Classic Game Review: The Alpine Meet

The Alpine Encounter is a graphic adventure game, the first in the IBIDS VODAC Adventure Series. Some background information, as well as a telegram from his boss, Freedman, await him when he opens the box.

You learn that two people broke into the Imperial Museum in Beijing and stole a vase dating from the early Ming dynasty. Meanwhile, six thousand miles away at a military installation in the Rocky Mountains, a second pair of men slipped into a secure part of the base, opened a large military safe and pulled out a large blue envelope, stamped “Stealth Missile “. The men escaped from the facility room in a helicopter.

He then returns to the present with the next message from his boss. You, Agent 456, must immediately fly to ALPENBERG and register at the ski resort. He must then communicate with Agent 487 regarding VODAC’s involvement in a conspiracy that would give VODAC world domination. Agent 487 is operating undercover as an exchange student at the resort. You have only twelve hours to complete your mission.

When you turn on your disk, you find yourself standing in front of the ski resort. First check in at the front desk. Otherwise, you won’t be able to wander around the hotel looking for clues (hotel facilities are only available to paying guests). At various points throughout the game, you will come into contact with the main characters. When you meet them, be nice and ask them questions. Because only by interviewing the characters can you hope to find the clues, solve the mystery, and foil VODAC. For more background, you may want to go to the hotels newsstand and buy a newspaper.

After finding (map) the hotel, you’ll probably want to test your skill in the animated skiing sequence (you need to ski to complete the game). There is a slope for beginners and one for experts (you can choose any of them at the start of the race). This was a nice change of pace made more interesting by the fact that you get shot while skiing down the slope.

Going down the ski slope a bit, you will reach the ski chalet. You can ski there or be taken there for medical services like I did (didn’t get far down the mountain before I crashed into a tree). Search the ski chalet and pay special attention to the radio room.

A nice feature of this game is that your interaction with the characters will somehow affect the plot. The changes seem subtle and tend to change the timing of certain events, but it does give the story a bit of the uncertainty found in real life.

An intermediate level game, The Alpine Encounter has detailed graphics similar to other current graphic adventure games. The animated skiing sequence fits well into the plot. I particularly liked the character interaction and the ability for you or the characters to follow each other. At times it felt like there was more than just a behind-the-scenes computer controlling the action.