Webmaster Review

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Webmaster

Review by Orb

Webmaster is not your run-of-the-mill kinda game. It’s built using its own rules and combines elements that are very unusual, including a system of movement that’s the first like it I’ve seen, as well as arcade sequences to acquire inventory items. Now, I hope that has not scared you off, because although it is different, it’s fun different, not “don’t make me eat that, mom” different.

The title of the game gives it much more of a utilitarian or edutainment air than actually exists with the game. Although the game is couched in terms from the Internet, the developers have designed their own world using a few of the symbols and terminology from the Internet, but that’s about it. This is not something that is a tool to teach children what the Internet is, or how to use it, but rather it’s a lighthearted fantasy game, built in its own world.

The story is that there was once a place within the World Wide Web called the Dream Wide Web (DWW). This place was an oasis until one day a Hacker came and destroyed the tranquility. The residents need a Webmaster (that’s you, bub) to come and fight the Hacker and restore peace to their land. The game is started at your Homepage, a house inside a tree. The story is told in complete abstracts, and for the gamer that thinks she has seen everything and is jaded by it all, this is worth a whirl as it is very obviously designed based on fresh and new ideas.

There are also characters called Getties, which are tiny, fuzzy light creatures that fly around throughout the game and are used to great effect in a variety of entertaining arcade games that are found throughout.

The environments of the game are fun, and they are very cleverly drawn in a whimsical style. The screens are static—the player cannot move about them and click on things, except in a very controlled fashion. The movement is very unusual and actually quite frustrating until you get the hang of it. The player must hold the mouse down, and while holding it down, drag it forward to move to another location, either within that game area or to move to another one.  There are no keyboard controls. It’s the weirdest interface I’ve ever seen. Not bad, just weird. One drawback to this is that the game docs do not adequately explain this movement system, and it really should be gone over, as it is singular to this game.  Another unfortunate aspect is that the graphics are a bit grainy despite the quality of the style of design.

As for puzzles, the player collects cards, which are stored as inventory in the bottom left of the game screen. There are four separate levels that have areas to be explored, and these can only be accessed by passing though a room called a “Firewall.”  Cards must be used correctly here or the player cannot pass and continue. Once through an area, all areas of the game the player has passed through remain open to return to as she likes.

There is also a series of games that can be played to increase the amount of cards or get a particular card that is needed to complete a level. I found all of these, with the exception of one, very entertaining. The exception was an arcade sequence where the player must bat a Getty back through a series of screens to a back wall, where the Gettie drops his card. This was next to impossible to do on a laptop with a trackpad because of the click-hold-drag style of the interface.

Another unusual aspect of the game, and really something that is a design highlight, is that the player is given not only a saving system with unlimited saves, but also a bank of screens across his options screen (called a Navigator) that allow him to save whichever game areas he likes, so he can quickly travel back and forth among them. This is an extremely useful tool, as there are multiple locations to travel between while collecting cards.

The music is very lighthearted and fun, and the sound effects used with the Getties are a hoot. Other sound effects are appropriate and amusing.

There are three different levels of gameplay, and the increase in difficulties includes getting attacked by viruses and using the correct set of collected cards to handle them. There are three of these throughout the game.

The endgame is a small cutscene that is a nice bit of animation as a reward for successfully completing the game. The player is also given the opportunity to continue the game online once the game is completed successfully and is given a password to access this area.

Webmaster is a clever and different game, offering a bright design and entertaining gameplay. If you’re looking for something new and different, definitely give it a whirl. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Ijsfontein Interactive Media Publisher: Tivola Release Date: 1999 Photosensitive Seizure Factor: medium

Available for: Macintosh Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

PC: Windows 95/98 Pentium 150 MHz 32 MB RAM Graphics card with 256 colors Sound card 12X CD-ROM drive

Macintosh: Power PC 150 MHz 32 MB RAM 12X CD-ROM drive System 7.5

Where to Find It

Check the Game TZ

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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