Countdown (video game)

Last updated
Countdown
Countdown 1990 DOS Cover Art.jpg
Developer(s) Access Software
Publisher(s) Access Software
Designer(s) Brent Erickson
Chris Jones
Platform(s) MS-DOS
Release1990
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Countdown is a point-and-click adventure game released by Access Software for MS-DOS in 1990. The game was re-released on GOG.com on 26 July 2021. [1]

Contents

The player plays as Mason Powers, a CIA agent who wakes up in a Turkish mental hospital, suffering from partial amnesia and accused of murdering his supervisor. Powers must escape the hospital, find out who framed him, piece together his memory, and prevent terrorists from blowing up a peace conference.

Development

Amiga and Atari ST versions of Countdown were planned for release in Autumn 1991, [2] but were never released.

Reception

Computer Gaming World 's Charles Ardai stated that "Countdown is as close to perfect as any game can be. It also comes closer to earning its self-appointed identification as an 'Interactive Movie' than any of its predecessors or competitors". The magazine wrote that excellent VGA graphics, sound, and controls made the game a "feature film" compared to the "mere cartoons" from Sierra On-Line, and compensated for the stock plot devices of amnesia and a protagonist falsely accused of murder. [3]

The One gave Countdown an overall score of 84%, praising the game's "cinematic atmosphere", which they attributed to the game's digitized graphics, "spine-chilling" sound effects, and the game's flashback sequences. While expressing that Countdown isn't an 'interactive movie' but rather an adventure with cinematic effects, The One compared Countdown's visuals to British science fiction series Joe 90 , and 1965 spy film The Ipcress File . Despite praising the game's 'good' animation, The One criticized Countdown's 'average' graphics and "limited" inputs, stating that it "can't quite match the breadth or complexity of a top class Sierra or Lucasfilm" game. Despite this, The One praised Countdown as "complex and substantial", and expressed that the game's espionage plot and exotic locations are 'engaging'. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure</i> 1989 video game

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphic adventure game, released in 1989 by Lucasfilm Games, coinciding with the release of the film of the same name. It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.

<i>Star Trek: Judgment Rites</i> 1993 video game

Star Trek: Judgment Rites is a computer game first produced by Interplay Productions in 1993, featuring the original cast of the classic Star Trek in a series of new adventures, including one featuring Trelane, the omnipotent child from the original episode "The Squire of Gothos". Judgment Rites uses the same MS-DOS game engine as the earlier Star Trek: 25th Anniversary; however, it had sharper graphics and sound, particularly with the CD-ROM edition. All of the initial cast members provided voices for their characters on the game in that edition. William Campbell also reprised his guest role as Trelane.

<i>Under a Killing Moon</i> 1994 video game

Under a Killing Moon is a 1994 point-and-click adventure interactive movie video game. It is the third installment in the Tex Murphy series of adventure games produced by Access Software. In it, the detective Tex Murphy finds himself unwittingly involved in the affairs of a dangerous cult.

<i>Lure of the Temptress</i> 1992 video game

Lure of the Temptress is a point-and-click adventure game published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in June 1992 for Atari ST, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It was the first game developed by Revolution Software and uses their proprietary Virtual Theatre engine. The player assumes the role of Diermot, a young peasant who has to overthrow an evil sorceress. The game was well-received and re-released as freeware on April 1, 2003.

<i>Kings Quest V</i> 1990 video game

King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! is a 1990 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line. Originally released in November 1990, it featured a significant improvement in graphics. It was also the first King's Quest installment to replace the typing user interface with a point-and-click user interface. The title is a spoof on the proverb "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Phantasmagoria</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Phantasmagoria is a point-and-click adventure horror video game designed by Roberta Williams for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows and released by Sierra On-Line on August 24, 1995. It tells the story of Adrienne Delaney, a writer who moves into a remote mansion and finds herself terrorized by supernatural forces. It was made at the peak of popularity for interactive movie games and features live-action actors and footage, both during cinematic scenes and within the three-dimensionally rendered environments of the game itself. It was noted for its violence and sexual content.

<i>Amnesia</i> (1986 video game) 1986 video game

Amnesia is a text adventure written by science fiction author Thomas M. Disch, programmed by Kevin Bentley, and published by Electronic Arts in 1986 for IBM PC compatibles and Apple II. A Commodore 64 version was released in 1987. Disch's ironic, rich writing style is in distinct contrast to the functional or tongue-in-cheek tone of most text adventures. Over half of Disch's novel-length manuscript had to be cut from the published version due to the storage limitations 5¼" floppy disks.

<i>Tass Times in Tonetown</i> 1986 video game

Tass Times in Tonetown is an adventure game published by Activision in 1986. It was designed by Michael Berlyn and Muffy McClung Berlyn and programmed by Rebecca Heineman of Interplay in cooperation with Brainwave Creations.

<i>Heart of China</i> 1991 video game

Heart of China is a 1991 adventure game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line. The game follows the exploits of pilot Jake "Lucky" Masters as he tries to rescue nurse Kate Lomax from a ruthless Chinese warlord.

<i>The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes</i> 1992 adventure video game

The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes is an adventure game developed by Mythos Software and published by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS in 1992 and 3DO in 1994. A sequel was developed and published by the same respective companies in 1996 titled The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo.

<i>Space Quest IV</i> 1991 video game

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers is a 1991 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line. It was released on floppy disks on March 4, 1991, and released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support and featuring Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens as the voice of the narrator. It featured 256-color hand painted graphics and a fully mouse-driven interface. It was one of the first video games to use motion capture animation. It cost over US$1,000,000 to produce and sold more than its three predecessors combined. An Atari ST version was announced via Sierra Online's magazine, Sierra News Magazine, but was later canceled.

<i>Mean Streets</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Mean Streets is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Access Software for MS-DOS in 1989 exclusively in North America. It was ported to the Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Amiga in 1989 and 1990 by The Code Monkeys. Atari ST and Amiga ports were only released in Europe. The game, set in a dystopian cyberpunk neo-noir world, is the first in the series of Tex Murphy mysteries; its immediate sequel is Martian Memorandum. In 1998, Mean Streets was remade as Tex Murphy: Overseer.

<i>Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh</i> 1996 video game

Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh is an interactive movie point-and-click adventure game released by Sierra On-Line. The game was released in North America on November 26, 1996. Though technically a sequel to Roberta Williams' 1995 game Phantasmagoria, Puzzle of Flesh shares no connections with its predecessor in plot nor characters, as Sierra initially intended the Phantasmagoria title to be a horror anthology, with each installment of a different story and style. While not a critical or commercial success, A Puzzle of Flesh, like its predecessor, is remembered for its controversial violent and sexual content, which led the game to be heavily censored or banned outright in several European and Oceanic countries.

<i>The Island of Dr. Brain</i> 1992 video game

The Island of Dr. Brain is the second game in the Dr. Brain series by Sierra On-Line. It was released in 1992 and was only available for IBM PC compatibles. Like the first game in the Dr. Brain series, Castle of Dr. Brain, Island is an educational puzzle adventure game.

<i>Corruption</i> (1988 video game) 1988 video game

Corruption is an interactive fiction game by Magnetic Scrolls released in 1988. In this game, a successful stockbroker suddenly finds himself embroiled in a world of crime and danger.

An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, such as literature and film, encompassing a wide variety of genres. Most adventure games are designed for a single player, since the emphasis on story and character makes multiplayer design difficult. Colossal Cave Adventure is identified by Rick Adams as the first such adventure game, first released in 1976, while other notable adventure game series include Zork, King's Quest, Monkey Island, Syberia, and Myst.

<i>Borrowed Time</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Borrowed Time is a interactive fiction game about a detective, who tries to rescue his kidnapped wife. The game was developed by Interplay and published by Activision in 1985. Mastertronic republished it as a budget title under the name Time to Die.

<i>Killed Until Dead</i> 1986 adventure video game

Killed Until Dead is an adventure game developed by Artech and published by Accolade in 1986. It was released on Apple II, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Red Heat</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Red Heat is a beat 'em up video game based on the 1988 film of the same name. It was developed by British studio Special FX and published by Ocean Software. It was released in Europe in 1989, for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 (C64), and ZX Spectrum.

References

  1. "Big Finish Games official Twitter account". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  2. 1 2 Hamza, Kati (February 1991). "Countdown". The One. No. 29. emap Images. pp. 75–76.
  3. Ardai, Charles (January 1991). "Popcorn Not Included III: Access Software's Countdown". Computer Gaming World. No. 78. Golden Empire Publications. pp. 30, 37, 41.