Snatcher 1988

Is it still worth playing?

Robots called Snatchers kill people and take their place in the future Neo Kobe City, and Gillian Seed joins an agency to hunt them, in a 1988 adventure for the PC-8801 and MSX2. Everything is done through a text menu with commands such as move, look and investigate, and there is no point and click. Objects are found by looking at or investigating things repeatedly, and the puzzles and conversations are simple. A handful of action segments have you shoot at enemies across a 3 by 3 grid. The story runs in three acts, and the 1992 PC Engine version added the third act the first versions lacked. Hideo Kojima wrote and designed it, and the story borrows from science fiction films such as Blade Runner and The Terminator. Its themes are ones he went on to explore in Metal Gear. At about six hours, with very few puzzles in the way, it is still a story you can follow from start to end.