Suspect

Ray Berube

SUSPECT
by David Lebling
INFOCOM, INC.
55 Wheeler Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 492-1031
48K Disk $39.95

Infocom has released a new text adventure for its mystery series. It is titled Suspect and is not for the inexperienced player. Retailing for $39.95, it is certainly a chock-full adventure for the money. However, as varied and detailed as it is, Suspect doesn't satisfy as well as some of Infocom's earlier mystery adventures.

Written by David Lebling, co-author of Zork and a mainstay of creative imagination at Infocom, Suspect invites you to play the role of a newspaper reporter attending a "chic" Halloween costume party. As expected, your hostess is murdered with your lariat (you had to come dressed as Roy Rogers), and you suddenly become the primary Suspect. The familiar character of Sergeant Duffy is on hand to arrest you if you can't solve the crime by discovering the identity of the real murderer.

According to Lebling, "Suspect combines the rich texture of The Witness with the complicated plot structure that distinguishes Infocom mysteries." It is also supposedly characterized by the dry humor familiar to Infocom fans.

Well, before addressing these claims in detail, I'd like to take a moment to comment on one of Suspect's best features -- its new packaging. There was a time when interested computer owners could spot an Infocom game from across the crowded software store. Its packaging was unique and very often beautiful, as with the fantasy game Enchanter. However, Infocom discovered a few drawbacks with implementing innovative packaging, namely: poor dealer space utilization and customer dissatisfaction.

It looked pretty, but you couldn't stack it, shelve it, or put it in a drawer (the frisbee of Starcross springs to mind). It only caught your attention as a buyer if the dealer would display it. So some of Infocom's games began to experience sales declines, because of dealer reluctance to allot space displaying the unusual boxes.

What to do? The wizards at Infocom got together and came up with a solution both practical and attractive. The change to a more uniform shape for the package, with a distinctive design for each game, has helped some Infocom titles, especially the Zork series.

Suspect has arrived in a new box, compact and functional. It serves well as a storage unit for the game's components and it stacks neatly on the dealer's shelf. So, from now on, look for Infocom in a classy book-sized package. The days of Suspended's mask are gone (and I still haven't found the right opportunity to wear my Suspended mask).

Now, on to the game itself. The opening moves reveal a cast of very well-detailed characters, who can be interacted with most effectively. However, trying to map or chart their movements from ballroom to hallway to outside to office is quite a challenge. Not to mention that some of these characters are only known to you by their costume. Considerable care and patience is required to chart this opening.

The inexperienced player should take heed! Suspect requires careful mapping and charting of characters to keep things straight and to give you any chance to solve its riddles. The play is very user friendly, as with all Infocom's games. You can't fault a parser which allows you to communicate on a nearly conversational level with the game elements.

In fact, technically, this is probably Infocom's most complex and truly "interactive" adventure thus far. There is a whole rogues' gallery of characters with whom you can converse and interact. This reviewer could not find any negative aspects to report on concerning the programming of the adventure.

The complaints I have are involved more with the tone and style of Suspect than with its mechanics. From the moment you open the package and read "Murder and Modern Manners" (the game's expository text), you get the feeling this whole adventure promises to be a joke -- at your expense.

The idea of finding oneself Suspected of murder and then being forced to find the real killer is a good one. A real sense of danger, excitement and a little paranoia is possible. So Suspect has a good idea, but fails to take that idea seriously.

Throughout the adventure, references to other familiar mysteries are forever cropping up: for example, empty window box seats and Arsenic and Old Lace. Somehow, this adventure would be more fun, realistic and intriguing from a mystery point of view without these "dry humor" intrusions.

All of this leads me to a point that I feel I must make at this time, concerning Infocom's current crop of adventures. Are these wizards of the text adventure afraid to be serious for a change? There seems to be a cynicism underlying their adventures, from Zork to Infidel and now Suspect. I haven't had the opportunity to play Cutthroats as yet, but its packaging seems to suggest more of the same.

Perhaps it's time for Infocom to consider dividing the task of writing text adventures. There is no question that they have the technical know-how. I can't think of a software company that is even near to challenging their technical skills. Maybe they need an infusion of new blood from the creative writing end of text adventures. Seastalker and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy were collaborative efforts, and it may be time to do more games along this line.

The future of text adventures is bright, and its brightest star is Infocom. If anyone is to succeed in bringing us more exciting adventure, I'm sure they will be a prime source.

I don't recommend the novice adventurer buy Suspect. He or she will be more frustrated than entertained by this game. I recommend The Witness, if you want to get a taste for mystery.

If you're a seasoned gamer, and you aren't upset by constant kidding, then Suspect may be just your cup of tea. It is certainly complex, detailed and imaginative. I just wished it took itself a little more seriously, both as a game and an example of truly interactive fiction.

---

---

These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.