Well, come on in . . . TO THE MIST! Check out archive.org/Stephen_Kings_The_Mist_1985, which is a text based game (remember Zork?)
This is also a time warp back to the sweet year of 1985. That doesn't seem so long ago -- does it? I am a huge fan of internet archive, which not only has some old games, television shows and movies, but lots of vintage radio shows.
Anyway -- jump on in to the Mist. . .
The game notes are from my friend Chris Calderon.
Some differences between the game and novella:
As in both book and film, the player is given the part of David Drayton, however, Norton is nowhere to be seen, and Billy has apparently been left "in the care of Mr. Eagleton", "somewhere safe". The Eagleton character doesn't appear in either book or film.
Mrs. Carmody and Mrs. Reppler are present, however unlike the book or film, the other shopper immediately form a cult around her the instant the mist strikes, we're talking like no more than a second after. You apparently can't either restrain or take out Mrs. Carmody like in the book. All the happens is time is wasted and after a certain number of turns, the crowd feeds you to the mist. Would you like to try again?
Mr. McVey the butcher is nowhere to be found.
The encounter with Norm the Bag Boy goes very differently.
Ollie is there, however he pretty unhelpful, and far from the picture of calm confidence in both of the other incarnations. This version just sits and panics.
Surprisingly, the game does bear a similarity to the movie in that both offer an explanation for the Mist. In the film, this info is alluded to by a doomed Army MP. In the game, a notebook belonging to an Arrowhead Project employee is discovered lying in a dumpster, however never encounters this character in person.
Now for the real scary part, THE GAME FORCES YOU TO GO OUT INTO THE MIST!
Players are going to need to read Gaming after 40's article about the text adventure. It presents a lot of essential info for playing the game, and is the closest to a manual players are likely to get. A link for Gaming after 40 can be found here:
Has anybody managed to reach the end of the game?
ReplyDeleteI keep have to literally stop myself and go back to the beginning because I always manage to forget some important detail like the salt.
It took me three times before I even thought to try the door to the manager's office.
ChrisC