Borrowed Time is a interactive fiction game about a detective, who tries to rescue his kidnapped wife. The game was developed by Interplay and published by Activision in 1985. Mastertronic republished it as a budget title under the name Time to Die.[1]
The plot in the style of a detective story of the noir crime genre is set in the USA of the 1930s. The player takes a role of a private detective, Sam Harlow. His ex-wife Rita Sweeney has been kidnapped, and he tries to free her. In the process, he is pursued by gangsters who are after his life.
Gameplayedit
Gameplay screenshot (Atari ST)
Borrowed Time is a text adventure with a complementary graphical user interface. Control is via the keyboard, alternatively, many commands and objects can be selected from a graphical menu with a joystick or a mouse. Moving around is done in the same way - a selection window with cardinal directions is available. The player must interrogate suspects and collect evidence at the various locations in order to achieve the game goal. Some game actions have a time limit for problem-solving.
Developmentedit
Borrowed Time was produced by Interplay for Activision and was part of a $100,000 contract that included a total of three adventure games.[2] Interplay founder Fargo already had experience in the adventure genre: his first game was the adventure The Demon's Forge, released for Apple II in 1981. The parser used by Interplay was developed by Fargo and a collaborator, and at one stage of development had a dictionary of 250 nouns, 200 verbs, and could evaluate input with prepositions and indirect objects.[3] The same engine had been used in the previous games Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction. The writing and much of the game design were done by Subway Software, a company founded by game journalist Bill Kunkel specifically for Borrowed Time. Fargo outsourced the writing because he felt that no one at Interplay could produce quality prose.[4]
Receptionedit
Info rated Borrowed Time four stars out of five, describing it as "a big step forward in the realm of 'interactive entertainment' ... a tonic to jaded adventurers", and praising the game's graphics, parser, and humor.[5]Compute! wrote that "Activision has created a delightful game environment with the look and feel of those classic hardboiled detective movies and novels".[6]Computer Gaming World's Charles Ardai called Borrowed Time "a superbly cinematic graphic adventure" that was too brief and deserved a sequel.[7] A German reviewer recognized the challenging storyline, the detailed graphics and the comfortable gameplay.[8] He gave Borrowed Time 82 out of 100.[9]
Referencesedit
^Ryerson, Don (March 1990). . Computer Gaming World (letter). p. 58. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
^Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson: High Score. McGraw-Hill/Osborne: Emeryville, California, 2004. Page 209. ISBN 0-07-223172-6
^Shay Addams (1985). Computer Entertainment: 24. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21.
^Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R. (December 1985 – January 1986). "C-64/128 Gallery". Info. pp. 4–5, 88–93. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
^Bateman, Selby (May 1986). "Borrowed Time". Compute!. p. 60. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
^Ardai, Charles (June–July 1987). "Titans of the Computer Gaming World / Part Three of Five: Ardai on Activision" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 38. p. 36. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
^Heinrich Lenhardt: Borrowed Time, Happy Computer, Spiele-Sonderheft 11/1986 (german)
Borrowed Time (video game) in the Interactive Fiction Database
November 23, 2023
borrowed, time, video, game, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, borrowed, time, video, game, news, news. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Borrowed Time video game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2017 template removal help Borrowed Time is a interactive fiction game about a detective who tries to rescue his kidnapped wife The game was developed by Interplay and published by Activision in 1985 Mastertronic republished it as a budget title under the name Time to Die 1 Borrowed TimeDeveloper s InterplayPublisher s ActivisionMastertronicProducer s Richard LehrbergDesigner s Brian FargoMichael CranfordProgrammer s Ayman AdhamJay PatelTroy P WorrellRebecca HeinemanArtist s David LoweryCurt ToumanianGreg MillerPlatform s Amiga Apple II Atari ST Commodore 64 IBM PC MacintoshRelease1985 Apple II C64 IBM PC Mac1986 Amiga Atari STGenre s Interactive fictionMode s Single player Contents 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 3 Development 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksPlot editThe plot in the style of a detective story of the noir crime genre is set in the USA of the 1930s The player takes a role of a private detective Sam Harlow His ex wife Rita Sweeney has been kidnapped and he tries to free her In the process he is pursued by gangsters who are after his life Gameplay edit nbsp Gameplay screenshot Atari ST Borrowed Time is a text adventure with a complementary graphical user interface Control is via the keyboard alternatively many commands and objects can be selected from a graphical menu with a joystick or a mouse Moving around is done in the same way a selection window with cardinal directions is available The player must interrogate suspects and collect evidence at the various locations in order to achieve the game goal Some game actions have a time limit for problem solving Development editBorrowed Time was produced by Interplay for Activision and was part of a 100 000 contract that included a total of three adventure games 2 Interplay founder Fargo already had experience in the adventure genre his first game was the adventure The Demon s Forge released for Apple II in 1981 The parser used by Interplay was developed by Fargo and a collaborator and at one stage of development had a dictionary of 250 nouns 200 verbs and could evaluate input with prepositions and indirect objects 3 The same engine had been used in the previous games Mindshadow and The Tracer Sanction The writing and much of the game design were done by Subway Software a company founded by game journalist Bill Kunkel specifically for Borrowed Time Fargo outsourced the writing because he felt that no one at Interplay could produce quality prose 4 Reception editInfo rated Borrowed Time four stars out of five describing it as a big step forward in the realm of interactive entertainment a tonic to jaded adventurers and praising the game s graphics parser and humor 5 Compute wrote that Activision has created a delightful game environment with the look and feel of those classic hardboiled detective movies and novels 6 Computer Gaming World s Charles Ardai called Borrowed Time a superbly cinematic graphic adventure that was too brief and deserved a sequel 7 A German reviewer recognized the challenging storyline the detailed graphics and the comfortable gameplay 8 He gave Borrowed Time 82 out of 100 9 References edit Ryerson Don March 1990 Time To Buy Computer Gaming World letter p 58 Archived from the original on 5 April 2016 Retrieved 15 November 2013 Rusel DeMaria Johnny L Wilson High Score McGraw Hill Osborne Emeryville California 2004 Page 209 ISBN 0 07 223172 6 Shay Addams 1985 if yr cmptr cn rd ths Computer Entertainment 24 Archived from the original on 2016 01 21 Maher Jimmy Brian Fargo and Interplay Dunnington Benn Brown Mark R December 1985 January 1986 C 64 128 Gallery Info pp 4 5 88 93 Retrieved 2019 03 19 Bateman Selby May 1986 Borrowed Time Compute p 60 Retrieved 29 July 2014 Ardai Charles June July 1987 Titans of the Computer Gaming World Part Three of Five Ardai on Activision PDF Computer Gaming World No 38 p 36 Retrieved 17 April 2016 Heinrich Lenhardt Borrowed Time Happy Computer Spiele Sonderheft 11 1986 german Heinrich Lenhardt Tatort Computer Happy Computer 4 1986 p 150f german External links editBorrowed Time at MobyGames Borrowed Time video game in the Interactive Fiction Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Borrowed Time video game amp oldid 1153328877, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
