Previous Next

There has been a spate of comedy crime adventures recently, and Delta 4's The Big Sleaze follows St. Bride's Bugsy, and Lever/Jones' Dodgy Geezers. This one is a spoof on the fictional American Private Eye, and despite the occasional lapse into an English-type joke, the game maintains the flavour of its subject fairly faithfully.

Private Dicks, as Fergus McNeil inevitably calls them, always have squalid offices, cluttered desks, and wear a mac. They are often approached by ravishing females in a highly emotional state, usually blond, and about 30. The Private Dick is always reluctant to take on the case, but nevertheless always does.

There's not much different here. She kicks the door in and checks that you are a private detective. "Of course I am," you drawl. "What did you think Private Dick was short for?" "I don't know," she says thoughtfully, "Maybe your mother made you wear tight underwear when you were a kid."

And so, accepting the cheque you set off in search of her father, a millionaire who she hasn't seen for years. He'd failed to turn up to a re-union dinner with here, and, after waiting a fortnight for him, the poor girl became suspicious that this was more than just a question of slack punctuality.

Getting on the trail is hampered by the local kids, out for revenge ever since you busted their school dinner money racket. But before long you are visiting Joe in his luxury restaurant, and Ben in his very pink apartment, before pushing on to explore the interior of some fascinating ventilation ducts.

Fergus is getting more cunning in his old age, and has provided a very limited carrying capacity for our hero. There's lots of goodies lying around that any self-respecting Disk would like to carry along with him on a case like this, but it's deciding which ones you really need that cause an initial headache. In handling the inventory, Fergus makes realistic use of wearing items, and putting things in other things, to slightly expand the amount that one can carry.

There are some bright and cheerful graphics at various locations, and the vocab, on the whole, is not too fussy. Quilled, the game has an instant response in text, and is quite speedy even when a picture is displayed. As is now almost a standard for Delta 4 adventures, there are three parts, each of which must be completed to progress to the next.

Every now and again, if you are not making much progress, the game closes on you with a criticism of your ability to solve the case. This would be annoying, were it not for the fact that there is a ram save feature, as well as tape and disk save. So it pays to save to ram every now and again, and then reload if you are forced to quit.

The Big Sleaze is Fergus's best to date. A pity about the price though, which, at £9.95 is a couple of pounds over the top for this type of adventure. (Take note, Piranha - MacMillian's can surely afford to give as good a deal as CRL?) Nevertheless, if you like a good spoof, then you'll enjoy The Big Sleaze.