ICOM Simulations was a small Illinois software house whose only games prior to the launch of the Macintosh were a handful of obscure 8-bit Panasonic titles that neither Wikipedia nor Mobygames even list. Deja Vu, their first release to the new Macintosh market, was conceived as an attempt to translate the concept of the text adventure - which had been semi-graphical for years - into a mouse-driven format befitting the platform's ecosystem.
The result is often said to have pioneered the point and click adventure. Personally, I don't see it this way, though they were successful at their goal. It is, ostensibly, a point and click interface, but by design (and in compliance with Apple's guidelines), feels like an extension of the Mac's native interface, and not very game-like, or all that anticipatory of the games by LucasArts and Sierra to come.
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| Arrangeable windows, nested containers, and drag & drop gestures? Flintstones. |
Interestingly, the original manual doesn't describe the plot at all! It's entirely devoted to explaining the interface (and a few gameplay tips), written in a Siegel-esque gangster snarl. If you use a mouse-driven Windows interface on a regular basis, then it's all pretty straightforward, though a few minor peculiarities of the era remain. If you're more used to laptop trackpads, or, heaven forbid, touch-only interfaces, then you're in for a very unaccommodating experience.
I'm emulating a Macintosh rather than playing the Steam version to ensure a more platform-authentic experience, though I'm using Mini vMac rather than MAME, simply because MAME goes one step further for authenticity and also emulates the disk-loading times, which are horrendous on early Mac hardware.
We're alone in a tavern's washroom stall. No memory. Signs of being kidnapped and drugged. And the prose and aesthetic suggest Dashiell Hammet much more than Robert Ludlum.
I take the trenchcoat off the bathroom stall, revealing a .38 snubnose revolver hanging underneath it by a leather holster. Six rounds are chambered, three have been fired.
Inside the trenchcoat, I find:
- $1.75 in quarters
- A gold-plated lighter monogrammed "J.S."
- A pack of Lucky Strikes
- A handkerchief, also monogrammed "J.S."
- Sunglasses
- J.S.'s wallet, containing:
- An office key
- A key-card embossed "SIEGEL, APT. 1A"
- $20
I exit the stall and explore a bit, Trizborting as I go, but as I do, the screen periodically darkens and the game warns me of my rapidly deteriorating state of mind.
The main barroom opens up three ways; upstairs to an office, downstairs to the wine cellar, and out to the street. I search upstairs first.
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| A poster upstairs gives us some clue about our identity. |
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| Why... does Joe need all that? |
The office key opens the inner office to a nasty sight.
A dead body, with three holes in it. I would bet that's where my missing bullets are. The encounter triggers a deja vu moment, but he can't be placed just yet.
There's also a key to a Mercedes-Benz on his person, a wall combination safe, and a desk where I find the building key, a pencil, and a blank sheet of paper. I can't seem to find a way to make the pencil and paper interact, but the window opens to a fire escape, from which the third floor (and street) is accessible.
Someone was drugged and interrogated on the third floor, and I think I know who. There's a syringe in the trash, and in addition to the empty vial of sodium pentothal on the windowsill, there's also an empty vial of diethanol trimene, and a full vial of medrezine, which are not real drugs.
A button calls the elevator, which serves four floors. One is a casino room, with a secret passage in the back, making a circle back to the wine cellar, and a hatch into the sewers - an alligator-infested maze.
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| I thought these guys were only in New York! |
I go for the gun, but I'm too slow; I'm gator bait before I can rifle through my trenchcoat. Next time, I'd better have it open in advance.
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