malkav11

I've started playing through the Interactive Fiction Competition 2005 entries so as to hopefully submit ratings as a judge. The three I've done so far are something of a mixed bag, to say the least. One showed potential but wasn't precisely polished or engaging. One was among my favorite IF works to date. And one I will specifically mention by name because of how hilariously wrong it went in design: Jesus of Nazareth. It appears to have been developed as one of those oh-so-earnest Christian games, with you controlling Jesus and spouting scripture to your soon-to-be-disciples in an attempt to convert them to your cause. The part that I think rather breaks the whole thing is the MUD-style combat sequences, where you can kill any of the Romans, and, provided you're using the right weapon, many of your friends and disciples. Or get killed, because the results are random. There's a bunch of other stuff, but Jesus the rampaging homicidal maniac is funny enough for me.