Step right up, folks! See one of the freakiest sideshow freaks in the industry: The Interactive Movie!
Last year, Imagination Pilots released a computer product based on the explosion-happy action film, Blown Away. It was a series of game-lets tied together by video segments featuring a mad long-haired Irishman threatening and teasing the player. While the video was well-directed and the acting sufficiently intense, the selection of games bordered on the pathetic. Now the Pilots have returned, sporting a new title, Panic in the Park (distributed by Warner Active). Since they didn't have a movie property to help the publicity engine, the designers used a lot more video (three CD-ROM's worth) and enlisted borderline celebrity Erika Eleniak (Under Siege, Beverly Hillbillies).
This is actually a much better game than Blown Away. Most of the games are entertaining enough that you'll want to go back and play them again, and the larger mystery structure with the different endings is quite well done. Unfortunately, Panic still suffers from a lot of the design flaws that plagued IP's first effort. But let's start at the beginning.
Skyview Amusement Park was once a happy and prosperous place, when it was run by its founder, Champ. He always swore that when he died, he'd give the park to its employees, but when that dark day finally came, the deed disappeared. Champ had two twin daughters, Jamie and Janie (both played by Eleniak, natch), one of whom was thoroughly committed to the park and its preservation. The other twin would rather tear down Skyview and sell the land.
You are a newspaper reporter sent by your editor to investigate this story. You have a bit of an advantage since you grew up with the twins, and know them well. The court has ruled that Skyview will be torn down in 24 hours unless the deed turns up, and both of the twins are barred from the park. "Good" twin Jamie enlists your aid to travel the midway after dark, befriending the personnel and seeking out the stolen deed. The only way to get sufficient information is to play the games on the midway. Jamie supplies 10 tokens to start you off, but then the only way to continue is to do well at the games and win more tokens. If you are good at the games, the vendors get more friendly and talkative.
As with Blown Away, the strongest feature of Panic in the Park is the video. The live segments are well-directed and imaginative. While the actors' performances are frequently campy and over the top, the funky atmosphere of the park combined with clever camerawork and a jazzy soundtrack make it all work beautifully. There are four actors working triple and quadruple roles as vendors, and this just makes the whole experience more silly and surreal. A rough-and-tumble motorcycle man at one booth might be the nerdy spelling bee champion right down the road.
The games are definitely appropriate to the setting. As with most carnival fare, they are based on precision and timing, and you occasionally go away with the feeling that some of them are rigged. There's a Skee-Ball game, a gopher-pounding game, a dart-throwing game... well, you get the picture. The most annoying thing about many of these games is that they are almost all mouse-based, and often don't use the buttons at all! For example, the dart-throwing game is played by flicking the mouse forward to release the dart. If you don't go straight forward, the dart doesn't throw. The trajectory is calculated from the speed of the mouse. This effectively means that if your mouse is not in tip-top condition, it will GREATLY affect your score.
When, for whatever reason, you do poorly at a game, the vendors can get downright abusive! This was also a problem with Blown Away: the designers supply a lot of negative vibe when you lose, but there's not much positive payoff when you win. But beyond the psychobabble, when was the last time you went to a carnival booth and the vendor got angry with you and insulted you for losing? They usually LIKE it when you lose. They EXPECT you to lose. They want you to play and lose AGAIN. But not here. These guys actually seem to take it personally.
When you get enough tokens together, you can play the Oracle puzzle in the center of the park. This will lead you to the Oracle's secret chamber, where you can eavesdrop on a few character conversations for clues to the location of the deed and the identity of the thief. After locating the deed, you must take a guess as to which character stole it in the first place. There's no way anyone would expect you to do this in real life. I mean, you found the deed, you saved the park, let the courts figure it out. But due to the dramatic demands of closure, it's up to the reporter to solve the crime. You get three guesses, and if you pick wrong, you're subjected to more abuse.
Panic in the Park is really pretty good, a definite step forward for its creators. Navigation from game to game is smooth and easy, and the mystery structure, while overblown, is well-executed. Personally, I much preferred choosing individual games over taking on the whole park. There are a few really great plays in this package, but the mouse-intensive interface and the angry vendors got on my nerves all too often. If you've got a thick skin and a well-oiled mouse (not to mention a thing for Erika Eleniak), this is worth the price of admission.
