♦ Blind Playthrough of the ZZT world "Great Pyramid of ZZT" by David Newton (2001) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/gtpyrmid/] ♦
Howdy folks! I managed to fall very behind with the next Closer Look article thanks to the previous one already taking longer than normal to complete, combined with a kitchen disaster when the garbage disposal was discovered to be leaking all over beneath the sink which has taken several days to get back in working order. (It's _still_ dripping slowly when running the faucet for more than a minute or so.) So it's once again time to sheepishly play and record my thoughts on a game live in order to get a buffer back.
Last time I checked out "Tower of ZZT", the first in a trilogy of retro-ZZT worlds. This time, it's the sequel Great Pyramid of ZZT.
This one is a bit of a mixed bag. For the good, the game once again delivers what it promises, a mixture of classic ZZT action screens focused on shooting zoo animals, blended with a few puzzles to add in some variety and perhaps even stump players. It follows Tower with the player hiding from pursuers by entering the pyramid, only to get lost and need to find a way out. As always, that requires finding five purple keys with a central hub to work from.
Despite its retro leanings, David found himself beholden to the rules of ZZT archive z2 where the game was to be uploaded, which mandated the use of extended colors via STK. Not wanting to lose the feel of a game from 1991, he went so far as to include to copies of the game, with the original intended graphics and with enhanced visuals to satisfy z2's staff. I opted for the STK version to see how much of a difference it could make in a game like this. I think he did a nice job of it, keeping everything nice and bright, mostly just replacing large swaths of normal walls for backgrounds with softer fades to dark colors. The gameplay is otherwise identical, though in rare instances water as shading can allow bullets to travel over what would be impassible wall in the non-STK version.
The first puzzle I encountered was rather clever, a seemingly impossible slider puzzle that required thinking a bit outside the box, or outside the room at least. The action is well paced with a variety of layouts that often take place in dark rooms to force players to either shoot into the darkness and hope they hit something or let the monsters get in close enough that you can see them in torch-light.
It is at the very least, free of any bugs unlike Tower where a missing board connection prevents the game from being properly completed.
The action side of things isn't bad, though even as a retro game, one can only get so excited about shooting ruffians. Action is an essential component, but requires a bit of spice with puzzle boards to break things up. Still, David tries, even experimenting with an expanded roster of creatures in the form of the (unnamed in gameplay) mummy enemy, which looks like a centipede head, acts like a lion, and takes two shots to be defeated with its wrappings unraveling a bit after the first shot (turning into a beta character). They can add a little bit of extra challenge, while still being manageable. And while a creature taking two shots to defeat is unheard of in ZZT's canon bestiary, this feels like a believable implementation had Sweeney done so. (Though when I looked up their name, I can see the object is also supposed to shoot at players and fails to do so due to using "flow" as a direction without ever using "#walk" to specify a direction first.)
A few aren't much to write home about. The "Centipede's Lair" is a very generously spaced invisible maze with a few lengthy centipedes protecting a purple key. It's far too little to ask players for such an important reward. I suspect David was (rightfully) aware of the disdain ZZTers had to invisible mazes, and opted for a room where they would provide little obstruction and never cause players to be trapped between an unseen wall and an approaching centipede. The "Lost" room plays with the board's exits connecting to itself, guiding players to switches that open doors if they can find out how to reach them, all while dealing with enemies. These rooms are connected via narrow hallways that make it easy to shoot before entering rooms, letting most areas be pacified before players step inside. A good idea with mediocre execution.
Other non-creature focused action screens are probably the highlight of the game. "The Gauntlet Mark ][" takes the path to Town's castle and increases the difficulty. The final key is deliberately inaccessible until the first four are recovered, extending the concept even further with creatures, spinning guns, blink walls, boulders for obstructing their rays, and some switches to move walls around. If the rest of the game was on par with this, I'd be more excited about it.
Aside from the first puzzle I encountered, the rest just didn't play as well as I had hoped. A imposing looking maze of keys and doors looks like it would fit right in with other ZZT puzzle games like Winter, Ana, or Monster Zoo, until you start opening locks and realizing that there are almost no actual choices to make. You might think this is just the author not wanting players to become stuck and have to load a save, or potentially start over, but several other screens are happy to warn players to save lest they become stuck permanently. Other puzzles include a dark transporter maze that is quickly conquered. This is followed by a more original, though certainly fitting logic puzzle in ZZT to determine the order playing card suits need to be arranged in using clues to logically deduce the answer.
It's not bad, it just feels very low stakes and the presentation just isn't there compared to what you'd see in Town or most fan-made ZZT worlds.
As with Tower, it's rather short as well, making it more of a small treat for seasoned adventurers rather than something to really dig into like one does their first time through Sweeney's creations. The Cliff Notes of ZZT may be a more apt title here.
While Tower is indeed an excellent way for those who have played the original ZZT worlds too many times for them to feature much in the way of challenge, Great Pyramid suffers from being a bit too easy for my tastes. Those who want more "of ZZT" games are likely to get through it quickly. It's more like a Town of ZZT Jr., taking the style of the original worlds and making it something that a wide audience can get through on their first try. As a part of a trilogy, it looks to be the weakest, but it is stronger thanks to its adjacent games. The trilogy as a whole is well worth you time, as the 3rd game "Castle of ZZT" is a fantastic way to wrap up the series that makes the whole thing worth it. This is a just an extra step along the way that won't leave you miserable, and will entertain, but doesn't really capture what made Town and Dungeons so appealing that people would continue to demand more games like it a decade later.
♦ Play this world directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/gtpyrmid/
♦ Originally streamed on November 13th, 2024 ♦
