''The President Is Missing'' is a computer simulation game written by Paul Norman for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and published by

Cosmi Cosmi may refer to: * Cosmi Corporation, a U.S. computer software company * Cosmi, Americo & Figlio, an Italian gun manufacturer * Sam Cosmi (born 1999), American football player {{disambiguation ...

in 1988. The game came with an audio cassette with different recordings and an anonymous note signed by "Saduj" (

Judas Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of ...

in reverse).

Plot

In the game, which is set in 1996, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

is attending an anti-terror summit in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with ten Western European leaders. Terrorists attack the summit, knocking out the attendees and security personnel with

sleeping gas Incapacitating agent is a chemical or biological agent which renders a person unable to harm themselves or others, regardless of consciousness. Lethal agents are primarily intended to kill, but incapacitating agents can also kill if administered ...

. The terrorists then kidnap the president and the other leaders and hold them hostage. The terrorists leave an audiotape behind, stating that they are Islamic and make numerous demands in exchange for safe release of the hostages. The player assumes the role of the special investigator, who must find the President and the rest of the hostages. The investigator works from his computer terminal, which has access to dossiers of many different individuals such as known terrorists and members of the Cabinet. The investigator also has eight special agents, whom he can send out to interview people or find out information. The agents' reports are then stored on the computer. The audiotape that comes with the game contains news reports, recorded messages by the President of the United States and the

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

while in captivity, intercepted telephone calls, an interview with the First Lady, and intercepts of Morse code messages. The game includes tools to decipher Morse code messages and other coded clues. If the player learned where a hostage or hostages were being held, he could send a special strike team to a particular address. The strike team would then report its findings, which could include other clues. The computer terminal also has two secret files, one by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and one by the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

, that could not be accessed without prior authorization. The player, however, could attempt to hack into the files.

Resolution

As the game went on, it was clear that there was a much wider conspiracy going on. The player had to figure it out. As a game, ''The President Is Missing'' never ended. The game includes a note telling the player that once they unraveled the game's complex plot, they are to write a report and summarize all of the evidence and send it to Cosmi. In turn, the company would respond to the player.

Reception

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 ...

'' applauded ''The President Is Missing''s premise, plot, and graphics, but criticized its execution. The magazine concluded, "the game has simply too much dead-time to be truly exciting or for players to maintain their initial enthusiasm."

References

External links

Images of ''The President Is Missing'' package, manual and screenshots
from C64Sets.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:President Is Missing, The 1988 video games Alternate history video games Commodore 64 games Commodore 64-only games Cosmi Corporation games Crime investigation simulators Cultural depictions of presidents of the United States Single-player video games Video games about missing people Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Barry Leitch Video games set in 1996