Amstrad Computer User


A Simple Case Of Espionage
By SkySlip Computers
Amstrad CPC464

 
Published in Amstrad Computer User #52

A Simple Case Of Espionage

As Private Investigator Rick Shaw you are summoned to the house of a lady who is convinced that her husband, Mr Kingsley, is being unfaithful. The first few moves set the scenario for the game. As the plot unfolds, Mr Kingsley spends his time not in the arms of a floosie but trafficking in recreational narcotics.

Showing a surprising lack of honour to the client or the fat fee she holds, you have to go back to her house in the middle of the night and burgle it. A limited parser lets the game down here, with the most obvious things being done in the most obscure way.

There are about ninety locations split into four areas Starting at the Kingsley house, it took me some time to realise that careful self-searching was needed to find the number of the local taxi firm.

As car, bus, bicycle - or even rickshaw - it's the taxi that gets you between the four areas. With no cash in sight, it's a good job this cab firm knows you well enough to take a cheque.

To complete the game it is necessary to collect four pieces of evidence within a time limit and present them to a sergeant at the police station, a kindly man who will jail you if at any time you take your clothes off or vandalise a fruit machine in the pub.

A trip to the camera shop brings you face to face with Mr Kingsley, and if you're quick enough you can follow him to take a photo of him and the gang up to dirty deeds. A careful choice of camera and another delve into the cheque book should help here.

Keep a careful note of where the telephone boxes are, because this is your only way to call a taxi. They don't cruise around looking for fares.

The phone box on the industrial estate gets vandalised after one use and you have to break into a factory to use a phone. From then, you have ten moves to phone and get out or it's arrest and jail. All of this taxi travel can be wearing on the chequebook so a visit to the bank for a new one may be needed.

I enjoyed playing Rick Shaw, who, despite his difficulty communicating and his lack of ethics, was arefreshing change. No doubt when he reappears in the next game the parser will be more dynamic, which will help the gameplay.

Not too difficult, not too many locations, this is a worthy text-only task for both a novice and a regular player. An adventure fanatic might find it a little limited but, as they say, size isn't everything.