By: Rob Burton - rhb@accessv.com
[Dead pilot after the bank robbers get away. Hopkins FBI presents strong motivation
to track down the killers and bring them to justice.]
[Closeup view showing the graphic nature (albeit censored) of the images]
But if you need something for more "sophisticated" (or possibly just
jaded) teen-aged or even adult tastes, Hopkins FBI may be just the ticket. It's
a "detection" game. You must sweep your mouse pointer across the screens,
looking for clues, then right-mouse click to enable the correct treatment ("go",
"use", "take", "read", "move", etc.) on
each object found. You also have to "speak" (from a set list of selections)
to the people you encounter to gain more clues.
If, like me, you find yourself stumped, a kind soul has posted a "walk-through"
on the web at http://www.iaehv.nl/users/vangompe/gamesidx/f/fbi.htm
and I couldn't finish the game without it.
The game features imaginatively conceived twists and turns. I especially enjoyed
the way the game depicted going to Heaven.
[Hopkins "zooms" up a warp-like tunnel to get to Heaven.
There are no Pearly Gates, however. Only an elaborate waiting room and an inability
by the St. Peter stand-in to find his file.]
There are also two games within the game. When Hopkins visits his office in the
FBI building he can let you play a kind of paddle-ball game. There's also a Wolfenstein-like
game later on (according to the walk-through), although I never got there.
When I had Hopkins "search" the body of a dead female hostage, he reported,
"I found nothing in his pockets." I worried about Hopkins powers of perception
until his girlfriend Samantha showed up later in the game. Clearly he can judge
women when it matters. He never referred to Samantha as a "he".
When I clicked on "Did you find my file?", the game played, "Who
are you?" I guess I clicked on the wrong answer. When I chose, "You are
wrong, I'm alive," the game played, "You are joking." I was told
the game originated in the DOS universe, in the French world. Perhaps it lost something
in the translation at this particular point. I was unable to find many such nits
to pick, I should note.
In another stage of the game, you can omit to take a vital clue to the crime
lab because if you telephone the crime lab to ask about it, they'll give you the
report even if you never took it there. Now that's efficient.
Speaking of efficiency, most actions you might tell Hopkins to do with your mouse
take from 10 to 20 seconds for Hopkins to perform. If you want him to "search"
a cabinet, he'll walk over to it, he'll squat down, his arms will move a bit, he'll
stand up, and he'll report what he's found. You'll enjoy it more if you play the
game when you're not rushed for time.
If time does not permit you to finish a game, you can save your game state. This
also permits you to experiment with tactics that may lead you up a deadend. By restoring
your game play to the status before you tried an unrewarding gambit, you can keep
playing without starting over.