Robert Lafore had received an honorable mention from me for his game Two Heads of the Same Coin which was published in 1979. The entire plot of that game progresses through conversation between the characters and the setting takes place in just one room. It had broken the interactive fiction conventions of that time period.
Robert Lafore is back in 1980 with His Majesty’s Ship Impetuous which is a nod to author C.S. Forester’s Horblower saga.
In this game you play the role of the captain of the Impetuous during a time of war with France and Spain. It reads very much like a choose-your-own-adventure story. The writing is top notch and the story presents you with one hell of an ethical dilemma as well as a couple of difficult choices which greatly affect the story outcome.
The game gives the illusion of complete interaction but in reality it is searching for key words. Your written response may be brief or verbose but certain key words are interpreted the exact same way.
The story holds your interest and the player is prompted to respond to specific situations as they arise. There is an ethical dilemma you’ll have to tackle in this story and the decision is not easily made. I actually played the game more than once and chose differently each time to see how my choices would affect the story.
The player also has to choose who to promote to the position of Lieutenant. Your choices are Lt. Beagle who is fiercely loyal but a bit green in battle or Lt. Wiley who is very good in combat but wants your job or to maul you for supper. Your choice of who you promote has serious ramifications on the story outcome as it progresses.
There are seven total chapters that make up the story and the denouement is when your character finally meets with Admiral Wormwood to review your career. Then you’re involved in a large naval battle. Once again I played the game more than once because I wanted to see what the outcome would be based on my decisions in the battle. I found the experiment worth my time because the resultant endings were both very different.
This game plays more like a short story or choose-your-own adventure. The writing is well done and the choices you have to make in the game present quite a quandary. There are smaller, less significant prompts which you have to respond to that affect crew morale. There are also at least four major decisions that need to be made at various points which greatly impact story outcome. The writing by Lafore is top notch and a clear tip of the cap to author C.S. Forester. The game took me about forty five minutes to an hour to complete. It has been a pleasure to experience Lafore’s very different and unique contribution to this medium.
Ah, what to do with the mutineers at the island? The dilemma that shapes the whole rest of the game! I remember this one well and really enjoyed it – thanks for your insightful and enjoyable piece, and for reminding people of this great game’s place in the history of text adventures.
Noah thank you for visiting the site and your posts. I always look forward to contributions and feedback from you, William, and others. Please spread the word as I’m trying to build a community here as well.
Thanks for the note! Sure I’ll try to spread the word. I belong to a number of old school table-top RPG groups on Facebook and will start by posting in those.