After a series of truly great games, Christopher Cole has produced
this, a game that falls far below the standard his earlier works have set.
Mind you, this means Encounter 3 is still far and away better than most AIF,
but compared to the previous two "Encounters" games, it's quite a
disappointment.

As always, Cole's game design skills and masterful use of the English
language shine through. By typing "rules" you get a nice set of instructions
on how to play, which is important because this game differs from standard
AIF. The list of necessary commands is spelled out helpfully, and whenever a
new situation arises, the game tells you in bold what the new commands are.
There's no reason why anyone should have trouble playing this game; even
using the computer (which has traditionally been a pain in the ass in IF) is
simple to do.

The Bad Points:

Encounter 3 differs from the previous Encounters games in two ways.
First, there is no sex. None. Your character is a 15-year-old kid who is
spying on his sister and her friend, and since these are the only characters
in the game, this precludes the possibility of getting busy. This isn't
necessarily a bad thing, as the game still manages to be interesting, but it
might turn some people off.

The second point is that Encounter 3 comes with pictures, unlike Cole's
previous work. Rather than just giving descriptions of whoever it is you're
looking at, the game gives a description and a nice color picture. The
problem is that there are two people you can look at: a pasty white, doughy
chick and an all-too-skinny, flat-chested girl. There are a few shots that,
quite frankly, kind of make me hesitant to approach members of the opposite
sex in the future if they're going to look like that. While I can give a nod
to Cole for apparently getting people to pose for him, it would be nice if
he had found some attractive people to take pictures of. You can also look
at some posters in the main character's room, which I highly suggest doing,
since they're much more fun to look at.

Overview:

Encounter 3 is quite a dive in quality from Cole's previous offerings,
mostly owing to the poor (shall I say, repulsive) pictures and the overall
lack of things to do. Without any sex in the game, once you've seen all the
pictures, there's no reason to play it again. The design is crystal clear,
and you'll never get stuck playing "guess the word" with the parser, but a
strong framework can't make up for a flawed execution.