The entire country is going down the tubes. Literally. Our collective free will is ebbing away in a tide of banal game shows, sporting events, and news about celebrities. Religion is no longer the opiate of the masses. The new drug of choice for the overworked, underspiritualized populace is cable TV. As you sit there in your plush recliner fingering a sweaty remote control, broadcasters don't even have to try to control your mind. You're not going anywhere. They've siphoned off your gas.
If you sympathize with any of the above, you're on your way to identifying with Kent. Kent is the copper-topped protagonist of Gremlin Interactive's latest game, Normality.He wages battle against the Norms - police-state oppressors led by the fiendish Paul - for whom TV addiction equals ideal citizenship. The Norms love muzak and monster trucks. They don't appreciate our hero's Bill & Ted sense of humor or the haphazard and sometimes hilarious acts of terrorist subversion he perpetrates throughout the game.
Above all, the Norms don't want Kent to hook up with the other kooky resistance fighters or discover the secret of how they manage to keep everyone glued to their sets. With only a note written in ear wax to go on, the road to freedom is littered with puzzles and cheesy gags, not to mention cheeky animation of the weasel-like Kent performing his antics. What could be more worthy than freeing the people of Normsville from their communal couch-potato thrall?
I've spent 18 hours in front of a screen playing this game. I'm not remotely worried that it doesn't rain anymore, that our president grew from a spore culture, or that we've turned the food chain into a game of nutritional Twister. I've forgotten to vote. My chair has an indent the exact shape of my ass. Yup, I'm staying Normal.
Normality CD-ROM for PC: US$49.95. Interplay Productions: (800) 468 3775, +1 (714) 553 6678, fax +1 (714) 252 2820, on the Web at www.interplay.com/.
STREET CRED
Speak Up, MacGibson Hits Overdrive
Drug of Choice
