Loom

North American box art.

Loom, known in Japan as ルーム [Rumu], is an adventure game by produced by Brian Moriarty and developed and published by Lucasfilm Games, originally released in 1990 for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS, and later ported to several other platforms. Although the game uses the SCUMM engine, it doesn't use the typical verb-object control scheme. The game also came with an audio drama which gave backstory to the world.

A middle school friend of mine had the LucasArts Adventure box set and showed me a short part of this game. I was impressed enough to ask to borrow it, and, after a few days, I had beaten it. Later, I got a copy of the MCGA CD version and beat that one as well. I really loved the game and thought it told a very clever and creative story. I was, as expected, a bit miffed at the ending.

Status

I do not own this game, but have beaten the DOS EGA and MCGA versions on easy mode.

Review

• Overall: 6/10
• Best Version: CD talkie version.

Good

• The game's story is really creative and original. Having different guilds, each who see the world in a unique manner, was a fantastic idea.
• Even in the EGA version, the graphics are amazingly well drawn.
• Despite just being arrangements of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the music is wonderful and extremely fitting to the atmosphere of the game.
• The SCUMM engine is well-made and solid, even after being altered to handle this game.
• The Book of Patterns is a nice addition and adds depth to the game world.
• The audio drama included with the game was a great addition to the story.

Bad

• The game is both too easy and too short. More effort should have been put into complicating it and extending its length.
• The box art is pretty lame. I remember seeing it in stores and having no desire to buy the game because it looked like a cat's cradle simulator.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Box Art

• 

  This is the art used by nearly every region and platform. It's pretty bad and doesn't explain much about the game. However, it does fit with the game's universe.

• 

  The FM Towns art is quite different, with the head (no pun intended) of each guild in the background and the the loom looming (no pun intended) over Bobbin. Also not that great.

Documentation

• 

  The well decorated back of the DOS box.

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  The game manual for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS versions.

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  The Book of Patterns manual for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS versions.

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  The game's hint book.

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  The game's hint book, with answers revealed.

• 

  The audio cassette cover.

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  The audio cassette back.

• 

  The audio cassette.

• The audio drama.

Maps

• 

  Isle of the Weavers (256 color).

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  Crystalgard and Shepherds (256 color).

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  Caves and Forge (256 color).

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  Cathedral (256 color).

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  Fabric of the Universe (256 color).

Screenshots

• 

  Dye room in EGA.

Videos

• youtube.com/watch?v=f_ankA6dcSI - Longplay, EGA, hard mode.
• youtube.com/watch?v=-AuSdzo1WTU - Longplay, VGA Talkie, hard mode.

Download

This is the LucasFilm Games Passport to Adventure game sampler. It contains an MS-DOS demo version of Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure.

• Download (Info) - Passport to Adventure Demo.

Links

• mobygames.com/game/loom - MobyGames.
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom_(video_game) - Wikipedia.
• thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/Loom/Index.html - My old site.