Rebirth: The Uprising by jojoisjo

Title Screen

This month's MTP was not difficult to decide. jojoisjo's Rebirth: The Uprising outshone all other games uploaded in December by a great degree ... it has, in fact, been awarded the Gold MTP for MadTom's Pick of the Year.

In the land of Wes, the gods are mortal beings who are replaced every 2000 years by newer, younger gods. This ceremony is known as Rebirth, and it is shrouded in mystery.

The Gods

Battle Scene

Among normal mortals, there is a growing movement called the Order of the Machine, which, lead by the maniacal figure of Rasonik, aims to eliminate the gods from human existence and replace them with technology and machinery. Doesn't sound too bad, until we are informed of Rasonik's plot to destroy the gods and take over the world to achieve this end.

This refreshingly original plot is one of the game's main recommending assets. Throughout the course of the two files your character changes perspective between a scientist of the Order of the Machine, a town rogue who has sworn to help him, and a friend of the scientist who joins Rasonik's army.

me 'n' mah budz `v^

Camping Site

The game begins well with an obviously Herculean title screen (extra brownie points, Herc!), and progresses into other reasonable graphical merit, though nothing as spectacular as seen in the Operation: GAMMA VELORUM series.

The most impressive component of the game is the 'skills' system. Each character has one or more skills they are able to activate by certain combinations of movement ... "focusing" one's energy, for example, requires moving quickly in a full clockwise circle. The skills are used both for combat and to solve some simple yet effective puzzles.

There are a few art boards - though not enough, judging by jojoisjo's apparent drawing ability - and the best music seen thus far in MadTom's Pick. jojoisjo's reputation as a ZZT musician is deserved; while the music was all only one track, it was listenable and appropriate.

Devon Dragged Off

Despite the rather poor spelling and grammar, the dialogue and narrative style are quite well executed. The game is, however, very buggy at present (02/01/03) and I hope jojoisjo gets around to correcting some of these problems. The boards at the end of File Two are completely garbled and make for anticlimactic confusion just before the game concludes.

A spectacular game that deserves its award of Game of the Year. Congratulations, jojoisjo!

9 / 10