Countdown PC

You just woke up in a cold and gloomy cell. If it wasn't for a health card firmly attached to a hospital bed, you wouldn't even know what your name is. Who are you, what are you doing here, what made you suddenly find yourself in such a strange place and finally the last question: why do doctors want to have a lobotomy on you? After all, you feel as normal as possible....

Countdown is another great adventure by Access Software, known from a series of games about the adventures of detective Tex Murphy (Mean Streets, Under a Kipling Moon). This time the scriptwriters allowed you to play the role of Mason Powers, a CIA agent, who for some reason became very uncomfortable. After escaping from prison, you'll slowly discover more elements of a complex puzzle, leading to the capture of the "mole" operating in the agency and the prevention of global conflict.

The game uses the "point & click" interface, with a few commands located at the bottom of the screen. The importance of most of them is well known to adventure fans and does not require commentary. It is completely different with the conversation option, which provides several new functions. In Countdown we do not select from among ready sentences, the conversation does not take place automatically. The only thing that is decided by the player is the mood in which he or she speaks the next issues. In a critical situation it is possible, for example, to discuss in a calm way, but when we care about bluff, we can lie as much as we can.

Access Software is a company that once liked to promote visual setting consisting of a series of digitized images, and it is no different in Countdown. Unfortunately, both the animation of the main character and the interluded film interludes leave a lot to be desired. The only excuse for the poorer quality of this sphere of the programme is its year of production - at the beginning of the 1990s such attempts were very courageous and, above all, innovative. The sound is at a decent level, especially the use of spoken dialogues in the above-mentioned interludes arouses respect.

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Last updated on 10 December 2007