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	Title: (Screening Room: The Rating Game) Deadline
	Authors: Anne Morris
	Source: K-Power, v1(1)
	Date: February 1984
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

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<span class="small-caps">hardware requirements:</span>
*Apple
II/II plus/IIe/III w/emulator, 48K
(disk); also available on IBM-PC,
64K (disk); TRS-80 I/III, 32K
(disk); Atari 400/800/1200, 32K
(disk); and Commodore 64 (disk,
distributed only through Commodore).*<br>
<span class="small-caps">manufacturer:</span> *Infocom, Inc.,
55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA
02138; (617) 492-1031*<br>
<span class="small-caps">price:</span> *$49.95*
<p></p>
<img class="img-center" style="height: 3em; max-width: 90%; width: auto;" src="/public/img/articles/k-power-zork-iii-review/eight.png" alt="Rating: 8">
<p></p>
<img src="/public/img/articles/k-power-deadline-review/deadline-screen-shot.jpg" alt="Deadline screen shot">
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In *Deadline*, Infocom's first mystery text adventure, you're a
detective trying to solve the mystery of an apparent suicide.

When the game begins, it's 8:00 a.m., you're outside the victim's
estate, and you have 12 hours to solve the case. Most of
the commands you give the computer count as one minute. Some
that may take longer in reality, though, also take longer than
one minute in the game (e.g., SEARCH). To keep you aware of
(and worried about) your deadline, the time is displayed constantly
on the top of the screen.

On your search for clues, you're allowed to roam freely
around the estate, enter any rooms, and examine anything of
value to the case. When noon arrives, though, the lawyer shows
up to read the victim's will, so keep an eye on the time.

Some of *Deadline*'s more interesting features include: commands
that permit you to WAIT for an event to occur, ANALYZE
objects at any time, FOLLOW people, discuss other people or
things with suspects, and HIDE from someone if a hiding place is
available. You also can ask the suspects any questions you want.
When they answer, however, they're not always truthful.
There are false leads, subplots, and as many as 25 different possible
endings (including the death of the suspect, or your own
death.)

To enhance the realism of *Deadline*, the game comes with
all sorts of different items: a casebook describing the dos and
don'ts of being a detective, a memo from the police department,
a coroner's report, a letter from the victim's lawyer, a lab
report describing items found by the body, a sample of the drug
(candy, actually) the victim supposedly took an overdose of, a
photograph of where the body was found, brief interviews with
the suspects, and the suspects' fingerprints.

It's difficult to solve the mystery the first, second, or even
fifth time you try. But it doesn't become boring after a few weeks.
You can save up to eight different games to come back to, and
since your time is used only when making moves, you can
continue whenever you want. *Deadline* is very exciting, is as
good, or better, than *Zork*, and will bring hours of enjoyment
and, best of all, intrigue.

ANNE MORRIS *lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She's 15 years old.*