Home of the Underdogs
About News FAQs Contact HOTU GoogleGroup Music Manuals
Category Applications Action Adventure Education Interactive Fiction Puzzle Role Playing Games Simulation Special Sport Strategy War




Support the EFF
Welcome How you can help
Browse Games
Welcome Random Pick
Welcome By Company
  Welcome By Theme  
Welcome By Alphabet
Welcome By Year
Welcome Title Search
Welcome Company Search
Welcome Designer Search
Recommended
Welcome Freeware Titles
Welcome Collections
Welcome Discord
Welcome Twitter
Welcome Facebook
Welcome File Format Guide
Welcome Help: Non PC Games
Welcome Help: Win Games
Welcome Help: DOS Games
Welcome Recommended Links
Site History Site History
Legacy Legacy
Link to Us Link to Us
Credits Thanks & Credits
Abandonware Ring

Abandoned Places

dungeoncrawlers.org

Creative Commons License


Game #4006
Hall of Belated Fame Inductee  Witness, The    View all Top Dogs in this genre
Interactive Fiction   Conventional

Rating: 7.71 (7 votes)

Witness, The box cover

Witness, The screenshot
The year: 1938. The place: Los Angeles. A wealthy but paranoid man has asked you, a police detective, for protection. Despite your efforts, the man is killed. Can you find out who killed Freeman Linder?

The Witness was Infocom's second detective adventure after Deadline, and anyone who was frustrated with that game's extremely high difficulty level will be happy to know that The Witness is much easier and more straightforward. Unfortunately, it is also less fun to play.

The good news is that the parser is much better than 1982's Deadline. The game now understands a wider range of synonyms. But there isn't much you would need to blame the parser on: the game is not hard at all, as the plot develops quickly and it is not difficult to just "stumble" upon the murderer. That is not to say you wouldn't need to do any investigative work at all; the clues are just more obvious and there are fewer "trigger events" that you must witness to finish the game.

The plot in The Witness is well thought-out, but the writing is not as atmospheric as Deadline, although the game still does a good job of evoking the feel of the 1930's. Fortunately, the NPCs in the game are very well designed, each programmed with a wide range of actions and reactions that will entertain you long after you have already solved the game.

Overall, The Witness is another solid Infocom game. It is much easier than Deadline, making it a a good intermediate-level entry. It may not be Infocom's best work, but it is still better than most other mystery games in Infocom's canon, including Suspect and Moonmist. Recommended!

Reviewed by: Underdogs
Designer: Stu Galley
Developer: Infocom
Publisher: Infocom
Year: 1983
Software Copyright: Infocom
Theme: Mystery, Modern, Organized Forces
Multiplayer:  
None that we know of
System Requirements: DOS
Where to get it:
Related Links:  
Links:    
If you like this game, try: Deadline, Suspect, Border Zone

© 1998 - 2024 Home of the Underdogs
Portions are copyrighted by their respective owners. All rights reserved. Please read our privacy policy.