Countdown

Mason Powers, a former CIA agent, awakens in a Turkish asylum with many of his memories erased. Gradually recovering from his amnesia, Mason realizes that he has been locked up for allegedly murdering his supervisor. Convinced that he is innocent, Mason eventually escapes from the mental hospital. However, that brings him back to his old job, where he becomes entangled in a world-wide conspiracy of espionage, terrorism, and murder.

Countdown is an adventure game with emphasis on traveling and conversation, though inventory-based puzzles are present as well. Over the course of the game the protagonist travels to many different locations around the world, though the areas themselves are fairly small. Interaction is performed by choosing verb commands such as Look, Get, Taste, and others. There are no "hot spots" that indicate than an object can be interacted with. A bulk of the game is dedicated to conversations, which include, among others, special commands such as Help, Hassle, Pleasant, and Bluff. Sometimes choosing a wrong action may lead to a premature end of the game.

A few segments involve navigating top-down mazes. It is possible to die in various ways and also get irrevocably stuck. The game imposes a time limit of ninety-six in-game hours on the player. Certain actions - such as spending more money and traveling by plane instead of a train - may help the player stay well within this limit. The game is notable for using digitized photography alongside hand-painted graphics; character portraits are all scanned photos. It also uses digitized music and speech samples, which can be heard even with a PC speaker thanks to a special software.

Added March 8, 2020
Published By Access Software
Developed By Access Software
Front Cover (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Back Cover (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Inside Cover (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Media (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Media (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
Manual (United States) (DOS) from mobygames.com
IGDB Cover from igdb.com
Title Screen (DOS) from mobygames.com
Mason Power's adventure starts in this prison cell. (DOS) from mobygames.com
One of the top-down scenes. You have to evade the guards. (DOS) from mobygames.com
The sanitarium's chief is an alcohol addict. Good that you awakened before operation! (DOS) from mobygames.com
Mason's appartment. Let's grab our special agent equipment! (DOS) from mobygames.com
You choose your actions on the orange control bar. (DOS) from mobygames.com
The mini-computer CAD is info database and analyzer in one. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Conversation is controled by chosing your approaches -- you can be pleasant, ask for help, hassle or bluff. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Another top-down scene. Mason's just dealt with a hitman. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Uh oh! Classical "Candle burns rope"-situation. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Collage of unhappy endings... (DOS) from mobygames.com
Newspaper headline. (DOS) from mobygames.com
A boiler room. (DOS) from mobygames.com
A maze. (DOS) from mobygames.com
The basement. (DOS) from mobygames.com
McBains is about to get shot! (DOS) from mobygames.com
Ok! I'm freaked out! (DOS) from mobygames.com
Climb up! (DOS) from mobygames.com
Yeah! I'm free from the nut house! (DOS) from mobygames.com
Lisa's profile. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Lisa Loomis. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Talking with Lisa. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Onto Cairo. (DOS) from mobygames.com
An ancient fortress... (DOS) from mobygames.com
Talking with Carlos. (DOS) from mobygames.com
In a dressing room. (DOS) from mobygames.com
Can you get information out of this guy? (DOS) from mobygames.com
On the Orient Express. (DOS) from mobygames.com
A plug for Mean Streets... :-) (DOS) from mobygames.com
In the storage car. (DOS) from mobygames.com
What does that machine do? (DOS) from mobygames.com
In an art storage room. (DOS) from mobygames.com

Year of Release:
1990

Platform(s):

Genre(s):
Investigative Traditional

Graphic Style:
2D

Camera View:
Third-Person

Control Type:
Point and Click

Setting/Theme:
Mystery

Available From: