This CD-ROM does a remarkably good job of simulating how it feels to be a lonely guy out cruising bars, dance clubs, and diners, getting rudely shot down by women who would rather dance alone than with you. Whether or not this is an experience to volunteer for is another question.
Though still a little raw, Midnight Stranger is the first use of an ambitious approach to interactive drama, which designers Simon Goodwin and Jeff Green call Virtual Intimacy. It has the flavor of close collaboration with a talented group of actors, and as such gives a sense of what theater people might do with the interactive medium. Most screens are full-screen stills of actor and background, with a rectangular digital-video window in the head and torso area that doesn't pretend to mesh more than loosely with the still.
The most interesting, and the most problematic, design technique is an original input device called The Mood Bar. A character will say something to you directly, then pause. You can react negatively, neutrally, or positively, by clicking somewhere along a colored bar. If you want a conversation to continue, however, you have only one real choice. Consistently poke away at the "upbeat" green end of The Mood Bar and the character will eventually invite you home (even the lesbian grad student, though in this title you are male). Hit anywhere but green, and the character will instantly get furious and throw you out. When a cute girl in a dance bar started cracking stupid jokes about how I must still live with my parents, I clicked in the neutral blue zone of my Mood Bar. Instantly she got pissed, told me to "fuck off," and split. The next time I went to the bar, I "laughed" at her jokes and was soon rewarded with a POV shot rocking up and down above her naked torso. You've got to play it all as if you're a shrink on happy pills.
At its best, the writing neatly "samples" what would in reality be a lengthy conversation, creating a naturally flowing sense of high point and ellipsis. But the structure's potential has not been fully utilized. The story to which all this cleverness is applied ends up being about as meaningful as an evening spent cruising singles bars. The overall approach is interesting enough, though; the next title using it should be something to look forward to.
Midnight Stranger, by Simon Goodwin and Jeff Green, for Mac or PC: US$69.95. Gazelle Technologies Inc.: (800) 843 9497, +1 (619) 536 9999, e-mail service@educorp.com.
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