Games of Time- Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?
Posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 by Nick Moore
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Nick Moore takes a look at this classic PC game
When people think of super sleuths, who do they think of? Inspector Gadget? The Pink Panther? Mcgruff the Crime Dog? How about none of the above? With my new column with the working title of “Games in Time”, I will be talking about old computer games that made people’s childhood special back in the late 80’s and 90’s. There once was a criminal named Carmen San Diego, she wasn’t quite the criminal seeing as though she actually gave clues to find out where she’d hit next as if she wanted to be caught. They made a children’s television show on the phenomena on FOX Kids back in the 90’s that really had nothing to do with the game besides the title of the show. The game was quite difficult, especially for a game of its time; however, it was definitely worth playing. You start the game off as a rookie working off with Interpol, which is a global police organization. As you solve cases, you move up in the ranks with Investigator and Super Sleuth. When the game begins, you’re given the case and what it entails. It mainly involves high priced artifacts that have been stolen by Carmen San Diego’s organized crime team called V.I.L.E. The first clue they give is on what gender the suspect is. Then, they always start you off on a Monday at 9 am. For some reason, they always give you until Sunday at 5 pm the next week to solve this case. I realize that you’re supposed to be a super sleuth, but why only a week? That’s not reasonable, by any means. After you’re given the case, you start off in a city like Rio de Janerio with a sentence or two about its history. The game play consists of four things: seeing, depart, search, and a computer. The seeing option shows you all the places that you could possibly go next to find your next clue. The depart option allows you to go to different places by clicking on them on the world map. The search option allows you to go to three places in the city, and if you’ve gone into the right place, you’ll get an animation of a stereotypical looking criminal sneaking across the screen. Then you’ll automatically talk to somebody and they’ll tell you where the person was going, but they won’t be straight forward with you. The good thing about this game is that it makes you use your brain, and the geographical trivia is amazing. Though, it sometimes has me wondering where the hell I am supposed to go. If you’re not in the right city, they’ll tell you you’re barking up the wrong tree. You have to be smart about the amount of time you’re using because everything you do takes time off the clock. If it reaches midnight or 1 am you automatically sleep in until 9-10 am, no matter what you’re doing. Another clue the person will give you will tell you something about the person. This is when the computer option comes into play. When you figure out a trait that your suspect has, you put it into the computer and it “processes” it, then gives you a list of suspects. If you think you’ve gained enough clues, you have the computer process it and, if it matches a suspect’s dossier, it gives you a warrant for their arrest. However, you have to follow them all the way to the end of their trail in order to arrest them. If you don’t have a warrant, then you cannot arrest them, and they get away free. So the only two ways you can have a game over is if it reaches Sunday 5 pm before you get the burglar, or if you arrest the wrong person. The game is not really repetitive because it keeps you on your toes at all times and in addition to this, it also keeps you thinking about geography and places around the world. It definitely was a trip down Nostalgia Lane, since I enjoyed it as a kid and I still enjoy playing it to this day. Due to it being considered abandon-ware, you cannot get in any trouble for downloading it since nobody holds a copyright over it anymore. Definitely worth the download if you know where to find it. If you would like to discuss this article with over 40,000 other registered members feel free to do so by joining the Gamingring.com forums. Its fast, free and easy to do so.
Tags: carmen san diego, games of time
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