Well, I guess I'm either a moron, or just... a moron, because I've been ZZTing since April 1998, and despite hearing its name MANY times before, I never bothered to touch the funky Monthigos Adventure/RPG known as Sivion... well, now that I have, you can slap my ass and call me "Spanky", because after all those years of ignorance, I've discovered something that's as old as Dole and plays like Clinton...
Now, before you start judging the game, let me restate the magic number on Sivion's title screen; 1995. Back then, dinosaurs ruled, Gutenberg had just invented the Bible, and being a terrorist meant threatening to steal your neighbor's donkey's genitals. Graphics weren't exactly Dutchy-keen, and WiLLy VaniLLi was yet to come around to attempt to program paradise... don't even bother mentioning the car, all the ZZT world had was the wheel. Despite all that, Sivion manages to use Ms. Ja(ck,n)son's colors extremely well; boulders background rooms similar to many-an-IF/Knightt-game, simple-yet-purdy shades show off caves, fields, and humorless desert, and it's pretty easy to tell what's a house and what's a shark (no worries, drac0, you can see 'em just as well stoned and/or drunk!)... while enemies (other than the pre-programmed ones, of course) carry out code smoothly and almost bug-free... throw a few degree symbols at 'em, n' they'll vanish sooner than you can say "I can't believe I actually downloaded a GOOD game, for once..."! Monthigos also set flags without fault, as well as "/i"s in character dialogue.
Keep your eyes peeled, kids, it's time to cover storyline! Sivion's text is cliched, full of bad jokes (I'm sure you don't mind them, though, since you've read this far), and it annoyingly scrolls at the bottom of the player screen... however, at the same time, it's enough to hold interest and attention. Genies, kings, wizards, libraries... nice, but a few owls and crystals that secretly keep the world alive would help.
And, now, the recommendations... if you're a Leamas fan (LOME, Thief 3... especially LOME) like me, take a look. The old man's just as good as the little boy, babe.
