Corruption (computer game)

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Corruption
Studio Magnetic scrolls
Publisher Rainbird
Senior Developer Robert Steggles
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1988
platform Acorn , Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Apple II , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , MS-DOS , Spectrum +3
genre Text adventure
control Keyboard , mouse
medium Cassette, floppy disk
language English
Current version 1.12
copy protection Feelies

Corruption is a text adventure game with graphics from Magnetic Scrolls from 1988.

action

Corruption is set in London in the late 1980s. The player takes on the role of a stockbroker who has just risen to become a partner in the Rogers & Rogers company and finds himself in a web of intrigues against him. At the beginning of the game, the player only learns vaguely that his professional advancement has not proceeded with the right things; in the further course he is confronted with fake allegations of fraud, drugs and physical attacks. The aim of the game is to clear up the allegations against the player within one day, to collect evidence against the backers and, if they are solid, to hand them over to the police.

Game principle and technology

Corruption is a text adventure, which means that the environment and events are displayed as screen text and the player's actions are also entered as text via the keyboard. Almost all versions show still images illustrating the scenery; only the Spectrum + 3 and Apple II versions have to manage without any graphic background due to the limited memory. There are a total of 28 of these images, which are post-processed photographs. In the 16-bit versions, there is a pull-down menu between the image and the text field that can be operated with the mouse, in which game settings can be made and games saved and loaded.
In contrast to most of the text adventures of the time, the focus in Corruption is less on solving puzzles with the help of found objects and more on collecting and combining clues. An essential element of the game is time. The player has one day to resolve the case. During this day, the 30 or so people appearing in the game do not act statically, but go about a day's work in script, go to different places and communicate with each other. The game cannot be solved at any time, rather the player has to repeat game sections regularly in order to convert observations and experiences into a promising strategy.

Production notes

The working title of the game was "Upon Westminster Bridge". Enclosed with the game packaging was a manual in the form of Filofax pages, a map of the game's rooms, an audio cassette with music and a game-relevant dialogue, and a casino chip. The inserts were referenced in the game and served as copy protection .

reception

Corruption generally received positive reviews in the trade press. The magazine Computer & Video Games awarded Corruption the title "Best Adventure Game 8bit" at the Golden Joysticks Awards 1989.

magazine Rating link
Computer & video games 9/10
Happy computer 86
Power play 8.5 / 10
ST / Amiga format 91%
ST action 68%

The unusual setting as well as the room and character descriptions were positively highlighted. The parser was generally viewed as high quality, but occasionally criticized for its inadequacies. The high level of difficulty of the game and the fact that Magnetic Scrolls with Corruption was the first to publish a game without the company-typical humor was noted without any evaluation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Corruption on MobyGames
  2. ↑ Computer & Video Games # 92, p. 63, available online
  3. ↑ a b Computer & Video Games # 81, p. 92, available online
  4. ↑ a b Happy Computer 9/88, p. 74, available online
  5. ↑ a b Power Play 6/88, p. 72, available online
  6. ↑ a b ST / Amiga Format # 2, August 1988, p. 48, available online
  7. ↑ a b c ST Action # 5, September 1988, p. 86, available online