Interface

Since the gameplay of any interactive adventure is determined by its parser, even the best scenarios can fall out of inadequate systems. Fortunately, good ol' Mag Scrolls know enough about interaction to make the often tedious precess of look-examine-take-enact routines interesting and absorbing. This is not to say they get everything right - you can ask the most logical questions and still get a dumb reply.

Many current systems seem to assume you never ask questions beginning with who, what, why, when or how, so direct questioning can be harrowing. Here this is partially overcome by the provision of two key commands - 'Ask' and 'Tell' - whereby you can enquire of or inform someone of something and receive pertinent information in return. Another useful command is 'Follow' which allows you to navigate the diversity of locations without having to enter directional inputs - it's also a valuable means of gaining access to rooms which would otherwise be denied to you.

In short, it's a parser which can accommodate a diverse range of inputs, and as a consequence you don't get the feeling that you're somehow caught in an inflexible system to which you must slavishly conform. The effect is very refreshing.

Gameplay

Your task as the central character in this contemporary crime thriller is to seek out the evidence required to clear yourself of implication in serious fraud. After pulling off a major share deal, you have been poached by a City firm and offered a partnership, replete with a company BMW.

However, shares is not the only form of dealing in which you're embroiled. Cocaine also happens to be one of the leading commodities of the moment and guess who's going to take the fall if there's a major crash on that market? In fact it seems you were only taken on as a fall guy.

At 9 a.m. on the first day you are shown your new office. You wander around the office chased by messages from your distinctly un-feminine secretary, and if you look as though you're busy you can drop in on your boss's secretary (who's altogether more delectable), the company lawyer, the brokers and even the cleaner for vital gossip.

There are phones, ledgers and files to be found. There's even your car to go out in. The first sign that all is not what it seems is when you overhear a conversation between your boss and the company lawyer which suggests that your successful deal was rigged. Since you must listen at a door to glean this information it soon becomes apparent that the only way to proceed is by devious methods.

Before long you have worked out a way to steal a cassette from your boss's office, which reveals a subtly doctored recording of your interview. Something is definitely amiss, and it ain't just your secretary.

So, the principal objective is to extract information and manipulate other characters in an attempt to clear yourself of impending fraud charges. Once amassed, you must get your evidence to the local police station, avoiding the menaces of drug barons, corrupt police, homicidal doctors and all manner of baddies.

The locations and characterisations are expertly described, and the sense of struggle-against-all-odds is lightened by the outrageous circumstances befalling you. If you've ever seen Scorcese's After Hours you'll know what's in store for you. (Smartass - Ed). Let's put it this way - things do get a little out of hand.