182 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
182 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
|
||
|
||
THE THIRD COURIER
|
||
|
||
With the release of THE THIRD COURIER, Accolade once again takes the computer
|
||
role-playing game in new directions. As was the case in DON'T GO ALONE (the
|
||
haunteds-house CRPG), they've tw
|
||
isted the genre ever-so-slightly, just enough to
|
||
give the standard mapping/fighting/exploring sequences a different feel. In this
|
||
instance, your alter-ego -- named Moondancer -- explores pre-1990 Berlin in
|
||
order to trace the trails of three Nato couriers, two of whom have turned up
|
||
dead and the last of whom hasn't turned up at all. Thus we have a Ludlumesque
|
||
political thriller in a modern setting: an intriguing concept! Unfortunately, a
|
||
few technical considerations mar what could have been an extremely elegant and
|
||
involving game. But despite the notable problems, there's still enough fun here
|
||
to satisfy spy-loving gamers -- particularly in light of the dearth of games
|
||
covering this subject matter. (This review is based on the IBM-PC version; Amiga
|
||
version notes follow.)
|
||
|
||
COURIER begins with a character creation utility, but you won't employ the
|
||
typical method of generation. Instead of allocating points to various abilities,
|
||
you specify only the background information on your character: age range,
|
||
previous occupation, early environment, and several other unusually esoteric
|
||
factors. The game then generates your character's stats and any particular
|
||
abilities or handicaps. (Take "handicaps" literally here: For example, you may
|
||
be hard of hearing, which will affect how well you can ever use the "listen"
|
||
command. On the other hand, you may have the advantage, say, of acting ability.
|
||
This will make your threats more effective.) The strengths and weaknesses always
|
||
seemed well-balanced, no matter which choices are made. My overall impression is
|
||
that one character can finish the game as easily as another, the only meaningful
|
||
difference being the amount of identification you have with your alter ego.
|
||
Personality is _not_ an important factor in the game.
|
||
|
||
Once you create your character (you may create up to four "agents" and keep a
|
||
game in progress for each of them), you're left in your apartment in East
|
||
Berlin. By using the high-tech equipment already installed there, you can learn
|
||
a few interesting facts about the Third Courier. I won't give away any of the
|
||
mystery, but I can say that this case has its twists. You then begin to explore
|
||
the streets and buildings of Berlin -- either by taxi, on foot, or through the
|
||
underground. There is a good amount of authenticity to the map (included in the
|
||
package), and enough variety in the first-person window graphics to
|
||
differentiate between buildings, parks, and the barbed-wire-topped Berlin Wall
|
||
(still intact in this game).
|
||
|
||
One endearing feature is that hailing a cab brings up a travel window with the
|
||
names of locations you've already visited. In the beginning of the game, you
|
||
have no idea where your Mission headquarters are, for example. So you simply go
|
||
down to the street, hail a cab, and indicate Mission Support when asked where
|
||
you want to go. A minute and ten DM later, you're there. You can even instruct
|
||
the cabbie to "follow that cab!"
|
||
|
||
You'll meet up with a large number of muggers and violent drunks, policemen and
|
||
guards, street vendors, assassins, barkeepers, and more. You'll probably spend
|
||
some time in jail for bribing the wrong individual. Some locations are actually
|
||
mazes that require mapping. This is a fairly easy (if tedious) procedure,
|
||
because there is not much to find and not much detail in the rooms and hallways.
|
||
|
||
Clues pop up rather frequently. The majority seem to come by way of your
|
||
computer, but there is a definite, primarily linear thread of clues you'll need
|
||
to find in order to unravel the mystery. An important note: This game is on a
|
||
timer. You have seven days in which to locate the Third Courier. Thus, you'll
|
||
probably end up working nights and weekends (although you have the choice of
|
||
sleeping through the night) in order to solve the case in time. There is a
|
||
day/night cycle: The sky changes from blue to black, and certain locations close
|
||
up at night. There are also a lot more evil-types to be found at night!
|
||
|
||
You'll need to travel between East and West Berlin during the course of the
|
||
game, which has a deleterious effect on the amount of money you're carrying.
|
||
Fortunately, you seem to have a nearly bottomless account somewhere, which you
|
||
may access if you can just crawl to the nearest cash machine.
|
||
|
||
COURIER operates via an extensive menu system, relatively easy to use but slow
|
||
to respond. One of the major problems, technically, is the mouse interface. The
|
||
game is clearly meant to be played with a mouse, yet the implementation is poor.
|
||
The mouse (I tried with both a Microsoft Mouse and a PC Systems PC Mouse) moves
|
||
slowly and skittishly, jerking from choice to choice and giving only a marginal
|
||
sense of control. Moreover, it's extremely sensitive about where on a "choice
|
||
box" the pointer is; it sometimes takes several clicks to get the box to
|
||
respond. On the other hand, you'll never waste time trying to do things you
|
||
cannot do; choices are routinely ghosted whenever the program deems them
|
||
inappropriate to the situation.
|
||
|
||
Another bug: The program repeatedly gave me messages about an apparently
|
||
phantom villain. I'd be discussing my tie with a bartender and suddenly, in the
|
||
message window, I'd see: "The uses his last bullet and runs away." I don't know
|
||
who was using his last bullet, but he seemed to come around frequently.
|
||
|
||
You can't save more than one game per agent, unless you resort to trickery with
|
||
the DOS files by copying the whole game -- or at least the character-related
|
||
files -- to another directory. Thus you may find, as I did, that exploring the
|
||
map, discovering all the points of interest, and mapping the mazes is best done
|
||
as one character, while actually solving the mystery is best done later as
|
||
another character (or the same character recreated). In other words, since time
|
||
ticks by whether you're moving or not, create a character _just_ for the
|
||
purposes of mapping. That way, you won't have to worry about the clock; you may
|
||
return later with your "real" agent and have him/her (you may specify your
|
||
gender) go directly to the hot spots.
|
||
|
||
THE THIRD COURIER comes to the MS-DOS user on three 5-1/4" disks; a 3-1/4"
|
||
version is available by mail for an extra fee. Alternatively, because the game
|
||
is not disk-protected, you can copy the files yourself if you have access to
|
||
both drive formats. There is off-disk protection in the form of a "passcoder."
|
||
You have to enter the passcode only once per play session, even if you die and
|
||
start a new character or restore a game. There is also an extensive manual
|
||
filled with important information, but I recommend you play the game a bit first
|
||
before trying to absorb the information contained therein.
|
||
|
||
The game has a real high-tech look to it, the graphics are clean and pleasing,
|
||
and the text is a little dotty but quite readable. Your basic stats, a compass
|
||
rose for use with the mouse, and basic encounter commands are always visible;
|
||
all other actions, inventory, and location menus are hidden in pull-down menus.
|
||
A first-person view window is always present as well, similar to games such as
|
||
BARD'S TALE. The program supports the IBM PC/XT/AT and PS/2 models 25, 30, 50, &
|
||
60; the Tandy 1000 series, 2000, & 4000; EGA, CGA, MCGA/VGA (both in 16 colors),
|
||
and Tandy 16-color. The EGA and CGA versions require 384K, and the
|
||
VGA/MCGA/Tandy modes require 512K.
|
||
|
||
As in many other CRPGs, it's difficult to get your beginning character strong
|
||
enough to withstand the first few encounters, unless you choose to _run_ from
|
||
those encounters -- but if you do, you'll run halfway across the city and appear
|
||
elsewhere at random. Because of this, and because of the relentlessly exhausting
|
||
mouse problem, I cannot recommend the game wholeheartedly. But spy fans will
|
||
find an unusual and interesting challenge in THE THIRD COURIER, and it's
|
||
definitely worthy of consideration by those who prefer games in a contemporary
|
||
setting instead of a dragon-infested fantasyland.
|
||
|
||
AMIGA VERSION NOTES
|
||
|
||
I really wanted to like THE THIRD COURIER: The idea's fresh; the manual comes
|
||
packed with all sorts of useful information for gameplay; the beginning has the
|
||
nice "high-tech spy" kind of feel Josh mentions above. But the design of the
|
||
interface itself, along with the design of the graphics and sound, is just a
|
||
little too primitive for my tastes.
|
||
|
||
I can't say whether this is the result of the quality of the conversion, or
|
||
just inherent in the design itself, but the artistry present in the graphics
|
||
animation window is rudimentary, at best. I've seen work by high-school
|
||
sophomores that's more professional-looking.
|
||
|
||
The animation is okay, but in some cases rather sexist. Granted, the secretary
|
||
at HQ is supposed to be empty-headed (a rather tired stereotype itself), but
|
||
having her standing there doing breast calisthenics while she's talking to you
|
||
is a bit much. Other women represented in the game display the same tendency. To
|
||
be fair, the designers should have had the organ-grinder scratching his crotch,
|
||
at least.
|
||
|
||
Along with this, the "bums" that show up regularly onscreen have a rather
|
||
unfortunate tendency to look more like rabbis than anything else; I suspect
|
||
there are more street people than killer rabbis left in West Germany at this
|
||
point, and rabbis don't usually carry hidden knives, anti-Semitic fantasies
|
||
notwithstanding. I'm sure this was just accidental, but it's an unpleasant
|
||
accident, considering the setting of the game.
|
||
|
||
One last problem I had with the graphics was the incredible sameness of the
|
||
buildings represented. One runs into brick walls all too easily when first
|
||
starting up any tough CRPG (and THE THIRD COURIER _is_ tough to start);
|
||
excessive visual reminders of that fact become downright irritating.
|
||
|
||
The copy-protection scheme used for THE THIRD COURIER is right up there on my
|
||
teeth-gnashing list with Spectrum Holobyte's FALCON -- the sliding
|
||
code-bar/matching letters design is clever, but all too often it takes a lot of
|
||
squinting to determine which particular squiggle onscreen you're looking at.
|
||
|
||
Finally, the mouse control, while not quite as bad as that described in the IBM
|
||
version, still requires a bit of "hunting" when trying to find the right point
|
||
to click on when accessing menu options. The extra bit of attention this demands
|
||
-- minimal as it is -- becomes a real distraction during gameplay.
|
||
|
||
The game comes on two copyable disks, and includes complete instructions for
|
||
installation on a hard drive. Users will need at least 1MB of RAM to run THE
|
||
THIRD COURIER from a hard drive, but it will play in 512K on floppy systems. It
|
||
is completely controlled with the mouse, and will run on A1000s, A500s, and
|
||
A2000s.
|
||
|
||
If you can live with the frustrations and annoyances, THE THIRD COURIER _is_ a
|
||
challenging CRPG with a new theme, but there are many better designs out there
|
||
for Amiga CRPG fans.
|
||
|
||
THE THIRD COURIER is published and distributed by Accolade.
|
||
|
||
*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
|
||
|