Cruise for a Corpse

Men för alla oss som drömt om att vara Hercule Poirot – det här är spelet för oss!

The first Delphine adventures were great games, but they did contain a couple of minor faults. Delphine have improved the famous adventure system and created one of the toughest adventure's I've ever played. The main character adds an extra dimension, but it fails to shadow the superb bitmapped backdrops. Newcomers to adventure games may find it hard, because you can perform most actions in any order. However, Cruise For A Corpse is real treat that will doubtless appeal to any games playing Amiga owner.

This is truly an adventure game for those who love reading Agatha Christie. The characters are deep, they all have secrets and everybody has an opinion about everyone else.

It's tricky so hoard up a good supply of perseverance before you try your hand at detecting in this game. Just take it easy, that's my advice ... and be methodical. Though it could have had a little more detecting and a little less interrogating, on the whole I thought Cruise for a Corpse was a great little game.

The graphics alone would be enough to get you addicted, but even such beauty wears out after some time. The only thing which can make you stay is a good plot. And Cruise for a Corpse does have one! It catches the 1920s atmosphere quite well, both by graphics and characters.

Those who like whodunnit-stories, are just right here. A lot of story and everyone could be the rogue. Adventure game fanatics shouldn't miss the game. But people who like changes, selfinitiative and tricky puzzles, are rather advised against it.

An innovativen Ideen haben die französischen Adventure-Erfinder von Delphine nicht gespart. Von der sehr bequemen Benutzerführung bis zum Grafikfeinschliff (32 Farben auf dem Amiga, geschmeidige 3-D-Darstellung der Sprites) hat man sich offensichtlich viel Mühe gegeben. Die dudelige Musik erreicht nicht das Niveau der Soundeffekte, die eindrucksvoll in Stereo erschallen. Der durch die interessante Story und die schönen Bilder anfangs hochmotivierte Abenteurer läßt nach einer Stunde erst mal verstört die Maus baumeln. Das Eingabesystem ist so einfach, daß es einem die fast schon die ganze Arbeit abnimmt. Dadurch, daß sämtliche Verben angezeigt werden, die man in Verbindung mit einem Objekt gerade aktivieren kann, bleibt nicht viel Freifraum zum Experimentieren. Die spielerische Anforderung konzentriert sich so auf das extrem krümelige Absuchen nach Grafikdetails mit dem Cursor und das Plaudern mit anderen Spielfiguren.

It is sort of amusing, in light of the amazing spectacles modern gaming has given us, to think that deep inside the brain of a computer is a series of on/off switches, and millions of these little switches repeatedly flipping become our favorite games. This is binary code, the brain behind every computer program in history. At a less geeky level, on/off switches known as variables are used to direct the flow of adventure games. Flags are set to drop when a certain event happens, and based on the position of said flag, characters react differently to certain things.