CIA Adventure was written by Hugh Lampert and was introduced to users courtesy of CLOAD. CLOAD was a subscription service for the TRS-80. Every month or so, you received a tape with a bunch of programs and a flyer with a brief editorial and contents of the tape. Some of the programs had instructions (a huge thank you to Garry for this information! ) Two previous CLOAD games that we have covered are Spider Mountain Adventure and Dungeons & Dragons.
CIA Adventure is actually very good. It has a plot and some interesting puzzle sequences that require some thought.
The only issue with CIA Adventure is that there were areas where I struggled with the parser. I was either playing “guess the verb” or the game took liberties with objects in the room and the player’s assumptions. A perfect example of this is in the beginning of the game. You begin the game outside of a tall office building and once you make your way inside you find yourself in a lobby. You can go east and west from the lobby (which result in dead ends for now) and then there appears to be nowhere to go or anything to do. The lobby description DOES contain sliding glass doors. You ask yourself “are these the entrance doors I walked in from the street?” or like many lobbies “is there an elevator?”. The building is described as being tall after all. Even though there is no description or clue that it exists; if you type PRESS BUTTON from the lobby then elevator doors open and you can then step inside.
In CIA Adventure there are two things that make it both challenging and memorable.
- The first involves inventory management. You cannot carry very many items at any one time. This requires some tough decision making as you’re trying to determine when you should drop an item or even IF you should drop an item. You can even prevent yourself from finishing the game based on your inventory choices.
- CIA Adventure requires a particular sequence of events to be performed in a specific order. If you fail to complete one of the tasks you’ll find yourself stuck or “stymied” and at a roadblock in the game. Late in the game it can even result in your death.
There are moments in the game where you will become painfully aware what you were SUPPOSED to do or WHICH item you should have kept and I found myself having to start over a few times.
You begin the game outside of a tall building on a busy street. Each time you try to enter the building you are thrown out by a security guard back out onto the street. It is then that I realized I had to remove and discard my CIA badge and then I was able to enter the building. There are some really unique and inventive puzzles in this game.
I had mentioned that discovering the elevator in the lobby made for a frustrating experience. Once discovered you’ll find that the elevator plays an integral role in the game as you move about three floors. Each floor has it’s own set of unique challenges. There is a video cassette recorder in the Visitor’s Room of the first floor and you’re likely going to play “find the verb” before you’re finally finished with the item. You’re going to have to find a way to power the device and connect it to a television so that you can watch a very important video tape later in the game.
There is more to the second floor here than meets the eye. The coffee machine plays a large role later in the game. Cough cough
There is a secret lair of CHAOS hidden within the building. Finding it will be a real “treat”. Giggle There are a couple of tricky parser and semantic issues to deal with on this secret level. One of them caused me to have to start over not once but twice until I understood it’s ramifications late in the game. Enjoy.
The puzzles on the third floor raise the stakes a bit. Death is suddenly a very real possibility and there are a few ways in which you can die. I think I personally found every one of them. The puzzles on this level are tricky ranging from dealing with the alert security guard, solving locks, and successfully stealing the ruby. Inventory management and sequencing of actions suddenly take center stage.
I debated about whether or not I should do a complete walkthrough with this one, the urge to do so was strong. But, I had to remind myself once again that my goal here is to hopefully entice YOU, dear reader, to play and experience these old games for yourself as well. If you DO decide to play this little gem and you need a nudge in the right direction you know where to find me.
While CIA Adventure is not going to win my Game of the Year award, it is pretty impressive fare for a game delivered to you on a CLOAD tape. It is definitely the strongest CLOAD entry that I’ve played to date. The game has an interesting plot, cohesive locations, original and interesting puzzles, and a great ending. A very pleasant surprise after having just finished Cavern of Riches. I strongly urge you to give this one a try. It is worth your time.