by Adam Newman M.D.

I’ve been playing computer games — not just on the Mac — for a very, very long time. Some of them were compelling; some of them were extremely funny. On the whole, most were quite entertaining.

And all of them, without exception, were wastes of my time. But not until now has a product come to my attention which transcends the medium, which goes beyond the narrow-minded scope of “arcade/adventures,” which abandons the self-conscious technophilic focus of computer games; not until now has a product been a total, utter, Complete Waste of Time.

And Now For Something Completely Different 
Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time is one of the best uses of CD-ROM technology I’ve seen since CD-ROM became a popular medium. Waste of Time is unclassifiable (hence “Comedy” as a game type above), and that’s because it mixes so many things together — English accents, comedy, QuickTime, pinball and yes, the “Dirty Vicar” sketch — that it is a nameless mush, a general bundle of stuff which succeeds in wasting time like nothing else.

For those of you who are familiar with Monty Python and who have perhaps seen all of their material, Waste of Time takes popular sketches and characters and integrates them into a lovably confusing, extremely Python-esque environment. For those who have never heard of them, and for those who thought that the Python really did preside over a flying circus, Waste of Time introduces you to the classic Python sketches. 

Ostensibly, the goal of the thing is to discover the “secret to inter-galactic success,” and there is, in fact, a secret to be found. In reality, the point is to click on stuff. The interface is not really an interface; you are presented with screen after screen of eminently clickable objects, with animations unfolding in that ineffable Python style, and various sound bytes (“My brain hurts!”) zooming about whenever you click on seemingly random objects. Each new sketch or animation reveals yet more sketches and animation. It took me a week of concentrated time-wasting to reach the point where I had seen everything.

Perhaps the best thing about this product is its ease — there is little thinking and little twitch action involved. Instead, you get a lot of entertainment for a little effort. It is possible to say that the “game” is too passive, that watching video clips isn’t fun per se. Still, the fact is that I certainly enjoyed myself; there was ample interactivity, and given the nature of Monty Python, it would be disappointing to unwrap Waste of Time and discover an adventure game.

Please Fondle My Buttocks
Not only is Waste of Time a product of extraordinary depth, but since it’s Monty Python, it’s also really funny. All the old favorites are included (e.g., Parrot, Argument, Dirty Vicar, Money, and others), and some others I’ve never come across before. Some, like the Ministry of Silly Walks and the infamous Lumberjack song, are presented as animations. The video quality is not superb — the movies tend to be grainy, small, and a little slow — but in this case it’s not very important. Python is most often funny because of what you hear, not what you see, and the films are more than adequate on Waste of Time. 

Waste of Time comes with more than sketches and animations; various games are integrated into the product. A Pythonized version of Whack-a-Mole, an extremely tasteless shoot-’em up (it involves falling pig poop) and a game featuring the ever-popular “Bird,” where you guide one of the half-man-half-chicken beasts into waiting mechanical jaws.

Included as well is the “Pythonizer,” which lets you use icons, screen-savers, desktop backgrounds and sound-bytes to make your Mac a little more ridiculous too. All the extras use up significant space, but you can install the sounds and pictures a la carte off the CD-ROM.

My only complaint is that you can’t copy video clips of the sketches off the CD-ROM — I understand that 7th Level might want to keep those from floating around, but it’s still a little bit of a disappointment.

Crunchy Frog!
All in all, this is an incredible product. 7th Level has done an admirable job of taking something as passive as Monty Python and making it interesting, and the Python are just as funny on a computer screen as they are on television. When so many publishers spend millions to make incredible graphics and sound for games that offer nothing truly worthwhile, it’s refreshing to see a product which is graphically rich, easy to use and exceptionally entertaining. Bravo!

Pros
• Really funny
• Good graphics
• Really funny
• Easy to use
• Really funny
• Very content-rich
• Really funny!

Cons
• Can’t copy films off the CD-ROM

Publisher Info
7th Level
P.O. Box 832190
Richardson TX 75081
        http://www.7thlevel.com