Tiger Media, Inc., 1990
The Case of the Cautious Condor is an interactive drama and the second game from Tiger Media, which is utilizing the vast capacity of CD-ROM. The game is set in the summer of 1937 aboard a huge flying boat "Condor" when the dark clouds of war were gathering on the distant horizon.
Rich industrialist, Bronson Barnard, who owns Condor, is launching its maiden transatlantic jaunt from Baltimore to Lisbon and a select group of guests are invited to celebrate the launch. You play as Detective Ned Peters and old war buddy of Bronson Barnard. As the champagne flows and the pampered party-goers revel in the elegance and splendor, no one realizes that their gracious host is setting a trap for a murderer.
Bronson's hidden purpose was to demonstrate his abilities as amateur sleuth for Ned Peters by exposing the killer of the U.S. Custom's Official who was, in fact, Branard's own illegitimate son. But when a sudden heart attack foils his plan and the plane must be turned back, he entrusts his secret to Peters, imploring him to step in and solve the crime before the plane lands. With only thirty minutes in hand can you help Ned Peters in unraveling this mystery?
The game has a unique mouse-driven interface and the player explores the various rooms of the Condor using the blueprint of Condor found on Peter's Desk and talks to every guest, most of whom are considered suspects. There is a notebook on Peter's Desk to enter significant details about every guest as and when you gather it. The graphics in the game are very nice for the time and give an interactive-comic book experience to the player. Speech and digital audio soundtracks are excellent and enjoyable throughout the game. Though the puzzles are quite hard for novice adventure gamers I only recommend this game to professional gamers and also to the fans of "whodunit" adventure genre.
