Cutthroats

Cutthroats (English for cutthroat ) is a text adventure from Infocom from the year 1984.

Action

The scene is Hardscrabble Iceland, a fictional island whose location is not defined, but is likely to be on the south coast of the U.S. or in the Caribbean. Hardscrabble was once a thriving fishing port, in the 1920s, the business was but decreased rapidly, and in the 1980s, in which playing the game, inhabit only a few die-hard fortune seekers and other dubious characters the island. The player is also fortune seekers and as a certified diver for possible treasures from shipwrecks. One night dive on an old friend of the player, who is very excited and asks the player to take a card into custody. A little later the friend is murdered. Two previously undiscovered shipwrecks are listed on the map, and the player decides to eventually involve existing treasures. He has to rely on the help of the locals, some of which turn out to be trustworthy, others are not.

Gameplay and technology

Cutthroats is a text adventure, that is, there is no graphic elements. Environment and events are made and the actions of the player entered as on-screen text also as text using the keyboard. The game contains random elements. There are, for example, around Hardscrabble Iceland two wrecks, the São Vera and the Leviathan, but of which contains only a randomly fixed this treasure. As side dishes ( " Feelies " ) contained Cutthroats a fictional magazine called True Tales of Adventure, a book of fictional Hardscrabble Harbor Historical Society with information about sunken ships around, a diving map with longitude, latitude and depth data of several wrecks and the price list of a equipment business for diving needs. These supplements are referenced in the game and make thus represents a copy

Reception

Contemporary reviews highlighted the excellent package inserts and in the genre comparatively high level. Were noted negative action, the rigid corset and the sometimes illogical puzzles.