My first contact with the Incredible Machine series was not through any of the games inside this pack, no. My first contact was with a demo of Sid & Al's Incredible Toons which was an off-shoot of the TIM series. I loved the demo to bits but at the time, I lacked the funds to buy many games and I had to pass it up for other classics such as Duke Nukem 3D and Lucas Arts adventure games. Several years later, I bought The Incredible Machine 3 at a bargain price and got fell in love again. The earlier puzzles are quite easy but figuring out the solution to the later ones can be very tricky and that's where the fun is: being challenged and enjoy seeing your machine work! Seeing this pack makes it an immediate buy for me, because of the tremendous value for money. If only they had added Sid & Al Incredible Toons and made it a complete pack ....
Oh man, where to start. This is my all time favorite game. It's the game that dragged me head and heels into the world of PC gaming, away from my Gameboy and SNES. All it took was a demo that came with the very first issue of PC Gamer back in December 1993 (the second PC games magazine I had bought at the time) and I was sold. MORE than sold - I completed the demo at least 100 times, sucking up every thing it had to offer many times over. What appealed so much to me was the brilliant mix of a dark and brooding futuristic setting with a less than serious cast. A cynical little robot as side kick that insults you whenever it gets the chance, a pompous 'nouveau-riche' plant owner, a doctor addicted to Helium, a zealous insurance salesman, a worked in love with his clipboard, etc. etc. etc. It was a match made in heaven. Dark humour fits this game so well and the aid of very talented artist Dave Gibbons gave the game its very special style (be sure to read the brilliantly drawn comic). While BASS is not terribly long, it's still a truly brilliant game. You'll be hard pressed to find a better looking game that old - combine it with great puzzles, a wonderful story and you got yourself a winner. I just hope there will ever be a proper BASS2. And remember folks, be vigilant.
I remember seeing an interview with Silmarils on Micro Kids (a French video game show) back in 1994 where they were explaining the essence of Robinson's Requiem. I was quite impressed by the complexity of the world not to mention the attention to detail. Never before was your character able to contract all kinds of diseases and ailments. Sadly enough, the game wasn't all that great. It was often more frustrating than fun not to mention very demanding. And the world you explore is pretty boring to say the least. It's definitely not a game for everyone. I'm a hardcore RPG fan but Robinson's Requiem just didn't do it for me. Deus is an improvement, though, and corrects many of the mistakes made in the first game. The graphics are a big improvement too - much better than RR's brown shades - and the interface feels a lot smoother. For this low price, it can't hurt giving them a go though but don't expect a walk in the park. These two games really are demanding and you HAVE to read the manual if you don't want a world of pain.
