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The Week Ending January 18, 2000

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Y2K: There's a Game?
Finally, I couldn't let the millennium and Y2K pass without at least a fleeting mention in the Gist List, and it comes in the form of Y2K: The Game from Interplay Productions. To be honest, when I received this game in the mail right before Christmas, I figured this was some kind of Holiday joke from those sneaky Interplay folks. After all, would someone really bother to make a Y2K game and write up a press release that discusses how players must "Help Buster Everman escape a mansion that goes berserk at midnight on New Year's Eve?"
Once I opened the box I was surprised to find two silver CDs and not a chocolate CD – I've had that tricked pulled on me before. I started to realize that maybe this was a real game. Armed with a CD from the box, I tried to install the program, only half believing I was actually installing this game I had never heard of. After 400 megs were installed on my drive, I clicked on the icon, and believe it or not Y2K: The Game loaded up.

Yes, someone apparently made a Y2K game, and boy is it campy. I actually have to laud the game's 3D engine, which is about on par with Gabriel Knight 3 and looks quite nice when 3D accelerated. However, as soon as I started to click around inside of the game world I discovered a pretty shoddy adventure game story just as the press release described, with Buster alive inside of a mansion that has gone kooky.
Ok, so the game sucks. But my only question is this: Has anyone actually bought this game? You'd think that the shelf life for a Y2K game has got to be about a week and a half, so why would anyone even develop this product? Inquiring minds want to know…At least we know the adventure game genre isn't dead <rolls eyes>.
Your Comments?
Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Thanks for reading! That's the Gist of It.

Geoff Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice