~3 minute readMARKETALK: Reviews
The Witness
The Witness. By Steve Galley. The heavy perfumed smoke from the great man's pipe enfolded Watson the moment he cracked open the door, and the sweet strains of violin music doubled in volume and pathos.
"Holmes," Watson ventured, "I hate to interrupt you, but. ..."
"Then don't, sir," came the deep response, although no sign of awareness of the good doctor showed in Holmes's lank, languid form. He went right on drawing bow across strings of the instrument he loved to caress.
"But Holmes," Watson protested, "it's such a fascinating case. Not many suspects, you know, but quite difficult. You see, all the evidence points to one fellow, and I'm convinced the poor chap didn't do it. But, gads. Holmes, I can't find the proper evidence to figure out who did, and—"
"My good fellow" — Holmes said, finishing a melody and raising his chin tentatively from the violin — "we've just finished a wearing case: tell me no more and send these people elsewhere. I need time. "He drew deeply on his pipe and began to fall back into his playing position.
"No, no. Holmes," said Watson, warming to his task. "This isn't people, at least not real ones. It's the new Interlogic Mystery from Infocom I'm talking about, called The Witness. As the player, we actually witness a murder and must solve the mystery. It all takes place in the pulp-style world of Los Angeles in the year 1938."
"Well, why didn't you say so, man?" Holmes whisked his violin into its case and changed to his mystery-solving pipe. "You know how I loved Deadline."
Yes, but, well . . . I never did understand exactly how you knew the butler. ..."
"Elementary. Watson." Holmes remarked as he hurried Watson to the computer room. "Los Angeles, eh? In 1938. Leave it to Infocom to be the first to bring us a science-fiction mystery."
Everything about The Witness reflects the style of the pulp detective magazines of the late thirties and early forties — history, rather than science fiction, from our perspective. And all the era-relevant details of the game and the package have been carefully researched for accuracy.
The package itself is lots of fun. Cliche after cliche from those popular pulps jumps off the outside folder in thirties-traditional multiple typefaces. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, move over; here comes Infocom. The dossier contains a bunch of clues, including a pack of matches from the Brass Lantern restaurant (could our friend Zork resemble Alfred Hitchcock?); a thirties-style telegram actually set up and authenticated by Western Union; a page from the Santa Ana Register of February 1, 1938, doctored only to include the story relevant to the game; and a copy of Nat'l Detective Gazette, complete with authentic ads from the National Sheriff 1938 and filled with stories that supply the documentation for the game.
The Witness is fun to play, but the mystery adventure form is still in its infancy. Although the interaction is terrific, it's kind of like terrific caviar; it makes you hunger for the main course. You'll think of a hundred questions you know you can't ask, and it's not totally consoling knowing that if you can't ask them you don't need them. Still, if this first step weren't so good, it wouldn't make you think of how much more you'd like.
The mystery, when all is said and done, is fairly simple; Deadline was more complex. But the atmosphere and sense of reality make up for it. The Witness is another plum for mystery buffs. And, like the pulps it emulates, the entire package is apt to become a collector's item some day.
The Witness, by Steve Galley, Infocom (55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; 617492-1031). $49.95.
This article appeared in
Softalk
Jul 1983
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
