Deja Vu: A Nightmare Comes True
| Developer: Pacesetter Lab | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Mindscape | Sound: |
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| Year: 1987 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Adventure | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Originally a 1985 Macintosh game, later adapted to numerous platforms (including PC, Commodore 64, Atari ST, NES, and Game Boy Color).
The story unfolds in 1940s Chicago. You wake up in the bathroom of a grimy, deserted bar, blood on your hands, and no memory of who you are. Chances are you’ve been drugged. Upstairs, you’ll quickly stumble upon your first corpse, riddled with bullets…
Set against a film noir backdrop, you’re free to conduct your investigation, hunting for clues to regain your memory and unmask the killer. However, your top priority is finding an antidote, as the serum you were injected with is slowly turning your brain to mush…
The interface consists of multiple windows, reminiscent of early Windows and Amiga operating systems (I assume it was the same on Macintosh). You interact with objects by dragging them into the inventory window, just like moving files in Workbench. It’s clear and intuitive. Let’s not forget that back then, most adventure games were text-only (e.g., Zork). That said, the system is agonisingly slow, and small items—like syringes, keys, and revolver bullets—are difficult to select.
For once, there are no absurd puzzles. The challenge lies in unexpected events that lead to your untimely death if you don’t react appropriately. Until you’ve memorised the game’s progression, you’ll likely spend your time dying in various ways—sometimes amusing, though frustration can creep in quickly. Thankfully, you can save your progress, and unlike Le Manoir de Mortevielle, I reckon any reasonably determined player can make it quite far without resorting to a guide.
Here’s a tip to avoid getting stuck like I did: to search something, use the “Open” function instead of “Examine”. It might seem obvious for a drawer … but far less so for a coat, a corpse, or a table! Try opening everything you encounter. And if it won’t open … pull out your gun!
Note: A second PC-DOS version was released in 1991, featuring updated illustrations and, more importantly, a much faster interface.
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