Marco Polo (video game)

Marco Polo is a game that places the player in the position of a traveller on the Medieval Silk Road. You consort with princes, and with shady characters by turns. You comb the bazaar for profits, and you go on various missions. Along the journey you meet many perils. This game is chiefly to be recomended for it's epic feel, which is well bolstered by the romantic atmosphere. Graphics are good and the exotic commodities along the way are well played. One entertaining aspect is the ability to question locals. This often gets an interesting story or cultural fact. Sometimes it gives clues about cities nearby, thus one can really feel like a traveller going about with only rumors to guide him. As a game per-se, it is perhaps limited because of the shortage of choices, but that is more then made up for by the work done on the various features which can at times make you feel like you are watching a movie.

The game is available on DOS. It is unfortunatly hard to obtain but can be found on E-Bay. It requires a speaker, as much of the information needed for decisions is verbal rather then written.

Note this review refers to the Phillips Interactive Media version, not any other games that happen to have the same title.

Tropes in the Marco Polo videogame include:

 * An Entrepreneur Is You
 * Backstory : A small database is given with some Real Life historical facts in Wiki format.
 * Bazaar of the Bizarre :
 * Chain of Deals
 * Cloak and Dagger: Many of the missions
 * The Emperor: Kublai Khan. He offers more missions then all the rest of the potential patrons in the game.
 * Global Currency: "Saggis"
 * Honest Johns Dealership: The merchants you bargain with.
 * Intrepid Merchant
 * Little Hero Big War : Warlords around you are always beating up each other. It can get annoying sometimes.
 * Merchant City: Every city.
 * Random Encounters: Bandits, avalanches, duststorms, whatever one might think of for a poor Intrepid Merchant
 * Scenery Porn :Magnificent
 * Strategy Guide: A bit hard to find.
 * Sidequest
 * You All Meet in An Inn: You can hear information and sidestories at local inns.