Organ Trail: Director’s Cut Review
I’m a part of the generation that experienced computer labs full of Apple IIe computers. I would sit in front of those green screens, flipping floppies and punching gigantic grey keys, biding my time with typing programs until I could pop in the king of all edutainment games: The Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail was a very formative experience in my gaming history. I feel that’s likely a shared sentiment, even though I’d guess most kids treated it as a buffalo-extinction simulator.
Thankfully, The Men Who Wear Many Hats share this love for The Oregon Trail. Using the familiar structure of Apple IIe game, their “retro zombie survival” game The Organ Trail follows a group of five individuals in modern day trying to find a safe haven in Western America from the zombie apocalypse. Originally a Flash game and a Facebook application, the “Director’s Cut” of the Organ Trail was released on Steam for $4.99. Is it worth your five-spot to play go West with a shotgun?
Heading West!
Just being a parody of The Oregon Trail is a thin premise for an entire game. Thankfully, the core of The Organ Trail is a compelling and original feeling game of risk management, much like its inspiration. As your (station) wagon marches ever leftwards, you’ll be juggling the welfare of your five survivors and your supplies. Do you trade your more scarce commodities (med kits) for the scrap you need to repair your vehicle? Your dollars aren’t doing you much good, but using it now for food in Indiana won’t let you purchase advanced combat maneuvers (like faster reload times) later on. Every choice you make eliminates a myriad of other possibilities.
Add to that a larger number of action packed sequences, such as shooting bandits to free hostages or walking across a map avoiding zombies to recover food, and you have a game that’s very fun to play much in the same way the original was. Only, you know, this time you’re outrunning zombie-torsos dragging themselves along the ground.
Inspired Apocalypse
While the gameplay is solid all on its own merit, the parody experience is expertly executed. The look and feel of the game is genuine Apple IIe, even if the graphics are better than we would have seen back in 1974. Each location you visit is The game even adds the same clackity sound of the keyboard to accompany all mouse clicks and keyboard selections. The actions you’re taking in the game never stray too far from the original: instead of crossing rivers you’re crossing hordes of zombies, instead of hunting everything that moves you’re scavenging, and instead of dodging rocks on the Dalles you’re dodging infected deer. It’s a recognizably experience Apple IIe through and through.
Worth It!
If it’s not clear, The Organ Trail is a really great experience. The humorous and clever references to the original are merely the sprinkles on top of a legitimately fun zombie survival game. Even if the original ORgan Trail game is playable for free as a Flash game, the improvements in the Steam version is worth your five-spot. This is an easy recommendation to make: head west and aim for the head.
