''Borrowed Time'' is an

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

game about a detective, who tries to rescue his kidnapped wife. The game was developed by Interplay and published by

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

in 1985.

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were launched on April 2, 1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved ...

republished it as a budget title as ''Time to Die''.

Plot

Written by Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel, 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.

Gameplay

''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

''Borrowed Time'' was produced by Interplay for Activision and was part of a $100,000 contract that included a total of three adventure games.Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson: ''High Score.'' McGraw-Hill/Osborne: Emeryville, California, 2004. Page 209. ISBN 0-07-223172-6 Interplay founder Fargo already had experience in the adventure genre: his first game was the adventure The Demon's Forge, released for

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

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. The same engine had been used in the previous games Mindshadow (video game), 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.

Reception

Info Info is shorthand for "information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpr ...

'' 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. ''

Ahoy! ''Ahoy!'' was a computer magazine published between January 1984 and January 1989 in the US, covering on all Commodore color computers, primarily Commodore 64 and Amiga. History The first issue of ''Ahoy!'' was published in January 1984. The ...

'' said that the game had "more plot turns and twists than a backwoods mountain road", with "unusually good" writing and graphics "chock full of cute touches". The magazine stated that if the word menus were more complete, "the game would be better than an all-night

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

reading!". ''

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...

'' wrote that "Activision has created a delightful game environment with the look and feel of those classic hardboiled detective movies and novels". ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

''s

Charles Ardai Charles Ardai is an American businessman, and writer of crime fiction and mysteries. He is co-founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He was also an early employee of D. E. Shaw & Co. and a managing di ...

called ''Borrowed Time'' "a superbly cinematic graphic adventure" that was too brief and deserved a sequel. A German reviewer recognized the challenging storyline, the detailed graphics and the comfortable gameplay. He gave Borrowed Time 82 out of 100.Heinrich Lenhardt: ''Tatort Computer'', ''Happy Computer'' 4/1986, p.150f. (german)

References

External links

* * {{IFDB, id=a6s8n66vllgv3bdj 1980s interactive fiction 1985 video games Activision games Amiga games Apple II games Atari ST games Classic Mac OS games Commodore 64 games Detective video games Interplay Entertainment games Mastertronic games Single-player video games Subway Software games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the 1930s Video games set in the United States