Microsoft has jumped onto the free-to-play bandwagon with its latest game, a text-driven adventure called Visual Studio 2010. The innovative new game marries the traditional interactive fiction text adventure with its arcane commands and exploration with the free-form, open-ended gaming pioneered by the likes of SimCity.

There are two major modes to the game, a textual spell-casting game, and a more complex interactive puzzle mode.

Play starts with the spell game. The game has three difficulty modes. In the two easiest modes Visual Studio questers must cast spells to appease a malevolent gatekeeper known only as "the compiler," combining the text adventuring of Zork with the wizardy and magic of Loom. If the player's spell contains even a single faulty incantation, the compiler will respond with a torrent of abuse and spells of its own; the player must piece together clues contained within compiler's response to determine how they went wrong.

In the hardest mode, a second gatekeeper, the even more cantankerous "linker," must also be satisfied. In this mode, even more complex magic is required. The player must mix multiple, interrelated spells and potions, ensuring they operate in perfect concert to persuade both compiler and linker to allow them to pass.

Spells are used to quell the compiler and create dungeons. Once a suitable spell has been created, the second phase of the game takes place. This mode borrows heavily from NetHack and other roguelikes; a complex, dynamic dungeon is created, and the player must hunt down the vicious creatures, "bugs," that inhabit this world.

Visual Studio 2010 breaks from the traditional roguelike, giving the player rich tools to examine and even modify his environment. But there is a trade-off; his navigation is often beyond his direct control, with his route through the different rooms of the dungeon governed by the spell he cast previously. These bugs often construct ornate traps that the player can trigger accidentally. If the player stumbles headlong into a bug then the ensuing attack will often destroy the entire dungeon, bringing the whole thing crashing down on the player's head.

To re-enter the dungeon, another spell must be cast. In this way, play switches between the two game modes; creating spells to enter the dungeons, and then hunting the bugs contained within the dungeon.

Visual Studio 2010 offers a free-form gaming experience. Nothing in the game prescribes a particular layout for the dungeons; they're left entirely to the taste and discretion of the player. They can be large, baroque, sprawling monstrosities, or small, clean, tasteful affairs. The results are as varied as players are; no two experiences will be the same.

The gameplay can be very uneven. Some play sessions are an exercise in frustration. It can be difficult to even create a dungeon in the first place, and the game gives few indications of what you're doing wrong. When it comes to hunting down the monsters within the dungeon, you're really on your own. But the experience can also be rich and rewarding. The spell-casting system is enormously flexible and varied, and the resulting constructions can be exquisite.

If it all gets a bit much, Visual Studio 2010 does include a pleasing beginners' mode where, instead of typing spells, they can be drawn using a convenient drag-and-drop interface. This GUI gameplay eschews much of the complexity of the full game—the compiler gatekeeper is almost always happy, and few bugs will lurk in the resulting dungeons—but works well as a way of learning how to craft spells.

The game includes a complex multiplayer mode, allowing many different players to develop a coordinated array of spells and dungeons together. Each player can enter the other player's dungeons, examine their spells, and even modify them. The open-ended environment allows players to create their own goals and objectives, and the multiplayer mode allows these objectives to be tracked and monitored.

Visual Studio 2010 is a free-to-play game, but here is where some of the biggest problems lie. There is a large system of unlocks and additional features that must be purchased—mere in-game accomplishment is not sufficient to gain access to them. The most expensive of these—the "Ultimate" edition—costs a whopping $11,899. This version does include some exciting additions to gameplay, such as the ability to look back in time to see just how a bug ensnared you in its trap, giving the game something of the character of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Similarly, the full multiplayer capabilities just aren't found in the free version. As with the deeply disappointing Battlefield Play4Free, this game is functionally pay-to-play: the free stuff is just enough to get you hooked, but if you really want to get the most out of it, you'll need to shell out some money.

Microsoft argues that the pay-only features are only of interest to hardcore players exploring worlds constructed over many years by large clans. We don't agree; the multiplayer mode is rewarding, and the advanced gameplay features enhance the game for players of all skills and clans of all sizes.

As can be expected from a Microsoft game, there is a rich and rewarding achievement system for accomplishing certain feats within the game. These add greatly to the experience. However, they do strike a rather sour note; most of the achievements are unavailable in the game's hardest mode, leaving players with a frustrating conundrum: do they go for achievements, or do they go for the most exciting gameplay?

And annoyingly, the not-really-free-to-play problem crops up here, too; some of the achievements require the more expensive editions of the game, creating a frustration division between the haves and the have-nots. A few even require the über-expensive Ultimate edition.

This all leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth. We felt that Visual Studio 2010 was all in all an enjoyable game that could easily soak up hundreds of hours of playtime. But the pricing model leaves us scratching our heads—we can't understand anyone paying so much just to unlock the full game.

Verdict: Buy (but not the Ultimate edition!)

The good

Complex spell-crafting

Rich dungeons

Innovative GUI take on a traditionally text-mode genre

Enjoyable beginners' mode

As a PC gamer, it's nice to see Microsoft skipping the Xbox 360 for once and shipping a PC exclusive

The bad

Spells can be a little too complex and esoteric

The linker is rude and unhelpful

The ugly

The price

We do realize that Visual Studio 2010 isn't, of course, a game. Inspired by a blog post early last year, and after a period of beta testing, Microsoft has created an extension for its IDE that rewards certain behaviors, some desirable, others not so, with achievements that can be viewed and compared online. The first step towards the gamification of software development? While we think that the achievements are a fun diversion, we do, however, stand by our commentary on the software's pricing: putting clever features beyond the financial reach of most developers is a great shame.

Listing image by Image courtesy of Microsoft