Return to Doom

The second game in Topologika's Doom trilogy after Countdown to Doom, Return to Doom sends you, the only explorer to have survived the planet Doomawangara, flying back to the accursed planet in response to a distress call. Your mission: rescue an ambassador who has been kidnapped by renegade robots.

Don't let the deceptively easy first puzzles fool you-- Return to Doom is no less challenging than Topologika's other games, and the huge gameworld guarantees that you will spend dozens of hours pulling out your hair in frustration. Ingenious but evil puzzles that are Peter Killworth's hallmarks are here in abundance: you will deal with alternate universes, alien gadgets, and even strange weather.

In a nod to Infocom's classic Planetfall, you will even make friends with a robotic dog who will make you want to laugh and cry at the same time, although you won't grow fond of him the way you did with Floyd. The writing, as usual for a Topologika game, is excellent, full of wonderful details and witty anecdotes that show how much effort Killingworth put into each of his games.

Return to Doom ends with an exciting nail-biting sequence that is worthy of an Indiana Jones episode, and wraps up the banal but well-written plot.

Definitely a high point in Killingworth's career, and a solid challenge for IF veterans. Thumbs up!

Review By HOTUD