Private Eye
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Private Eye
- Release Date: September 19, 1983
- Genre: Action
- Style: 2D Action
- Similar Games: Ghostbusters (Atari Video Computer System), Keystone Kapers (Atari Video Computer System), Pitfall! (Atari Video Computer System)
Game Description
The fiendish Henri Le Fiend is terrorizing the city with a crime spree, and only you, French private eye Pierre Touche, can stop him in Private Eye from Activision.You choose from five different cases to work, each with its own requirements. For example, the first case, "Safecracker Suite," requires you to locate the gun used in a crime and have it verified at the gun store, then locate stolen money and return it to the bank and then capture Henri Le Fiend and turn him into the police station. You have only a limited amount of time before the statute of limitations runs out and Henri Le Fiend gets away.
Hindering your investigation are a number of obstacles, including potholes, falling objects, unfriendly animals, and knife-throwing thugs, to name a few.
You drive around the city in your modified 1935 Model A, which can jump as high as two stories. It can also make 90 and 180 degree turns on a dime. When you make the car jump, you also launch yourself out of it, enabling you to nab suspects in upper story windows.
The difficulty switches modify the speed and jump height of your car. Set the left switch to 'A' and the car will cruise along faster. Set the right switch to 'A' and you can control the height of your jump by the length of time the red button is depressed. Setting the right switch to 'B' will cause the car to jump at its maximum height.
In addition to moving left and right through the city, Pierre Touche can also take short cuts by going down alleys and secret passageways. This will warp you ahead to other parts of the city. Some alleyways are dead ends or one-way streets. Also, roadblocks may block streets.
Points are awarded for Pierre Touche's accomplishments, such as nabbing questionable characters or verifying evidence. Points are removed any time Pierre Touche gets hurt.
~ Michael Schwartz/Joan Dykman, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Private Eye evolved from Activision's desire to create a plot-based game that expanded on the type of play found in Pitfall! and Dolphin.~ Michael Schwartz/Joan Dykman, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Designer: Bob Whitehead
~ Michael Schwartz/Joan Dykman, All Game Guide
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Private Eye (Atari 2600 video game)
| Private Eye | |
|---|---|
 Cover art |
|
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | Bob Whitehead |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | Cartridge |
Private Eye is a video game produced and published by Activision and released in 1983 for the Atari 2600 video game system.[1] Designed by Bob Whitehead, one of Activision's co-founders, Private Eye requires players to track down clues and recover items stolen by a master criminal, ultimately leading to his capture and arrest.
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Contents
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Gameplay
In Private Eye, players assume the role of Pierre Touché, a private investigator who has been assigned the task of capturing the criminal mastermind, Henri Le Fiend. Le Fiend is implicated in a number of crimes across the city, and the player must find the clues and the stolen property in order to successfully arrest Le Fiend.[2]
The game consists of four separate cases. Using a specially-built Model A that can jump over obstacles, players must search the city for a specific clue to the crime and for the object stolen in the crime. Each item must then be returned to its point of origin; the clue is taken to a business to verify it came from there, and the stolen object is returned to its rightful owner. These items may be discovered in any order, but players may carry only one item at a time. When both items have been located and returned, then the player must locate and capture Le Fiend, and finally take him to jail, successfully closing the case.[2]
However, the city is full of street thugs who will attack the player. If the player is hit while carrying an item (either the clue or the stolen property), the item is lost and must be re-located. Further, each case has a statute of limitations, which serves as the game's time limit. To win the game, the player must locate and verify the clue, locate and return the stolen property, and lastly locate Le Fiend and take him to jail within the time allotted.[2]
The player starts with 1000 "merit points." Points are lost whenever the player hits an obstacle or is attacked by a thug, and are awarded whenever an item is located, subsequently returned, and when a thug (or Le Fiend himself) is nabbed. Each case represents a separate game variation; when the case is solved or time runs out, the game ends. A fifth variation requires the player to solve all four crimes at the same time.[2]
Marketing
During the game's original release, players who successfully completed the game's third case could photograph their scores on their TV screens and send the pictures to Activision in exchange for a "Super Sleuth" patch.[2]
Ports
Private Eye was included as part of the Activision Anthology collection, released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and for personal computers. In September 2010, Microsoft announced that the game would be re-released for its Game Room service for the Xbox 360 console and for Games for Windows Live.
References
- ^ "Private Eye Release Information". GameFAQs.com. http://www.gamefaqs.com/atari2600/584997-private-eye/data. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ a b c d e AtariAge.com. "Atari 2600 Manuals - Private Eye (Activision)". http://www.atariage.com/manual_page.html?SystemID=2600&SoftwareLabelID=376&ItemTypeID=¤tPage=0&maxPages=2. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
External links
- Private Eye at MobyGames
- Private Eye at GameFAQs
- Private Eye at AtariAge
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