''Countdown'' is a

point-and-click Point and click are the actions of a computer user moving a pointer to a certain location on a screen (''pointing'') and then pressing a button on a mouse, usually the left button (''click''), or other pointing device. An example of point and cl ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

released by

Access Software Access Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in November 1982 by Bruce Carver and Chris Jones (Access Software), Chris Jones, the company created the ''Beach Head (video game), Beach Head'', ...

for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

in 1990. The game was re-released on

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through its ...

on 26 July 2021. The player plays as Mason Powers, a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent who wakes up in a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...

, suffering from partial

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

and accused of murdering his supervisor. Powers must escape the hospital, find out who framed him, piece together his memory, and prevent

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s from blowing up a peace conference.

Development

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

and Atari ST versions of ''Countdown'' were planned for release in Autumn 1991, but were never released.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine 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 1993. It expanded greatly through t ...

''s

Charles Ardai Charles Ardai (born 1969) is an American entrepreneur, businessperson, and writer of award winning crime fiction and mysteries. He is founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He is also an early employee ...

stated that "''Countdown'' is as close to perfect as any game can be. It also comes closer to earning its self-appointed identification as an '

Interactive Movie Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but m ...

' than any of its predecessors or competitors". The magazine wrote that excellent

VGA graphics Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can now ...

, sound, and controls made the game a "feature film" compared to the "mere cartoons" from

Sierra On-Line Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is known for pioneering the graphic adventure game genre ...

, and compensated for the stock plot devices of amnesia and a protagonist falsely accused of murder. ''

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung ...

'' gave ''Countdown'' an overall score of 84%, praising the game's "cinematic atmosphere", which they attributed to the game's digitized graphics, "spine-chilling" sound effects, and the game's

flashback Flashback(s) or Flash Back may refer to: * Flashback (narrative), in literature and drama, a scene that takes the narrative back in time * Flashback (psychology), in which a memory is suddenly and unexpectedly revisited ** Acid flashback, a repor ...

sequences. While expressing that ''Countdown'' isn't an 'interactive movie' but rather an adventure with cinematic effects, ''The One'' compared ''Countdown's'' visuals to British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

series ''

Joe 90 ''Joe 90'' is a 1968–1969 British science-fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company, Century 21, for ITC Entertainment. It follows the exploits of nine-year-old schoolboy Joe Mc ...

'', and 1965

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond film ...

The Ipcress File ''The IPCRESS File'' is Len Deighton's first spy novel, published in 1962. The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the ...

''. Despite praising the game's 'good' animation, ''The One'' criticized ''Countdown's'' 'average' graphics and "limited" inputs, stating that it "can't quite match the breadth or complexity of a top class Sierra or

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

" game. Despite this, ''The One'' praised ''Countdown'' as "complex and substantial", and expressed that the game's espionage plot and exotic locations are 'engaging'.

References

External links

* {{Access Software 1990 video games Access Software games Cancelled Amiga games Cancelled Atari ST games DOS games DOS-only games Fictional secret agents and spies in video games Point-and-click adventure games Single-player video games Spy video games Video games about amnesia Video games developed in the United States Video games set in Egypt Video games set in Jerusalem Video games set in psychiatric hospitals Video games set in Turkey Video games with digitized sprites