PC CD-ROM
Minimum system requirements: 486DX/66mhz;, 8MB RAM; 20MB hard disk space; Dual Speed CD-ROM drive; DOS 5.0; VGA.
£32.99
NEUTROPOLIS is a sad, mundane place to live. People there listen to groups such as the SixPastels: Elevator Classics is a big seller. Individualism is frowned upon and any sign of happiness could land you in prison. The leader of the regime, Paul Nystalux, is only content if his subjects sit and watch TV during their every waking hour.
Your character, Kent, abhors all this "normal" stuff and finds himself locked up for a week and forced to watch TV non stop for whistling cheerfully in public.
This is where the player takes over. Kent doesn't like to lounge around all day and all the programmes are deliberately boring so your first task is to make a break for freedom.
Normality isn't a conventional point and click adventure. Using a 3D, first person perspective on the game (similar to Duke 3D or Doom), you see the world as Kent would see it. You can look up and down and the shift key even allows Kent to run. You simply bring up a doll representation of Kent and then by clicking on the relevant body parts Kent will talk, pick up, use, look, or open as the situation requires.
Although getting Kent out of the apartment is tricky, most of the puzzles require a logical answer rather than pot luck. After Kent meets up with some Anti Norms he is required to perform some duties for them, such as getting a video of wild rocker Brian Deluge broadcast on TV. Such tasks take up a large portion of the gameplay.
Normality is an excellent game in every department. It looks good, the first person perspective immerses the player in the game's atmosphere, the humour is entertaining without being overbearing and once you start playing it, you won't be happy till you have completed it.
Graphics:
Sound: 90%
Gameplay: 94%