Countdown is a single player adventure game that was both created and released by Access Software and marketed for play solely on the personal computer in the early nineties. The game is point and click and features a theme that is very dark James Bond-esque, with a lot of mystery and detective work driving the game’s puzzle solving. All of Countdown plays out from the third person perspective.
The story of Countdown begins with CIA agent Mason Powers who has lost his memory due to some unmemorable accident or incident of foul play and wakes up confused in an insane asylum in Istanbul.
The initial part of the game will see the user trying to help Mason find his way out of the institution. In the process, he will be searching for clues as to his identity. Depending on the user’s efficiency at puzzle solving, this could be the better portion of the game. Upon finding his way out of the asylum, Powers will enter a realm of deep and complicated political agendas, international intrigue and espionage.
The graphics of Countdown are not stellar, as is true of most graphic adventure games of the nineties. However, it does feature many classic pixel-hunting style puzzles, which become somewhat challenging with the poor graphics. The story line, however, is very complicated,
deep, interesting and driving and will be more than enough to compel the user to keep going when the game becomes a bit frustrating. The enormous size of the gaming world is also another great feature, because Countdown is more in depth than just a rainy day time waster. There will be a great many exotic features to visit, many of them in Europe, and the game will in fact culminate at a historic European monument. Also, whereas the graphics are somewhat lackluster, the music and sound effects are novel for the time period and are even stellar compared to games of today. This helps to set the mood and keep the user pepped up while trying to solve some very challenging puzzles. Many of the areas of the game feature a timer, which also helps to keep the pace frantic and fun.
Overall, there are areas of Countdown that could have definitely been improved, but its complexity and high level of detail within the story itself serve to make up for any shortcomings in the area of graphics. It is a satisfying enough play and will likely intrigue fans of the detective story.
