August 18, 1999 Web posted at: 10:17 a.m. EDT (1417 GMT) by Buck DeFore

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INTERACTIVE:

(IDG) -- No matter how much the glorified action and strategy realms trumpet their success, the fact is, it's the dwindling adventure milieu that hosts the best-selling computer game in history.

Myst has its pundits on either opinionated extremes, but its influence--good or bad--cannot be denied. Following a primitive postcard-style of progression, your character moved along in pursuit of the now infamous "blue pages," usually without any sense of what to do next. The graphics turned heads, but the choking gameplay left an aftertaste of frustration.

Since then we've seen the first-person graphical-adventure chassis take some positive, evolutionary steps. Zork Nemesis endowed each stopping point with a panoramic (360-degree) view, while also introducing a worthwhile story. Inventory interaction was downplayed much to the disgrace of loyal adventurers, but it was nonetheless an entertaining experience. And yet it's one that's surprisingly been a dead end in gaming history.

But that's about to change.

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The French idolize their cartoonists in a way that's hard for Americans to comprehend. If it seems a bit unusual that one such hero, Benoit Sokal, has produced a computer game, chalk it up to culture clash. But don't be too quick to ignore the end result.

I'm not familiar enough with Sokal's work to say how faithful the game is to the strip, but I think I can rest assured that you aren't, either. In any case, the digital world of Amerzone has a distinctly foreign feel to its atmosphere. Consider it a storytelling marriage of Louis Malle and James Michener's oceanic narratives. It should be of no surprise to anyone to see the traditional French touches of café music and people riding bicycles.

And true to the unspoken French code of game development, your character is ready to volunteer his life's effort to repair even the slightest wrong--even if that means transporting an egg of a dying bird species back to its indigenous homeland.

Stumbling across the journal of a dying man who implores you to continue his cause, you uncover the intricacies of a paradise lost named Amerzone. The birds you discover are anything but normal: as it turns out, they're a fabled species that lives its entire life in the air. It's a pretty low-key plot compared to standard gaming tales, but it's also refreshingly new, and it gradually unravels hints that reveal more and more of the puzzle.

Technologically, Amerzone has pushed freedom of control a step past Nemesis, giving you both 360-degree horizontal and 180-degree vertical views. Every so often a rat will scurry by or a bird will fly overhead, further fleshing out the ambience.

One problem that I wish could be resolved before the game's October U.S. release (Amerzone is already available in Europe) is an uncomfortable delay between the actions of your mouse and the subsequent action on screen. Otherwise, I expect each of the locales to be even more enveloping than those in the game's aforementioned precursors.

Is it multiplayer? No. Is it 3D-accelerated? Nah. For some, these two points may relegate Amerzone to secondary status, but its impeccable timing and sense of discovery offer a welcome alternative to the genre-mashing that is all the trend of late.