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Border Zone

by Marc Blank

Espionage
1987

About the Story

Where the Iron Curtain divides East and West, the frontier is a no man's land between freedom and captivity, a place where moments lost or precautions not taken exact a toll in men's lives. In Border Zone, you cross this barrier not once, but three times, as three different characters in a fast-paced story of international intrigue.

The pulse-pounding tension of espionage is heightened by the addition of real time, which ticks on regardless of your actions. As you race against the clock to complete your missions, you'll find yourself caught up in a spine-tingling adventure that's far more suspenseful than any spy thriller you've ever read.

The story begins on the train to Litzenburg, a peaceful country just outside the Iron Curtain. In the border town of Ostnitz, Constitution Day festivities include a speech by the American ambassador. But plans are afoot to destabilize this key neutral territory by assassinating the diplomat. Speeding towards the border through the Eastern bloc country of Frobnia are an easy-going American businessman, an ambitious young American spy, and a ruthless KGB agent. All three are soon to be entangled in the assassination plot, their lives intertwining as each carries out his perilous assignment.

You'll see the story from three viewpoints, as you step into the shoes of a different major character in each of the three chapters of Border Zone. Set in separate locations on or near the border, the chapters are complete stories in themselves, each with its pwn riveting conclusion.

The on-line hints in Border Zone will help you out when you need it. But hints take you only so far. Even when you know exactly what to do, discretion and timing are crucial as you outwit the KGB, evade a snarling pack of search dogs, make a desperate assault on the border, and count down the moments to the assassination.

Border Zone was written by Marc Blank, a pioneer in interactive fiction and the author of such ground-breaking works as Zork and Deadline. In Border Zone, Marc takes the clever plotting and masterly prose of a top-notch thriller, brings it to life through interactive fiction, and intensifies the experience with the addition of real time.

So steel your nerves, and don't blow your cover, friend. You've a long way to go before you come in from the cold.


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG
All three chapters are played in real time. If you ponder your moves too long, the story may go on without you. This is both good and bad. The puzzles are generally the save/restore type; although they are generally logical and good, they are not the type that you are likely to hit on the first time. You have to learn from several failures before you hit on the correct strategy. This is fine for puzzle fans, but not so good for realism fans (you can't RESTORE in real life). However, the whole idea of doing the game in real time seems to be geared towards pleasing the realism fans, though this may not have been the best game to do it.
-- Graeme Cree
See the full review

Page Update History

v.8: 13-Apr-2013 14:21 - Zape (Current Version) - Edit Page - Normal View
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v.5: 11-Dec-2010 15:33 - Michael Roberts
v.4: 19-Dec-2009 22:09 - Eriorg
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v.3: 14-May-2008 20:50 - rickreynolds
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v.2: 20-Feb-2008 06:45 - Michael Martin
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v.1: 19-Feb-2008 19:42 - Emily Short
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