notbobsmith wrote:So I just finished “Iceman”. And… yeah. I see why it has this reputation. It’s like the game goes through great pains to try to confound you. “Think you have it solved? Just wait!” I did end up using a few hints to get past the guards at the end. I needed to make a phone call first, which I tried doing but I was being too specific with what I was trying to say. “Talk man” That was all I needed. I also tried to see if the problem I was having was information that I was missing from the microfilm so I ended up looking up hints for that and wow. Just wow. I mean it's not a critical part of the game, but still. I’ll put my little rant in spoiler text:
So you have to get the combination to the safe from the captain, which you can only do at only one point in the game. Get the phrasing right. I made that mistake: ask FOR combination. So I’m good. I get the briefcase and insert my ID card… and it doesn’t work. So I look up what is wrong. It seems the guard in the Pentagon returned the wrong ID to me. (And I was so proud of myself for remembering to ask for it back.) Seriously!? From a plot stand point, it makes the guy an idiot. He has this *one* job. But from a gameplay standpoint, what purpose does this serve? It’s a cheap trick to frustrate the player. It’s nearly impossible to notice that you have the wrong card. The inventory text still says that it is yours. You have to notice that the picture is wrong. And who would think that the game would do this to you? You try to open the briefcase and encounter another roadblock. “Think you have it solved? Just wait!” Speaking of plot, why was the guard even taking your ID? It doesn’t make any sense for security. If you run into another guard, what do you tell him when you don’t have any ID? Isn’t that why people wear them on their clothes? So everyone can see that you belong there? I thought it was a little odd. Maybe that was the clue. A “Chekhov’s gun” of sorts. Then there’s the whole issue with the microfilm. It’s a mission critical item. Why was it in Stacy’s earring? Did she intend to lose it for you to find, like a dead drop? If not, it’s really lucky that you ended up finding it. If you don’t have this miraculously found microfilm, does this mean that you were going to be sent on a mission without the ability to decode half of your transmissions? No one thought of this? Then there’s Stacy. Was your encounter… um, planned? I mean was finding you and sleeping with you (and losing her earring) part of her mission. If yes, that’s really not cool. If no, then this was one huge coincidence.
End rant. So aside from that there was the picky vocabulary which I mentioned before, some frustrating arcade sequences in the sub and the diving unit (took a while to figure out how to navigate), and a bunch of ways to get stuck in a dead end. It just seems like there were a lot of places where a few minor changes could have made the game much more forgiving. Instead you end up feeling like the game was cheating. All things considered, I’m pretty happy with how far I got without any help. I feel like I just climbed the Sierra Adventure version of Everest.
Make no mistake, you did. There's never been a Sierra game that's defeated me. Codename: Iceman had me defeated for like 20+ years? I had only recently beaten it (there's a thread in here about my climb to the top, as you would put it). I had made the same exact mistake you did with the
ID Card - I discovered the error before you did - but it was already too late. I couldn't go back and
get my ID card, because the guard downstairs (even though HE JUST SAW ME) would not let me
back upstairs. So rest assured, if you walk out and go downstairs - it's already too late. As for Stacy, if I am not mistaken - isn't she an operative - that's supposed to pass the plans to you? But ends up losing the ear ring? I can't remember if the game mentions somewhere that she was supposed to get that info to you?
These pictures are great. And I have that dust cover!
