Killed until dead
Detective games aren’t unique but they are quite few and far between. Killed until dead is such a game and the story is as follows: the world’s five greatest murder mystery writers are gathered at the Gargoyle hotel for a reunion, however they intend to turn their fictional plots into real-life. It’s your job as Hercule Holmes (apparently related to Sherlock) to find out who is the murderer, victim and murder weapon before it all actually happens.
You can start by going to the academy where you can get tips on how to start an investigation or you can go straight into the game. There are four difficulty levels to choose from depending on how much challenge you’d like. Several scenario’s are available so you can replay the game several times even after you succesfully complete one of them. A lot of the game is played from your desk where you can consult files on all the people in the hotel, place calls or start surveillance of a suspect. The files contain lots of information that might give you a connection to the suspected killer or victim.
You don’t sit on your desk all the time though as you can also break into the suspects room to gather clues, these are played as a multiple choice trivia game about fictional detectives and thrillers. Answer correct and you find the clues but a wrond answer will bring out a security guard. Interrogation is also an option but unless you have some information with which to presuure the person you won’t go very far. Eventually you’ll have to accuse someone but be ready to have all the information about the murder or you might be the victim in the end.
Killed until dead is a fairly interesting game for would-be detectives, it’s not really very realistic but this doesn’t hurt the game in any way. The clue gathering is rather strange though with the trivia which can be difficult if that is not your kind of thing. Overal the game is enjoyable and it has plenty of replay value with seven scenario’s. Pick this one up if you like puzzlers or if you would like to try your hand as a detective.
Overal rating: 7/10
This game was released for several different systems here are some notes:
| Amstrad CPC | Released in 1987. This is pretty much the same version but somehow the text isn’t as clear as they used a strange font. |
| C64 | Released in 1986. Graphics are pretty nice and you can even see different expressions on people while interrogating him. |
| Others | This version is not available. ZX spectrum released in 1987. |
| Date added | Dec-10-2006 14:29 |
| Name | Killed until dead |
| Developer | Artech digital |
| Publisher | Accolade |
| First released | 1986 |
| Genre | Action |
