Sue grabs a stick of dynamite and becomes a ...

      Safecracker - Daydream Software / GT Interactive

When you apply for a job, it's natural to expect that your
prospective bosses are going to want to check your abilities in
some way. But when you apply for a job with Crabb and Sons, a firm
of well-respected safe manufacturers, you are tested to the limit.
Sir Jerry Crabb is impressed with your application but decides to
set you a "small" test. He shows you the F-9-12 safe which can
only be opened using a series of codes which have been hidden in
other safes all over their headquarters. You will have to break
into the building and open this F-9-12 safe within 12 hours in
order to get the job, because the job contract is INSIDE the safe!
The game starts as you wait in a phone booth opposite Crabb and
Sons' headquarters and receive your instructions over the phone.
Breaking into the building itself (a converted mansion) is no
great problem but once inside you will find many safes of
different types dotted around the various offices and other rooms.
Some are obviously safes, but others are disguised as, among other
things, a model ship, a cannon, a jukebox and a radio. Some are
easy to open, using a Simon game series of switches where you have
to flick them in a certain order ... or a sliding puzzle game ...
or a simple to crack combination lock ...  or a hand of cards to
beat ...  others are harder to work out and some, I must confess,
I solved by complete accident!

Crabb and Sons' headquarters is an impressive building of around
40 rooms on 3 floors (including a cellar). There is a lift system
(which needs a code to be input to be used) and several hidden
rooms and staircases, plus a chute which gave me a rapid trip from
the top floor to the cellar when I pulled a cord that said 'do not
pull' ... well, you would too, wouldn't you? If you get lost in
these interlinked rooms, there is a blueprint of the floors in a
file near to the start of the game.  Unfortunately for me, I
didn't find it until almost the end of the game!

The digitized graphics are excellent, and movement is step by step
but you can also turn on the spot and scan the whole room, which
makes the game very atmospheric and realistic. The cursor changes
when you can move forward or operate something.  Your inventory is
also shown in the form of digitized graphics which can be rotated.
In some cases you will collect a series of photos or code keys
(around a dozen for the final safe) and can page through them
individually though they are listed as a group. Other items can be
examined and rotated but not actually picked up or used. There is
also a good musical score with different themes for different
rooms and areas.

As a neat touch, when you complete the game, you will find, as
well as the job contact, a video tape and playing that in a nearby
video recorder will show you a FMV sequence of all the
programmers, filmed by one of them using a camcorder. I found this
a very acceptable form of rounding off the game. Incidentally you
can also officially print off a certificate at the end of the game
but all I got was a blank sheet of paper.

All in all, Safecracker is an excellent and nicely presented game
with a very different style and theme.
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