Gary Bedrosian continues to impress me as an artist. He is the author of Lords of Karma which was my favorite video game from 1978. Empire of the Overmind is his follow up and it may just be the best text adventure of the era. It is certainly head and shoulders above its peers in 1979.
Gary Bedrosian has crafted a story and setting which is completely unique when compared with its contemporaries. He has done away with the obligatory maze or treasure hunt which have both been text adventure staples. What you have instead is travel between worlds, romance, and an infernal villain to overcome. It all results in a rich experience and one to be savored.
There is so much in this game that is unique and different I don’t quite know where to start. All of the interactive adventures up to this point (the exception being Lords of Karma) have used north, south, east and west as compass directions. The author, instead of using compass points, once again throws convention out the window. In an attempt to create an even more immersive experience, you state where you want to go. For example one of the descriptions in the game reads like this:
You are on a high plateau above a cliff. You see a large red planet in the sky, a path, a mountain trail, a cave entrance, a steep cliff, and a peak towering overhead.
I may respond by typing: Go trail; or I may choose to Go cave; or instead I may try to Climb cliff as examples. This was hard for me to get used to at first because it breaks away from interactive adventure convention. However as the game progresses you find yourself carefully taking in your surroundings in order to plan your response.
The game does not always play the same way as well. Some of the objects you find on your quest are fixed objects but many others are randomly dispersed in different locations each time you play the game. When you perish, items in your inventory are randomly scattered throughout the game’s locations. If you do not want to start completely over than you’re going to have to find the items all over again. Veterans of Lords of Karma will recognize this particular game mechanic.
An epic poem on special card stock ships with each physical game. The poem is written rather well and plays an integral role in your success or failure in the game. You must study the poem carefully for clues to help you beat the game. There was something very gratifying about sitting up late at night and carefully perusing each line of the poem in order to glean some sort of clue. It added atmosphere and context for me and added to the immersive experience. In a different way however than the room descriptions and large book that came with the Temple of Apshai; published in that same year. It evoked a sense of high fantasy and added panache to the game and experience.
It evoked memories of the cloth maps which were shipped with the top tier CRPGs in later years.
The author’s choices he made both in game design and game mechanics were intentional and really resonated with me. I will do my best to try and explain my impression. When you can’t resort to compass directions to move about in the game; it forces you to really study your surroundings. A little more time, energy, and planning then also have to go into making a map. There were times where I would have to go back to the poem again and again and comb it for clues. When you find something within a passage that helps you to further your progress in the game or help solve a difficult dilemma it is exhilarating. All of these game choices help to transport you to “somewhere else”; become “someone else”. I am much older now but I can remember that sense of wonder and excitement when introduced to certain games as a teenager. I had that same feeling of wonder and excitement again; that feeling of immersion when playing this game. I have enjoyed the other text adventures from 1979 but they felt more like a mental exercise or a puzzle to be solved. Empire of the Overmind truly felt like an interactive adventure. There is a plot, a villain that feels real and threatening and the writing in the game is top notch.
1000 years ago there existed a pair of planets, blue and red, whose countenance could be seen in the evening skies of each planet.
The blue planet was ruled peacefully by the king Alcazar Rex with the help of four ministers: Gerald the Green, Rubin the Red, Byron the Blue, and Griffin the Gold.
Griffin was minister of the tax, and while the kingdom prospered, he worked constantly. One night, in a dream, he was spoken to by a dark angel. The angel spoke of a “tireless servant” in a “bright crystal city” in the form of a “smooth sphere of shining gold”.
Griffin found the city in his dream and located a golden sphere. Upon touching it, the golden sphere awoke:
I am Servant-Mind, to thee tireless slave.
The work of dull tasks forever I save.
Provide me the records kept in thy care;
Then I shall compute for each the fair share
Of taxes owed. Yet I can do much more:
Alcazar’s nation wastes goods by the score.
By my plans this will end. Thus shall it be,
If all confidence is given to me.
An evil awoke that night. The Servant-Mind gradually was given more and more information, and started to take over all the tasks of the kingdom.
Servant-Mind corrupted the ministers with false promises of power; as soon as the time was right, it declared itself Over-Mind and became a tyrant.
The Over-Mind summoned demons to protect itself and Alcazar Rex was unable to defeat them. The old king fled (via magical device) with his daughter to the red planet, where he built a tower and was able to live in safety.
With magical foresight, Alcazar cast a magic spell so his daughter would sleep, and the same for Griffin the Gold, now filled with regret. Griffin he put in a cave in order to be discovered by a stranger who would rescue the kingdom in 1000 years.
You of course are the stranger and the Over-Mind is a sentient object of abject evil. There is a little bit of John Carter of Mars here as you will find that you have to travel between the red and blue planets. Many of the locations on both planets are a little alike but at the same time alien from one another. It is a terrific feeling to read the descriptions and differences between both planets.
The game itself is very large and I spent much more time with this game than I did with any of the other interactive adventures from 1978 or 1979. Average playing time with the other titles was roughly three hours and I spent a good 14 or 15 hours with this one. I did not have to resort to any hints though I did not want to either. There are many locations to explore and a good 3 to 4 ACTS in the story. There is even a romantic twist to the story.
There is more than one ending or more than one way to defeat the Over-Mind. I found the ending to be very dramatic and tense yet highly pleasing. I’ve gotten more liberal with spoilers of late but I cannot bring myself to provide you with a complete walk through. I felt that this was much more than a “puzzle box” or an obligatory maze or treasure hunt to complete. If I were to give you a step by step solution I feel that it cheapens a product that deserves your attention. I will provide a screenshot of the end to prove that I was victorious here but I urge you to skip the picture below if you plan on playing this because it does contain a spoiler.
I still have a handful of games to complete from my 1979 list but this one was a pure standout. A gold medal winner. In a year which featured Akalabeth and the birth of the Ultima series, Temple of Apshai, the world of Eamon, Gary Bedrosian may have earned the top spot in 1979 as my Favorite Game of the Year for the second year in a row. If you are a fan of interactive fiction, or a game historian interested in playing games that might influence future games; you must place Empire of the OverMind on your list to play.
If anyone wants to talk about the game or add to my comments I’d love to hear from you. If you do decide to play the game and you need a gentle nudge in the right direction then I am here for you. I thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you and your family are safe during these Covid-times.