Robinson’s requiem
In the future mankind has finally reached out into the great unknown of space, unfortunately it’s a big place and they need a way to eplore. Some individuals who are dangerous to society are sent on far away missions to explore new planets, these people are known as Robinsons. Unknown to them their ships are often sabotaged so their return is unlikely. Now you are one of the Robinsons and you crashland on an unknown planet. There is a way off the planet and but will need the help of a telepathic woman on the planet as much as she needs you to escape.
The gameplay is very free and you can do whatever you want, walk around, take a swim, or collect some items. There are ofcourse the indigenous lifeforms as well as other aliens, most of whom aren’t very friendly. You can fight using fists but sometimes they drop weapons which you can use or you can even fashion some of your own. Combine a stick with some rope and you’ll soon have a bow, later on you’ll get access to more advanced weaponry. They are no luxury as you’ll encounter hostilities around every corner from werewolves to eyepicking owls. You will need to watch your health as well because there are a variety of diseased you can pick up, swimming in cold weather for instance is bound to lead to illness. Some of the plants you find can also heal you but since you know nothing about the planet it’s often a case of trial and error (resulting in death). Some nasty diseases need more drastic measures like a gangrenous limb which will need to be amputated before you die of the infection.
The backgrounds are rendered with voxels unlike the more traditional polygons, they give a more organic look to the surroundings but up close they are terribly pixallated. Characters are drawn using regular sprites so they don’t move as fluidly but are more detailed. Don’t expect much in the form of music and there are some effects but nothing really special at all.
The interface is quite detailed with a lot of time spend on the health indicators and the game keeps tracks of many of them. Your heart rate, temperature, food and fitness levels are all taken into account during the game. You will need to watch them as well because going too long without sleep or food is likely to lead to your demise.
There are some nice touch in the game like amputating your own limbs (if you can call that nice) and the fact that you can walk around blind if a bird picks out your eyes. The emphasis on realism is quite high and the freeroaming type of gameplay was rarely used when this game was released. It does lead to some issues like trial and error gameplay and just walking around can be real boring. The good points outweigh the bad ones though and if you’re looking for an adventure/rpg that’s fairly different from the others then this is the game for you.
Overal rating: 8/10
This game was released for several different systems here are some notes:
| Amiga | Released in 1994. The graphics are not close to the DOS version as the screen is a lot smaller. The AGA version, which is the one available here, is somewhat better but still not very good. |
| Atari ST | Released in 1994. This is the worst version of the lot, I don’t recommend it. |
| DOS | Released in 1994. This version is the best and should be your choice if you really want to play the game. The game is still for sale at GOG so if you want it you should buy it there. |
| Others | These versions are not available. 3DO released in 1996. Mac released in 1994. |
| Date added | Feb-25-2011 23:12 |
| Name | Robinson’s requiem |
| Developer | Silmarils |
| Publisher | Readysoft |
| First released | 1994 |
| Genre | Action |
