Zork: Grand Inquisitor (1997) (VG)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Laird M. Malamed

Writer:

Margaret Stohl (writer)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Magic | Full Motion Video | Sequel | Dark Comedy | Dictatorship

Cast

Erick Avari	...	Mir Yannick, the Grand Inquisitor
Dirk Benedict	...	Antharia Jack
Rip Taylor	...	Chief Undersecretary Wartle
Amy D. Jacobson	...	Lucy Flathead
Oliver Muirhead	...	Inquisition Guard
Earl Schuman	...	Old Inquisition Guard / Bartender
Jordana Capra	...	Y'Gael, Lost Enchantress of the Empire
Donald Gibb	...	Floyd the Bouncer (as Don Gibb)
Douglas Carrigan	...	Totemization Inspector
Michael McKean	...	Dalboz of Gurth, the Dungeon Master (voice)
David L. Lander	...	Voice of the Inquisition / Bickering Torch (voice)
Marty Ingels	...	Griff (voice)
Earl Boen	...	Brog / Sea Captain (voice)
Roger Rose	...	Marvin the Mythical Goatfish (voice)
Chick Vennera	...	Hades Beast / House Alarm (voice)
Diane Pershing	...	Fishmarket Lady / Shona (voice)
Leigh French	...	Pop Rocks Warning / Spell Checker (voice)
Val Bettin	...	Sneffle / Flickering Torch (voice)
Philip L. Clarke	...	Belboz / Perils of Magic Voice (voice)
Donavan Freberg	...	The Six-Armed-Invisible-Bridge-Guy / Doug (voice)

Directed by
Laird M. Malamed

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Margaret Stohl		writer

Produced by
Christian Astillero	....	associate producer
Huisok Pyon	....	associate producer
Yasmin Salas	....	associate producer
Elizabeth Storz	....	producer
Marc Struhl	....	associate producer

Original Music by
John Beal

Sound Department
Gregory Hainer	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gregory Hainer	....	supervising sound designer
Kris Zimmerman	....	director: voiceover

Visual Effects by
Timothy Hoffman	....	digital artist

Animation Department
William Mings	....	senior animator: Pyros Pictures

Other crew
Chris Hepburn	....	video studio manager
Michael Schwartz	....	audio studio manager

Production Companies

• Activision

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company:

Activision

Quotes:

Antharia Jack: Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Movie Connections:

Follows Zork Zero (1988) (VG)

An Exercise in Wonder and Adventure

Zork Grand Inquisitor is without a doubt the best adventure game ever. If you played the old text versions of Zork, then you will want this game. If you haven't, there is still a lot here to enjoy. The story picks up sometime after magic was banned by the Grand Inquisitor (who insanely says "I am the Boss of YOU.") You eventually meet up with a magician who has been placed into a lantern and off you go to the Great Underground Empire.

The game itself is full of wonder, humor and clever puzzles. The music adds a lot to the locations and brings a sense of wonder to them. You really feel a part of what is going on. The humor is outstanding. There are several pop culture references that you will catch and there are some slapstick jokes. The humor can be best described as a Monty Python/ Saturday Night Live / Mystery Science Theater 3000 type of humor. The puzzles, at times obscure, are always rewarding when you complete them.

Without giving too much away, you will find many moments of awe (humor wise.) There is the talking door, the funny "singing spell names", and listen for David Lander (Squiggy) doing voiceovers for two different characters.

The DVD version is nice to have. First of all, it keeps the game on one disk. However, it has very strict requirements on DVD decoders. If you don't have one of the 4 it lists, the game will play in normal mode. It is hard to find these decoders now days. However, receiving Zork Nemesis with this is a big plus!

This is one game everyone should own.