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From: dseybert@telerama.lm.com (Dave Seybert)
Subject: Lost New York - A Review
Date: 02 Apr 1996 13:24:45 +0000
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I1ve always been enthralled with American history circa 1880 through
1910.  It was a period of tremendous change as we truly began to define
ourselves industrially, technologically and socially.  All those elements
and much, much more are present in Neil DeMause1s 3Lost New York, one of
the best games I1ve played in recent years, period.

You start the game stranded on Liberty Island, with no apparent way off (a
fact which seems to bother the other people on the island not at all). 
After the initial wandering around (including a wonderful mood setting
speech by an old man gazing at the New York skyline) you escape the island
by travelling back in time to old New York (it1s never really spelled out
but I1d put it about 1880).  It1s here the game shifts into high gear with
moody, atmospheric writing that captures the sights, sounds, growth, decay
and despair of a city alternately growing and destroying itself at the
same time.

We meet quite a few people in 3Lost New York, most of them either
society1s predators or prey.  Vendors, panhandlers, cheap thugs, gruff,
shady bartenders, harsh gatekeepers all make their presence felt as you
interact with them to move ahead in the game.

We also visit quite a few locations and time periods, one of which had a
surprising effect on my daughter. When she realized that, at one point,
that she would be unable to save a character in the game, she became
obsessed with finishing it, trying to make things right.  In short, the
game clicked with her on an emotional level as well as intellectual,
something I see happen all too rarely in anything.  Truth to tell, the
same thing happened to me.

The theme of social responsibility runs all through 3Lost New York and
it1s fascinating to see how Neil expands upon this theme without
sacrificing playability or our enjoyment of the game.  By drawing us into
his social consciousness, we become more and involved with the game and,
finally feel a deep sense of satisfaction upon completion.  Most games
utilize greed or self preservation as their motivating force.  3Lost New
York appeals to our better nature, giving us the tools to create a better
world (well, at least a city) and challenging us to use them.

The puzzles were, for the most part, fair and logical.  In Neil Demause
fiction the old adage 3look at everything, open everything, take
everything is especially true.  Ignoring one item contained in the room
description can lead to long periods of roaming around the game in a state
of some frustration.  

Will most people like 3Lost New York.  I don1t know. It1s a little off
the beaten track for most people and I wonder how interested most people
will be in the vast amounts of history presented in the early sections of
the game.  For me that was one of the game1s strengths, immersing me in a
new world based solidly on actual events.  3Lost New York makes solid use
of the old cliche 3it informs as it entertains. More precisely, it puts
us solidly in a world gone by and makes us care about what happens in it. 


I can1t recommend this game highly enough.
