video_ouija_, November 19, 2023

- bluetopaz, September 6, 2023

- gattociao, August 26, 2023

- Drew Cook (Acadiana, USA), July 26, 2023

- Wanderlust, March 18, 2023

- Bloxwess (Bellaire, Texas), November 7, 2022

- Cerfeuil (*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personnel, Kid), October 11, 2022

SPAG

In the realm of science fiction, very trodden ground indeed, Ian Finley's Babel does not seem profoundly original; you have an experiment in an isolated lab that goes wrong, an unscrupulous scientist, dramatic confrontations, even a countdown of sorts. But the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts, and there is more to Babel than might appear from a thumbnail sketch. The puzzles are few and not particularly remarkable, but for simple storytelling power, this one ranks among the best in the competition.
-- Duncan Stevens

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>INVENTORY - Paul O'Brian writes about interactive fiction

Babel is not only one of the best competition games I've ever played, it's one of the best pieces of interactive fiction I've ever seen, period. The game starts from a well-worn IF trope: you awaken alone, with no memory of your identity. Then, Babel unfolds into a breathtaking, emotional story.

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- Kinetic Mouse Car, August 2, 2022

- beeeeeebop (Colorado, USA), November 23, 2021

- Jim Nelson (San Francisco), September 14, 2021

- Ruber Eaglenest, August 16, 2021

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
An IF game that deserves its classic status, August 16, 2021

I played Babel for the first time after a long break from Interactive Fiction.

A lot has been said about the game's story. Though I thought it went beyond the cliches that some reviewers have remarked on, it reminded me of a few other stories. The plot twist with the mirror is similar to (Spoiler - click to show)H.P. Lovecraft's "The Outsider", while the (Ant)arctic body-horror setting reminds me of John Carpenter's "The Thing."

Opinions on the prose are mixed: some say the writing is excellent, others call the characters flat. I've never really enjoyed the trend of dynamic character interactions in interactive fiction or video games, so I am biased toward the style of writing in the game and the way that it is separated from the game mechanics.

For the most part, I played the game without a walkthrough, but had some trouble toward the end in a guess-the-object puzzle toward the end (Spoiler - click to show) (acidifying the hinges rather than the cabinet itself).

One part of the game that stuck with me is the map. It is extremely well-designed. In most IF games I have trouble memorizing layouts, but Babel uses its directions in a reserved way. The left side of the map largely uses diagonal directions; the center of the map is largely vertical; the lab uses up and down directions.

This makes it very easy to memorize the game's layout, at least for me.

There is also something to be said for giving the player visceral choices. The fact that you can inject yourself as much as you want is satisfying, kind of like how jumping makes 3D video games better.

I also enjoyed freezing to death while trying to figure out whether you can interact with the concrete wall in any way. As far as I remember, you can't. Was that there just to troll the player?

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- Hellzon (Sweden), July 1, 2021

- Chin Kee Yong (Singapore), April 11, 2021

- Edo, January 9, 2021

- tekket (Česká Lípa, Czech Republic), December 26, 2020

- beecadee, November 14, 2020

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Would prefer more Interactive in my IF, October 26, 2020

(Very minor spoilers ahead)

Let me start off by saying, I love atmospheric horror. Running through post-disaster settings unlocking doors and solving puzzles brings me unreasonable amount of enjoyment. So based on the beginning of my playthrough, I was ready to LOVE this game.

However, as one review pointed out where this game falls flat as Interactive Fiction is the lack of interactivity with anything relating to the story. This game takes places in a pretty sterile environment. By that I mean, there are no enemies or other characters of any kind to interact with.

The puzzles are logical, but the only thing enticing the player to keep going throughout this backtracking fetch-quest are the chunks of story that play out like cutscenes any time you touch a glowing object. Which was fine at first, but the player never gets to meet or interact with any of the characters. Plus, I would wager anyone intelligent enough to make it through this game (or even Google a walkthrough) will see the big plot twist coming a mile away. There are no red herrings or tricks here, it's a pretty straightforward story about scientists pursuing science to their own demise.

On the positive side- the writing was solid, the parser understood me nine out of ten times, and I liked the atmosphere- even if it didn't feel "alive."

On the negative side- the ending left me feeling a bit bummed out. Without saying too much, it's a downer and there's nothing I could have done as a player to change it. I didn't feel like there was any revelation here, just marching my way tediously to the finish line.

I'd say Babel is worth a playthrough, just know what you're getting into.

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