Harlan Ellison: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

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Description

The game is based on a collection of short stories by Harlan Ellison. After the Cold War, the computers of the USA, Russia and China take over the world and wipe out almost the entire human race. The Allied Mastercomputer (called AM) holds the last five humans as prisoners to torture them. Any of them has to face his or her past in a virtual adventure AM has designed for them. There they encounter their fears and weaknesses.

The player can choose which of the protagonists he wants to be but in fact he has to complete all of the six stories in order to solve the game. There are different ways of completing the game depending on the humanity the player shows.

The voice acting features Harlan Ellison as AM.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Безмолвный Крик " -- Russian spelling
• "No Tengo Boca y Debo Gritar" -- Spanish title
• "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" -- Windows title
• "Bezmolvnyj Krik" -- Russian title

Part of the Following Groups

• Inspiration: Literature
• Middleware: Fastgraph

User Reviews

The clever, imaginative material alone makes up for any deficiencies	DOS	Zovni (10646)
My favorite game	DOS	Jordan Owen (15)
Bold move, long fall.	DOS	Ola Sverre Bauge (241)
This attempt at something completely different partially succeeds.	DOS	Ben Sokal (18)

Critic Reviews

Score	DOS	Dec, 1995	9 out of 10	90
PC Gamer	DOS	Jan, 1996	87 out of 100	87
Jeuxvideo.com	DOS	Nov 10, 2014	17 out of 20	85
Pelit	DOS	Apr, 1996	80 out of 100	80
Just Adventure	DOS	2000	B-	67
Adventurearchiv	DOS	Jul 22, 2004	64 out of 100	64
Privat Computer PC	DOS	1996	51 out of 100	51
Aventura y Cía	DOS	Jan 15, 2003		50
PC Player (Germany)	DOS	Mar, 1996	49 out of 100	49
GameSpot	DOS	May 01, 1996	4.3 out of 10	43

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Trivia

Extras

The original retail box included a 3D mousepad with the box cover image.

German and French version

The German and French versions have been heavily censored, with the Nimdok chapter entirely removed. While it was speculated that Nimdok was absent from the German version because of local anti-nazi laws, it is still not clear why the French version was affected as well. This renders the best ending impossible to achieve.

Lawsuit

Harlan Ellison, the author of the story the game was based on, sued the developer when he believed that he wasn't getting his share of the profits. It turned out there weren't any.

Original story

As of 2001, the short story I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (which the game was based on) is one of the ten most reprinted stories in the English language.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • June 1996 (Issue #143) – Adventure Game of the Year
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #134 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #3 Top Sleeper Of All Time
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #14 Most Rewarding Ending of All Time

Information also contributed by casimps1, Kaminari and KnockStump

Related Web Sites

• Crapshoot (A humorous review on PC Gamer)
• FAQs & Guides (posted on GameFaqs.com)
• Game Nostalgia (Provides extensive background info for I have No Mouth, pictures of the cast and examples of voice-overs, full credits with shots and info about the design team, a demo of the game, specific details about the game, various goodies, all musical themes, shots of every location in the game, saved games, a list of reviews, including a "nostalgic "review and tech specs.)
• Playing this game using DOSBox (This page explains the full details)
• ScummVM (supports I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream under Windows, Macintosh and other platforms.)
• UHS Hile File (The Universal Hint System offers a download of their question & answer format solution guide here.)
• Walkthrough on Gamezilla (Good game guide for solving this game.)