Safecracker

By: Kirk Hiner

Genre: Puzzle

Format: CD

Developer: Daydream Software

Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive

Minimum Requirements: PowerPC, System 7.5, 15MB hard disk space, 6.5MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM

Network Feature: No

3Dfx Support: No

Retail Price: $19.99

Availability: Out Now

I have a game for my Intellivision called Safecracker. It was from Imagic, probably the best game manufacturer there was in the early 80s. Safecracker consisted of two tasks; 1.) drive around town in search of the safe, using the color codes on the border of the screen as a guide, avoiding the cops all the while, and 2.) cycle quickly through numbers 00 to 99 to learn the code and apply it. Not exactly the most secure safes in the world, I should think. Imagine if the combination to your padlock at the gym could be deciphered simply by spinning the spinny thingy until the correct number was passed, beeping an alert to let the dirty thief know he's reached the correct number. Many a confused, muscle-bound executive would be driving home in shorts and a sweaty workout shirt, that's for sure.

But hey, that was just Intellivision, and no matter how much I wanted it to be, Intellivision was not reality.

Now I have a game for my Macintosh called Safecracker, the lastest from DreamCatcher Interactive: The Adventure Company. Pretty much all the elements of DreamCatcher published games can be found in Safecracker; lushly rendered 3D environments, 360 degree QTVR navigation, a thin plot to tie everything together, and a multitude of migrane inducing puzzles.

Here's your set-up for Safecracker. This eccentric rich guy (why are all rich guys eccentric?) named Jerry Crabb is hiring a new head of security development at Crabb & Sons Safe and Security Systems. Mr. Crabb is impressed with your resume, but before acquiring the job you must pass a test; "...break into your eccentric employer's heavily secured headquarters and crack the numerous puzzle-based combinations on over 35 safes. Each safe holds a clue to the combination of your ultimate goal, the Master Safe. Crack all the safes and the job is yours."

Cripes. All I had to do when I applied for my first job was take a blood test to prove I wasn't on crack. Kind of puts a whole new perspective on the title "Safecracker" doesn't it.

Breaking into the "heavily secured headquarters" was simply a matter of figuring out the code to a small padlock. For someone who runs a safe and security systems company, this Crabb guy's not much for effectiveness. I guess that's part of the whole eccentricity thing.

Once inside, the puzzles get much more intriguing. Thirty-five-plus safes...that's a lot of safes. And the only thing Crabb seems to have more of are Macintoshes. Nearly every room has a Mac on a desk, some of which are even usable. The Mac in the reception area allows you play a quick game of Minefield! Now some of the computers don't really look like Macs, but I like to think they're clones, old Motorollas or Power Computing machines. I sometimes miss my old PowerCenter, but then I remember, "Oh yeah, I've got a G4 now."

When I first started playing Safecracker, I found myself the most frustrated I'd been since Algebra II in high school. It was all numbers and gadgets and diagrams and such, but--unlike in Algegra II--there was no Cheri Carman to whom I could look forward each day. I wonder if she still has those poems I wrote.

Anyway, the puzzles. The game begins with tons of books you can read and rooms you can explore and safes you can fiddle around with, but there's little guidance to get you started. It's extremely overwhelming, and if I didn't have to write this review I may have scrapped the game after the first hour or so. But my dad didn't raise me to be a quitter (he actually raised me to wrestle bears for cash and sport, but that's another story).

Safecracker reveals itself as it goes along, much like Algebra II did. The further into the game you get, the more you begin to understand how the safes work. Many follow the same scheme, so there are quite a few you can get into without too much effort. Others are more like children's travelling games, like that puzzle thing where you slide the plastic pieces around to form a picture. I don't know what it's called. My parents never took us on a trip long enough for me to complete one. Had I known they're sometimes used as combinations to safes, you can bet I would've practiced them much more often.

The safes you can get into without clues often contain items that allow you into the more complex safes, items such as keys, passwords and visual clues. And therein lies the annoying addictiveness of Safecracker. It's one of those games where I'd say to myself, "Okay, Astronaut Glenn, open this safe, and it's off to bed with you." But then I'd open it and find a clue to the safe back in room XX. So it was back to room XX where I'd open the safe and find the clue to a safe that really had me stumped clear back in room YY. So I'd trapse back to YY, solve that one, and then off I'd Rush to room YYZ.

Ahem.

Many of the puzzles in Safecracker are quite difficult, but no problem. You've got all the time in the world, right? If I may quote Stone Cold Steve Austin, "Hunh unh." You've got twelve hours. That's it, just twelve hours. See, if you don't have the F-9-12 (the Master Safe) opened in twelve hours, then no contract for you, Chuck. Now this is actually a more than reasonable amount of time, but it does add an extra element of pressure that I haven't enjoyed since The Last Express. There's just something about the urgency of working under the gun that makes a game that much more enjoyable.

Daydream Software, the company that developed Safecracker, intensified this urgency by placing many objects in the room that can't be used anywhere. They exist for two reasons only, to make the house look more homey and to slow your progress to a crawl. As with most puzzle games of this type, the best way to solve clues is to click on and examine everything. In Safecracker, there are many, many objects you can examine for no reason whatsoever. Annoying? Well, that depends on your personality. Do you go for realism or efficiency? Either way, just avoid all the red books.

The interface in Safecracker is the same basic QTVR used in just about every other DreamCatcher game, but it keeps getting better with each release. The graphics look better and flow more smoothly, and Safecracker even gives you a QTVR correction dial to control the detail. From within the game interface, you can set it to either higher detail or faster drawing. Nice. What isn't nice is the way objects are manipulated. The inventory box behaved erratically, sometimes not allowing me access to all the items that I currently held. Some objects could be viewed on screen, while others appeared only in the inventory box. And to stop looking at an object you have to click that object on the view screen. Too much clicking in too many places, which wouldn't have been so bothersome if it weren't for that guage reminding me that I was almost out of time.

Piece of advice on the time issue. When you first start to crack a safe, save your game. Then, after you figure it out, open the saved game and do it again. Now that you know how, you'll get through it much faster. Oh, and be sure to remove all of the contents from the safe before leaving it. You can't reopen a safe after you've already broken in once.

Many of the readable documents had to be split in order to fit the window. This is good in that you can see more detail on the drawn diagrams, but bad in that you have to look at one page in four different sections. However, this is the first time I've seen a book in a video game where turning a page actually felt like turning a page. Most games simply make a page turning sound and suddenly there's a new image. In Safecracker, those that don't use the segmented scheme actually require you to click on a page and drag it across to the other side. A refreshing touch of realism.

I don't know what I was expecting when I installed Safecracker, but I'm sure it's not what I got. As I've stated in other reviews, most DreamCatcher games tend to play like Myst. Safecracker owes more to The Seventh Guest. It's simply a series of puzzles tied together by a basic--but nonetheless necessary--theme. The graphics are nice, the music is entertaining (to a certain point), and even the instruction manual is mildly fun. Although Safecracker won't make you stand up cheer, there's also really nothing about which to complain...unless you're easily frustrated, that is, in which case I recommend one of two things; either pick up an old Intellivision and play Imagic's Safecracker instead or find Cheri Carman and play it with her. Actually, that's not bad advice. If ever a game was designed to be solved by more than one player, Safecracker is it.

Just be sure to keep some Tylenol handy.

.

October 06, 2008