<!--
	Title: (A Software Cornucopia) Infidel
	Author: Steve Panak
	Source: Analog Computing, #24
	Date: November 1984
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

**INFIDEL<br>
by Michael Berlyn<br>
INFOCOM, INC.<br>
55 Wheeler Street<br>
Cambridge, MA 02138<br>
32K Disk $42.95**

**Infidel** (*n.* a disbeliever in something specified or
understood) is Infocom's first entry in its newest series,
**Tales of Adventure**. While their previous voyages
have taken us to distant galaxies or faraway magical
lands, **Infidel** is set in Egypt, and so, in that respect,
it's down to earth. But the quality of this game is
nothing less than out of this world.

In **Infidel**, you take on the persona of one of the
least likable main characters to appear in any of Infocom's
games. You are an archeologist stranded in
the desert -- through your own fault -- and now you
must either shrivel up like a parched prune or discover
one of the most magnificent treasure troves in the
history of Egyptology.

The packaging is just what we have come to expect
from Infocom. The manual is in the form of a
pulp adventure magazine, and a personal diary provides
you with a reasonably disgusting set of personality
traits.

It seems that, after a rather disappointing tenure
as an archeologist's assistant, you have become restless
and decided to branch out on your own. So, of
course, you lied and bilked an ancient map out of an
old spinster who was trying to employ your boss. Then
you dumped all of those moral people and set off to
grab it all for yourself.

But your greed overshadowed what negligible good
sense you might have had and, after insulting the local
help's religious customs, you found yourself waking
up from a drugged camel's milk drink. Alone. In
the desert. With nothing for miles except a plane
which dropped a single, parachuted item and then
slowly shrank to a speck in the sky. Now you can insert
the disk and get control of your life.

<figure class="float-right">
	<img src="/public/img/articles/analog-infidel-review/infidel-packaging.jpg" alt="Infidel packaging">
	<figcaption class="center bold">Infidel</figcaption>
</figure>

In the first phase of the game, you must survive to
find the pyramid. This is really not a very difficult
task, unless you forget an important item from your
camp -- or run out of food, water or time. Your greatest
challenges await you in the great pyramid's chambers.

Each area contains an ancient puzzle, issued eons
ago. **Infidel**'s solutions do not rely on magical items
or spells (but there may be a curse or two; no self-respecting
pyramid would be without one). Each trap
seems as if it may have been designed by the pyramid's
builders to prevent looting, and they're all reminiscent
of the *Raiders* films of late. Careful reasoning
and observation will allow you to solve these problems.
But there are also clues.

On the walls of the mighty pyramid are hieroglyphics.
If these are deciphered, they offer valuable clues
to aid you in your quest for riches. Interpreting these
is a relatively good exercise in its own right. Though
solving them is not essential to finish, they are an
extra which provides the game with depth. Write
down all the marks you can find, then translate them
using traditional code-breaking methods (i.e., spotting
common words). This is another challenge you
accept when playing **Infidel**.

All of the basic Infocom program features are present;
SAVE game, as always, is a must for the weary
adventurer. In fact, this product is, overall, just what
we have come to expect from the people at Infocom --
high quality entertainment, imitated but never
equalled. **Infidel** is a worthy addition to their software
library, and to yours.
