Previous Next

Hey! I could be really corny (what's new?) an' say that The Third Courier is out of date because there's no longer much of a wall left in Berlin to divide East and West Germany, so all this spying stuff is no longer necessary (?) ... but I won't.

You're a top spy, a Moon-dancer, one of the best in the West but even so your latest assignment is daunting: Three couriers, each carrying a crucial component of NATO's non-nuclear defence plans, are missing. Two are known to be dead while the third was last seen in Berlin. It's your job to find the three components before they fall into the wrong hands.

You're on your own in this mission, but that's the way you like it and, with your superior's advice - 'Trust no one' - echoing in your mind, you fly to Berlin to await further instructions.

Before play begins you need to create an agent. Choose name, sex, age, cover occupation, favourite, leisure activity and where you spent most of your life. From your rejection, character (health, knowledge and so on) and your personality trails (such as interpersonal skills, hearing impediments) and unattractive appearance) are created. Your personality traits may help or hinder you as play progresses and your experience grows.

A CIA apartment in West Berlin is where your sleuthing commences but before you take to the streets it's a good idea to access your computer and telephone answering machine to check for messages. Then pick up everything that isn't nailed down.

From this point I took a cab to Mission Support to stock up with some spy equipment: Bug Hunters, Bug Killers, Lock Picks and a Photo-Fax (very useful for taking snaps of persons encountered, so you can check 'em out).

One fully laden with equipment (there must be mega pockets in your suit) it's time to cruise Berlin in an effort to find the three components.

Most exploration is done on foot (taxis cost!) but the Berlin underground is useful if you're in a hurry - you have to be quick though, trains don't hang about in stations.

Fully icon-driven, the game is divided into four main windows: Message, location description, location/encountered character graphic and trait/options. Other options such as action and inventory exist as pull-down menus.

Everything in The Third Courier works well and looks good, graphics are nicely detailed (although animation is limited) and screen layout is neat and easy to read. Unfortunately, gameplay involves trudging through Berlin, in the hope of coming across an interesting or important location: decidedly dull. A small icon appears in the location description window when you're near an accessible building but don't get excited! Most of the time you stand in the room (whether it be a shop or restaurant) like a lemon wondering what to do next before eventually leaving to look for something more interesting to do.

There also appear to be only three types of person on the streets of Berlin: policemen (carrying a gun around is a good way to get to see the inside of one of their cells), drunks and panhandlers. These characters become particularly tiresome when met for the tenth time.

Good sound effects enhance the smart graphics. However, during the inappropriate title music I fully expected to see a clown dance across the otherwise-atmospheric screen - I was disappointed when it didn't.

If exploring Berlin, talking to drunks and visiting every accessible establishment on every street in an effort to find the odd clue sounds like fun to you, well, I recommend this sleuthing RPG. Otherwise, forget it.