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Return to Zork is a 1993 adventure game in the Zork series. It was developed by Activision and was the final Zork game to be published under the Infocom label.

Gameplay[]

Unlike the previous games in the Zork franchise, which were text adventures, Return to Zork takes place from a first-person perspective and makes use of video-captured actors as well as detailed graphics; a point-and-click interface replaced the text parser for the first time in a Zork game. The overall gameplay style was somewhat similar to Myst, although Return to Zork predated Myst by a few months. Unlike Myst, which had no extraspatial dimensions of functionality, Return to Zork featured multiple ways of interacting with each object in the game world, as well as with several non-player characters also present in the world via a menu which appeared on the left side of the screen.

Cast[]

Among the actors who appeared in the game were a number of instantly recognizable (by face, if not necessarily by name) character actors as well as a number of well-known younger actors: Robyn Lively of Twin Peaks as "The Fairy", Jason Hervey of The Wonder Years as "The Troll Leader", and Sam J. Jones from the 1980 film Flash Gordon as "The Blind Bowman" and A.J. Langer of My So-Called Life as fellow explorer Rebecca Snoot whom the player encounters on several occasions.

Soundtrack[]

The game disc is also a 26-track audio disc. Each track on the disc plays in a specific location in the game. Some tracks are used in more than one location. These tracks were recorded live based on original MIDI versions. It is not certain if every single track was recorded live and only these 25 tracks were used in the final game due to CD size limits (using actual CD audio as opposed to some sort of compression such as MP3. For example, every single dialogue line was recorded in live video, but only a handful of the live videos are used in the final game, even in the higher-quality MPEG version). While the MIDI versions play in their intended locations, not all of the live recordings are played in their intended locations.

The tracks are as follows:

Track Game Use original midi intended game use
01 *game data NA NA
02 *unused GENVO01 Generic: Valley Opening 1
(from unused start menu -- images and SFX and music still present in game data)
03 *Opening of the Mailbox
(part of MOV, the cd audio itself is not played)
GENDI01 Generic DI01 (not certain what DI means)
04 *White House
*Vulture Pits
GENVO02
GENVO03
Generic: Valley Opening 2
Generic: Valley Opening 3
05 *Opening Fly-By Credits
(part of MOV, the cd audio itself is not played)
GENFF01 Generic: FF01 (disk version title screen)
06 *Lighthouse Exterior
*Road to the South
*West Shanbar
MP0RD01 Mountain Pass: Road 01
07 *Entering Great Underground Empire
*Bel Naire Temple
WS0OM06 West Shanbar: Old Mill 06
(outside new mill when entering GUE for first time)
08 *Finale
(part of MOV, the cd audio itself is not played)
CZ0FN00 Citadel of Zork: Finale 00
09 *File Cabinet
*Notebook
*Sliding Puzzle
WS0TH02 West Shanbar: Town Hall 02
10 The Guardian GENGU01 Generic: Guardian 01
11 *Morpheus Dream
*Vulture Pits Interior
ES0IN07 Generic: East Shanbar Inn 07 (Morphius Dream #2)
12 Fool's Memorial DM0MI01 Dwarven Mines: Mine 01
13 *Hero's Memorial
*Boar Statue
FS0BR01 Forest of the Spirits: Boar 01
14 *Hardware Store
*Ferryman's Dock
*Troll Defeat
RR0RR01 Underground Countryside Rural Road 01
15 Troll Fight TC0IN01 Troll Caves: Interior 01 (Troll Fight #1)
16 Pawn Shop WS0PS01 West Shanbar: Pawn Shop 01
17 unused WS0OM01 West Shanbar: Old Mill 01 (Boos Myller)
18 Dwarven Mines DM0EX02 Dwarven Mines: Exterior 02
19 Whispering Woods WW0MZ01 Whispering Woods: Maze 01
20 unused CZ0OR01 Citadel of Zork: Orc Room 01
21 unused CZ0HS01 Citadel of Zork: Hall of Statues 01
22 unused
(this is a minor-key version of "Barbara Allen")
ES0MM01 East Shanbar: Moadikum Moodock 01 (Armory)
23 Forest of the Spirits
(this piece is the Pavane by Gabriel Fauré)
FS0MZ01 Forest of the Spirits: Maze 01
24 *Creeping Bogs
*Cliffs of Depression
BOGMZ01 Bog: Maze 01
25 *Blacksmith
*Incinerator
ES0BS01 East Shanbar: Blacksmith 01
26 unused
(rejected version of credits?)
GENVO01
TB0EX0
FS0BR01
WS0OM06
FS0MP01
WS0WA01
CS0DK01
CZ0FN00(end)
Generic: Valley Opening 01
Temple of Belnaire: Exterior 01
Forest of the Spirits: Boar 01
West Shanbar: Old Mill 06
Forest of the Spirits: Mushroom People 01
West Shanbar: Waif 01
Canuk's Shack: Duck 01
Citadel of Zork: Finale (end portion only)
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