System Requirements: PC with a 386SX or higher processor, MS-DOS 3.1 or later, Windows 3.1 or later, 4MB RAM, 5MB free space on hard drive, Super VGA display capable of displaying 256 colors, color monitor, mouse, headphones or speakers.
I thought Quantum Gate, Media Vision's barely interactive science fiction game, was a cross between a dull sequel to an exciting original movie, like Aliens 3, and some recent Senate subcommittee hearings. Yawn.
Set in the mid-21st century, the show begins with Private Andrew Griffin's transfer to a space installation through a torturous molecular transporter called the Quantum Gate. This isn't just "Beam me up, Scotty" and you're on the planet's surface. Griffin's molecules can be heard screaming all the way through space.
After that pleasant opening, you are treated to a slow-moving space station that's both dark and a little boring. It's a three-story space station, so you get to spend lots of time in the elevator going up and down all the time. Best of all, the station is inhabited by a host of cliched characters.
You will meet the depressed scientist mourning the imminent destruction of earth, the UN soldiers, the macho female sergeant, and the beautiful but businesslike female medic. Private Michaels, played by Jamie Callahan, is the one bright spot in this cast of character. Bald and covered with tattoos, he arrogantly bucks all authority.
The game is seen through the eyes of Private Griffin. Everybody wants to be his friend. The brooding scientist tells him her story over breakfast. Private Michaels wakes him up during the night to discuss paranoid suspicions. Even the pretty medic takes a personal interest in him.
Like Aliens 3, Quantum Gate plods along with no real hope of an adequate outcome. With nothing to look forward to, the game becomes very dull. Frequent rides up the elevator to speak with officers then down to attend battle readiness seminars add little spice.
My final complaint about this game/movie is its lack of interactivity. Throughout the game, characters ask Griffin questions and you select his answer from a menu of three or four options. As far as I could tell, my answers had no impact on the game.
As you may have guessed, I was not very impressed by Quantum Gate. I found it unoriginal and dull. Perhaps future Media Vision products will take a quantum jump in entertainment and replace plodding didacticism with something of real importance--fun.
Reviewed by Steven L. Kent for NautilusCD September, 1994.
