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Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender

From Alfawiki
MicroProse
Company typeVideo game developer and publisher
IndustryVideo games
Headquarters
United States
ProductsRex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender, Return of the Phantom, Dragonsphere

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender is a point-and-click graphic adventure game created and released by MicroProse in November 1992. This title marked MicroProse's initial entry into the graphical adventure genre, followed by subsequent releases such as Return of the Phantom and Dragonsphere. Utilizing the MicroProse Adventure Development engine, it showcased 256-color visuals. In 2015, Tommo obtained the intellectual property rights and reissued the game digitally through its Retroism label.

Plot

The story follows Rex Nebular, an inept single man, who is commissioned by Colonel Stone to recover a priceless vase for a reward of 75,000 galactars. Upon traveling to the vase’s last recorded location, he discovers the planet has disappeared. His spacecraft detects an unseen planetary body but comes under fire from a decloaking warship, resulting in a crash landing on a planet inhabited exclusively by women.

Years earlier, a conflict between genders culminated with women deploying biological weapons that eradicated all men, rendering natural reproduction impossible. To ensure survival, they developed the Cosmic Gender Bender device which temporarily changes one’s sex.

The society on this planet is divided into two groups: Keepers and Stock (breeding population). The Keepers reside underground with access to sophisticated technology and govern over the more primitive Stock living on the surface, whose primary function is to be impregnated by gender-altered Keepers in order to repopulate their world.

Gameplay

Players can choose from three difficulty settings; higher levels introduce additional puzzles and increased risk of character death. The left mouse button is used for selecting commands and executing actions, while the right button serves to inspect items. Certain interactions, such as sitting, only require a left click. Navigation between locations is indicated by a 'GO' icon, and teleportation necessitates entering correct codes to activate travel.

There are ten interaction commands available: two specifically for character engagement and seven designated for object manipulation. Items collected offer sub-options, many involving actions that Rex would unlikely perform realistically (for example, taking apart binoculars). Avoiding Rex’s demise is crucial as death can occur frequently; however, the game provides unlimited retries and automatically reloads from the last safe point after death.

MicroProse engineered proprietary image processing software for 3D rendering that enabled fluid animation with lossless image quality while minimizing disk storage requirements.

Reception

Computer Gaming World lauded Rex Nebular for its outstanding audio, visual presentation, and rotoscoped animations. Although describing the storyline as "familiar," the publication commended it as "a commendable venture into adventure gaming" reflecting MicroProse's trademark meticulousness. It was acknowledged as a strong debut effort positioning MicroProse alongside established genre leaders like LucasArts and Sierra On-Line.

Review ratings included 3.5 out of 5 from AdventureGamers, 3 out of 5 from Adventure Classic Gaming, and a flawless 5 out of 5 awarded by Dragon magazine.

Reviews

  • Pelit (June 1992)
  • PC Joker (December 1992)
  • Power Play (December 1992)

External links

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