The BBC and Master Computer Public Domain Library

ESPIONAGE

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Type          : Text Game; Find The Mole In Your Company

Author             : Unknown

Standalone Release(s)   : 1983: ESPIONAGE, Modular Resources Ltd, £8.95

Compilation Release(s) : None

Stated compatibility    : Electron

Actual compatibility    : Electron, BBC B, B+ and Master 128. Plays very fast.

Supplier            : MODULAR RESOURCES LTD. No further information.

Disc compatibility     : CDFS E00, DFS E00

Instructions

Instructions currently unavailable.

Review (ELBUG)

ESPIONAGE is (apparently) 'a unique game of intrigue...programmed to assess your intelligence'. Presumably assessment is on the basis of whether you buy the game or not.

In ESPIONAGE you gave to discover the identity of a mole who is leaking information from your Oil Company to a rival firm. To do this you answer boring telexes, memos, and so on from other members of staff, trying to see if they are interested in subjects outside their field.

The whole game is written in badly structured BASIC. It has as much interest as a chemistry exam. Even when you do discover the mole, all you get is a curt 'Well done' and it's back to square one again.

The worst feature of this game, however, is that it is in several sections, accessed in a different order each game. This means that finding the next section to load takes ages, especially as each section is over fifty blocks long! The messages displayed, such as 'Rewind side two of the tape to just after 170 on the tape counter' are pretty useless as soon as you realise that different recorders have differing tape counters. On the official Acorn data recorder this estimate was about five minutes worth out.

ESPIONAGE is certainly a novel game. It's the first of its type. Let's hope it's the last too.

Oh yeah, you get a free sticker, pen and card too. A real bargain at nearly nine quid. Rating: Zero.

Geoff Bains, ELBUG 2. 2