Previous Next

Jonah Hayes is the sort of roguish Jack-the-lad lawbreaker who only seems to crop up in sci-fi stories and westerns. Through every fault of his own, Jonah's ship has been remortgaged countless times and now the moneylenders want to take it away to pay for his debts. He has one final chance to make amends - by smuggling something naughty (the eponymous Cargo) from Titan to Olympus Space Station in the earth's orbit. Of course, the odds are stacked against him. The authorities are suspicious of him anyway, because of his past (somewhat broken) record, so even finding and getting onto his ship is a hassle.

Suspicious Cargo is a good old-fashioned text adventure with the odd graphic or two. There's an icon system you can use if you don't fancy the thought of all that typing. Select an action and everything in the location appropriate to this action is listed, so you know immediately what you can and can't do. To spice things up even more, there are a few interactive logic and arcade puzzles you can play scattered about the locations - things like the old Lunar Lander game. They don't have to be completed to finish the game - they just provide light relief.

A lot of care has been put in to present Cargo professionally. It's the first game to mix medium and low resolutions on one screen, together with four different palettes using split palette techniques. The only disappointing thing is the predictable "futuristic" text.

Suspicious Cargo is a competent adventure spoilt by the one thing that can put you off playing adventures for life - the instant death. In the early stages of the game, it's all too easy to be sailing along one instant and find the game has ended at the next, through no apparent fault of your own. If you can live with this - not easy, but possible - Suspicious Cargo has a lot to offer. The icon system is easy to get to grips with, but, like Wonderland, it's usually easier to type in what you want.

The parser is as sophisticated as a modern day's adventure should be - understanding pronouns and other complex ideas. Overall, you could do worse than introduce yourself to the world of adventuring with Suspicious Cargo.

1. The icon system is a little like Wonderland but doesn't try to be as ambitious. Consequently, it's easier to use.
2. The closest recent adventure has to be Demoniak. Cargo is less imaginative but more approachable.