DESERT HEAT by Papillon (2000)
TADS
Reviewed by Eric Mayer
Here's a game for the puzzle-challenged player like me -- a choose your own adventure!
This was the game I played second in Comp 2000, after AD VERBUM, and maybe I would've been
warmed up and enjoyed AD VERBUM more if I'd started with this instead. Actually
"warmed up" may be a poor choice of words since this is also, as the author
describes it "female-written semi-erotica." I missed the
"female-written" first time around and was going to criticize the story for
being a not very credible male fantasy. In short, you are "Aika Sabakan, a free woman
of high social class, and no one can force you to do anything against your will." You
don't need any spoilers to figure out where that's headed, right?
So what do I know? Maybe women want to be chained up and raped by brutish strangers (well,
that's more or less the idea but it is pretty soft core). Someplace deep down in the
depths of the piggish male id that probably sounds good in theory, if the id theorizes,
but my brain doesn't buy it even if a woman did write it. (Besides, I have learned from
playing Robb Sherwin games that women are more likely to be bitch goddesses who will rip
your head off or wait, did I learn that from life?)
Anyway, I'm not saying the idea couldn't work. I recall a fantasy series years ago, ATLAN
by Jane Gaskell, which concentrated heavily on the female protag's travails, so to speak.
But there was also more to the books. Obviously, they were longer than a short IF game
would be and I suspect any writer would need to do a lot more character
developing than there's room for in a game of DESERT HEAT's size to get the reader to buy
into the idea. Otherwise you've got a cartoon and who's really going to get worked up over
Minnie Mouse? (Stop right there. I most definitely don't want to know!) But then again,
I've never been one for erotic writings. I found D. H. Lawrence's "John Thomas"
and "Lady Jane" stuff pretty silly.
As for the CYOA aspect it struck me as an excuse to find the naughty bits (but that's
probably just me). There is some story and I'll give it this -- a lot of
different endings. CYOA, though, gives me fits. When faced with two or three choices I
tend to want to save and try one choice then go back and try another, exploring the
branches bit by bit rather than playing straight through the whole story and then trying
again. My method probably does a disservice to the stories. Anyway I didn't want to spank
the writer too hard.
Score 4