Suspect must be a lesser game. It is hard to find reviews of it, and it tops only Shogun, Cutthroats, Seastalker, and The Witness on IFDB. It has likewise only garnered one user review, which reflects a level of disinterest exceeded by only the abysmal Shogun’s zero. Still, there is one surprise in that small list. While I dislike both The Witness and Suspect, at least The Witness is short.
Still, I have promised to play and review them all. It’s interesting to consider Suspect’s tolerance of—perhaps even affection for—wealth’s capacity to insulate, to hold at a distance those less fortunate. Its massive release celebration was held in January of 1985, the same month that Cornerstone released. That is a story for another day.
Update: Will feature ParserComp interviews next week.
I thought the decision to greatly complicate the environment while providing significantly less useful information (Deadline included interviews with every character) made for a frustrating and potentially boring experience. One of the few Infocom games I never completed (until this project rolled around).
Being eccentric and perhaps a person of dubious tastes, I’ll say that an interesting part of research for this project was discovering how many people dislike the art. I enjoy the cover, myself, but the interior art for the Murder and Modern Manners browsie definitely turned me off.
The artist was likely quite expensive, as was the CES party. Quite extravagant in retrospect. A very expensive game about very rich people.
Edit: and no worries about the avatar! I switch based on the game I’m writing about. Even Seastalker got an avatar. No personal investment whatsoever.
After a brief hiatus, I’m back to Suspect. In this discussion, I focus on its metatext, reflecting on the way feelies changed in the years since Deadline’s release. One implication of the grey box that I haven’t really talked about is that the browsie can be read by potential consumers; in other words, it is marketing material. Considering Infocom’s other “Quantum Detective” games, I think Suspect suffers in this new marketing-focused context.
Gold Machine’s coverage of Suspect ends today with an examination of the implications of its inhumanity: its clockwork non-persons and overlooked social problems of the day.
Next week: ParserComp coverage at Gold Machine. I’ve decided to mix things up. Instead of reviews, I’ll publish interviews with organizers @fos1 and @ChristopherMerriner as well as authors @AmandaB and @mathbrush