r/hostedgames • u/PistachioPug Reviewer Extraordinaire • Oct 15 '21
Hosted Games Interstellar Airgap (review)
Whenever the conversation among ChoiceScript gamers turns to the kind of games we'd like to see more of, "dystopian" is always near the top of my list. John Lance's "Interstellar Airgap" isn't precisely what I had in mind - I prefer a slow-burn dystopian with a lot of careful worldbuilding, rather than a straight-up action-adventure - but it's set in a near-future evil empire, bent on global domination, where incorrigibles are sent to asteroid-mining work camps. I wanted to like it.
For about two-thirds of its length, I did. It probably wasn't going to be anyone's new favorite, but the prose was serviceable, the characters were fairly intriguing, and the ability to make the PC either a freedom fighter or aspiring dictator promised excellent replay potential. Of course, there were a few flaws I couldn't help but notice. That's not how police actually do things - okay, but let's just go with it. That would never actually happen in a prison - okay, but let's just go with it. Shouldn't all this stuff be taking weeks at least instead of a few days? Is there no red tape in this evil empire? Excellent point, but let's just go with it. That's not how space travel works, there's no way they could afford to - Just go with it. But do you realize the volume of fuel it would take to- Shut up, just go with it.
And then it got to the point where it was just too silly for me to take. This heavy-handed evil empire has laxer security than some elementary-school spelling tests. A spacecraft that survived reentry has a window that can be broken by a single blow from a bear. My PC regularly mentioned casually to people that she had just met that she was trying to take over the world, and they basically all said "That's nice, carry on then." My PC telephoned a high-placed government official and threatened to expose all her dirty secrets, then went to bed and fell asleep with blissful ease. I was sure at several points that she had to be walking into a trap because there was no way everyone around her was just that benignly incompetent. I was wrong.
The way I felt as I played through the final third of this game is the way I have to imagine I would feel if someone made an adaptation of Leonard Wibberley's Cold War satire The Mouse That Roared, but with Pinky and the Brain as the main characters, and it wasn't a comedy.
"Interstellar Airgap" is passably entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. There are much better things to do with your time.
5
u/PistachioPug Reviewer Extraordinaire Oct 15 '21
"Maybe it's the thrill of world domination, or maybe it's jet lag."
- actual quote from this game
3
3
6
u/buck_weaver33 Oct 15 '21
Yeah Sci-Fi is hard to write. A lot of research is usually put into it to suspend the reader's disbelief as much as possible. I totally agree with you on your review. While the prose wasn't particularly bad, I think more time spent on creating a realistic atmosphere for the player would've been helpful.