1984 Cutthroat infocom

   

   This week in my IF class at UPJ we are examining a form of interactive fiction pertaining to infocoms. If you are un-familiar of an infocom it is a from of telecommunications that enhanced the interaction between the computer and the user. This allowed IF to be more comprehend able and acceptable to the commands the user gave to the computer. My professor Dr. David Justus provided us a list of infocoms for us to examine and I chose a piece of work called Cutthroat. There are many differnt works of IF infocoms but this one was most appealing to me. Play Cutthroats here   

 "An adventure game with an objective much different than that of typical adventure games, Cutthroats was a treasure hunt of a unique sort, as the treasure was beneath the waves. While most of the game did take place on dry land, there was quite a bit of plot, and a lot of color in the locales that made the game, and the characters it involved very believable. History of Cutthroats 

    Though the dive for the treasure was exciting, it was certainly not the focus of the game, and not the most memorable part. While not one of Infocom's best games, it is still entertaining to play, and as it offers two shipwrecks (the diving's of which are the only difference, as the rest of the plot remains the same), the game is somewhat replay able. Good if you enjoy real-life treasure hunts that are more "close-to-home" and present day than Infidel (though it is not as hard), Cutthroats is worth playing.

    You live on a small seaport Island called Hardscrabble -- hardly the hip place to be. Working as a professional scuba diver, you have the chance to salvage a sunken treasure from one of four shipwrecks, earn the respect of all the old farts and become wealthy beyond all imagination.

    The player plays as a scuba diver whose uneventful night is interrupted by an old shipmate, Hevlin. Hevlin gives the player a map to two legendary shipwrecks, and then is murdered immediately upon leaving the player's home. The player pursues one of the shipwrecks and the treasure within... knowing that the mysterious murderers is no doubt on the same expedition.

     In an unusual element for Infocom, it is randomly determined for each playthrough which of the two shipwrecks the player will attempt to recover. Gameplay is similar, but not identical, depending on which shipwreck is pursued. The São Vera is a Portuguese ship from the Age of Exploration. The S.S. Leviathan is an American ship that combines elements of the real-life R.M.S. Lusitania and R.M.S. Titanic.

      My experience with cutthroat was good. I enjoyed my first time playing an infocom. It was a pretty easy to understand and I give it 4.5/5 stars. I had to do a lot of research about the game before I started playing it to get the background of and that's the one and only negative experience I had with this work. I completed two screen cast's of Cutthroat. One at the beginning of the game and one in the middle of the game. The links of the gameplay I have completed will be at the bottom of the page. Thank you for viewing my blog and come back next time for another description/review of interactive fiction works! 

Screencast of Cutthroats