We never would have suspected!

... soon to be a new category in Trivial Pursuit.

Just what is one to make of the inconherent ramblings of an epic game like Odyssey - The Legend of Nemesis. Hah hah, but there is a method to the mumblings. I bet you didn't know that...

On the first island you'll find a strange book lying on one of the Eastern beaches. The bit of trivia here is that the characters in the story correspond to a number of directors from the silent era of film, and the order in which the characters die roughly corresponds to the order in which their real-life counterparts passed away. They are: F. W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise), Erich Von Stroheim (Greed, Foolish Wives), D.W. Griffith (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance), Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra), and Joseph Von Sternberg (Underworld, Shanghai Express).

In numerous places in the games you'll come across books which are "not interesting enough to read." Or so the game tells you. A bunch of them are parodies of... well, you'll see.
- Quest for a Clue - Does anyone still remember the series of books edited by Shay Addams called The Quest for Clues? Instead of being just a hint-book for one game (which seems the norm these days) one of these tomes contained solutions to over forty different games. Shay was also the editor of the terrific RPG and adventure computer gaming magazine Quest Busters. Anyone know if it's still around?
- Mensch and Supermensch - Inspired by George Bernard Shaw's classic play about "the life force," Man and Superman. The infamous Act Three takes place in hell, where a freshly deceased Don Juan argues with the devil over the meaning of human life. Not enough Shaw for you? There's a raving mad prisoner on the island Agressat who spouts off seemingly non- sensical dialog. Well, in fact it's an excerpt from Act Three of Man and Superman. Plus, the prisoner's a dead-ringer for Shaw himself.
- Badge of Evil - The awful book which was the inspiration for Orson Welles' magnificent film noir, Touch of Evil. See explanation of the psionic ability "Touch of Frost" later on.
- Tricks of the Odyssey Gurus - Inspired by that amusing line of books which include, most recently, Tricks of the Mac Game Programming Gurus. I haven't read the book, but have heard nothing but good things about it. If you're looking for a place to learn the "tricks", it may well be the place to go.
- Inside Granny Smith - Isn't this the first reference book for Apple's new computer, the Granny Smith?
Ever wonder where all the wacky names for the Psionic abilities came from? Some were just made up, but many others are cryptic references to everything from movies to heavy metal songs. Here are some of them:
- Angel of Death - The first track on Slayer's classic 1986 release, Reign in Blood. The song deals with the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz.
- Asudem Affect - Try spelling the first word of this psionic backwards and you should see what it means...
- Highly Professional Glow - Anyone remember what a certain dog food company promised would happen to the coat of your favorite dog were you to feed him the dog food they wanted you to buy? Think early Eighties...
- Infinite Dreams - The second track on Iron Maiden's seminal concept album of 1987, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. "I'd like to think that when I die/ I'd get a chance another time/ And to return and live again/ Reincarnate, play the game/ Again and again and again." I know the second I'm back from the dead I'll be playing Odyssey again.
- Lightning Crashes - The band Live recorded a rather corny pop song by this name which received far too much air-play over the summer of 1995. A good name for a psionic ability, nevertheless.
- Megadeath - This could be - and almost is - a reference to the band Megadeth, with the exception that their name is spelled differently. In fact, megadeath the word means one million deaths, a term often used in reference to the effects of a nuclear war.
- Pyromania - Named after Def Leppard's classic pop-metal release from the early eighties, featuring such "classics" as "Photograph" and, of course, "Rock of Ages." The designers would like to emphasize that they do not actually enjoy the music of Def Leppard, but do find it amazing how well the names of their albums and songs would make great psionic abilities. Just think, Hysteria, Adrenalize, Armageddon It, Love Bites...
- Ride the Lightning - Named after Metallica's mega-classic 1984 release, which included a song of the same name about capital punishment, the electric chair in particular. This Metallica is not to be confused with the pod-people who took over for the band for the pathetic 1991 album "Metallica."
- Touch of Frost - An extremely cryptic and tenuous double reference to Touch of Evil. This is both an excellent Orson Welles film noir from 1959, as well as a song from Judas Priest's last studio album to date, Painkiller, released in 1990.
- The Warning - A rather entertaining album from Queensryche's early days.
- White Heat Red Hot - The second track from Judas Priest's super-classic 1978 album Stained Class. Come to think of it, Stained Class itself would make a good name for a psionic. Hm, maybe in Odyssey II.
- Zelig Power - A reference to Woody Allen's interesting 1984 film Zelig. The film deals with a man who has such a burning desire to conform that he changes physically to match whatever type people he's presently associating with, not entirely unlike a chameleon.
- Zenoheal - Named after the mathemetician, Zeno, who postulated that if one moved exactly halfway to a given point one would never actually reach the point. If you notice, the psionic ability restores exactly half of your Health Points. You'll never get all your health points back, but use it enough and you'll get pretty close.
Just what is the relationship between Odyssey and Bungie Software Products Corporation? Here's a hint.
And now for what you've all been waiting for, the Biggest Oddity of All. What if the Odyssey logo had looked like this? Egads, the mind boondoggles.

Entire Contents Copyright 1995/96 Richard Rouse.
Odyssey: The Legend of Nemesis is a Trademark of Richard Rouse.

Problems with this page should be addressed to odyssey@paranoidproductions.com