Colossal Cave review -- Back to basics
Colossal Cave Adventure was a 1976 text-based adventure game developed by Will Crowther then later expanded by Don Woods. In the game, players would type in commands to explore a massive cave system and find treasure. It's the first widely known adventure game, with its only predecessor achieving nowhere near as much renown. This adventure has quite the legacy, and was even the title to inspire industry legend Roberta Williams, to get into game development. Now, she and her husband Ken are making their grand return with a full 3D remake of the game that started it all.
Colossal Cave begins by placing you next to a small shed in a forest. There are a few items to grab inside, and your goal is to bring all 15 treasures in the cave back here for a full score of 350 points. In lieu of a text parser, you have two actions you can cycle through by right clicking: look and use. You can look at both specific items and objects as well as your general environment. Whatever you look at will trigger a pleasing narration describing the situation just like the original text adventure would. The narrator will also chime in occasionally to warn you of dangers like a dragon or a long fall. The use action, represented by a hand, covers any interactions with the environment like climbing a ladder, picking up items, and more. It's a great way to simplify everything you could do in the original game, while keeping the breadth of abilities for puzzle solving.
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Colossal Cave is a fascinating game, and this modern remake brings the wonder of a text adventure to life in full 3D. It's streamlined with a few updates, while still keeping the spirit of the original. The game has more than a few issues, but is well worth playing for a magical adventure.
Score: 80/100
