This illustrated text adventure came casts the player as sole heir to an eccentric uncle's entire estate-which consists, for the most part, of a broken-down storefront, some useless antiques, and a mysterious journal hinting at a gateway to another world.
Although it's translated from the old user-unfriendly computer systems, Pryority has done a fairly good job of adapting Gateway to the Mac's way of doing things. Movement can he accomplished either by typing in the first letter of the direction (U for up, N for North) or by clicking the mouse over the corresponding letter on a small compass in a corner of the screen. A special Panic Button in the middle of the compass saves the game in progress and puts a non functioning spreadsheet up on the screen, in case your boss walks in. Pull down windows are used to save or restore the game, inventory items, check on your character s condition, or access the on-line Help feature.
The Help feature is a boon to novice and veteran Macventurers alike. A dialog box lets the player mark the part of the game giving trouble, then request subtle, not-so-subtle, or outright answer hints. Just accessing the Hint box costs a point each time, and hints cost from ten to thirty points apiece, depending on their difficulty. Still, it's nice to have everything you'll need in one package, without having to shell out more money — or break down and call the company — to sidestep a seemingly impossibie situation.
The game is played by typing sentences like OPEN DOOR in with the keyboard, with the computer printing out its response on the screen. Nicely drawn, high resolution pictures illustrate key points in the game, The disk is packaged with several items of interest a letter from Uncle Bertrand's lawyer, a note from Bertrand himself (with intentional "water damage” obscuring key information), a well documented instruction book and three color illustrations. Don't lose these pictures, since they contain key visual information not contained in the game's text. Without carefully looking at the picture called "South Basement." for example, you'll never find the gateway, no matter how often you "look" or "examine."
The text in Gateways rich and humorous, although the solutions to some puzzles suspend logic so completely that it's almost impossible to solve the adventure with getting at least a few hints. Still, it's better than the average illustrated adventure in terms of both text and graphics. If you like adventure games, this one will draw you in — if for no other reason than to find out the secret of the castle on the lake.
Forman Hines, Tracie. (October 1985). Gateway. MacUser. (pg. 30).
Pryority Software
Games
out of 10 (1 vote)
68 / 
2014-04-14 / 
59dd43f7b03398e425f337d39a7d65921c9d7138 / 
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gateway_without_docs.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Mini vMac
