Witness_ The
Alternative title: The Witness: Somebody's going to take the Deep Six!
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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The Witness is a text adventure in which the player takes control of a police detective working near Los Angeles. The year is 1938, and on this stormy February night a wealthy but frightened man has asked the detective for protection. In spite of his best efforts, a death occurs, and the hero has twelve hours to solve the mystery and try to arrest the killer. If the player thinks there is enough evidence against one or more suspects to convince a jury of their guilt, he can arrest them and conclude the case.

Trivia

Like most Infocom games, the package for this one contains some fun goodies relating to the game:

A Detective Gazette magazine.

A suicide note.

A Western Union telegram.

A booklet of matches from The Brass Lantern.

The Register newspaper.

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(From The New Zork Times Vol.3 No.2 Spring 1984)

Some statistics about Witness:

Apparent number of rooms (those seen by the player): 28 
Number of rooms: 31 (for various arcane programming reasons, some locations are inaccessible to the player) 
Number of different ways to die: 2 
Number of words in vocabulary: 711 
Number of takeable objects: 18

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Description from the packaging:

Interactive Fiction.
Mystery.
Standard Level.
Somebody's going to take the deep six!
You've got a bird's-eye lowdown on the caper... and 12 hours to crack the case.

February 1938, Los Angeles.
FDR's New Deal is finally rolling. Hitler's rolling, too; this time through Austria. But as Chief Detective for a quiet burgh on the outskirts of L.A., you've got other fish to fry.
One gilt-edged society dame is dead. And now it looks like some two-bit grifter is putting the screws to her multi-millionaire old man. Then you step in, and the shakedown turns ugly. You're left with a stiff and a race against the clock to nail your suspect..unless you get nailed first!
Nobody said a sordid family affair like this was going to be a cinch. Everyone from the knock-out heiress to the poker-faced butler may end up in the slammer before it's over. Ahead of you is a Gordian knot of motives and alibis. And the only testimony you can trust is that of your own eyes- because you are The Witness.

Get inside a story.
Get one from Infocom!
It's like waking up inside a story! Load Infocom's interactive fiction into your computer and discover yourself at the center of a world jam-packed with surprising twists, unique characters and original, logical, often hilarious puzzles.

For the first time, you're more than a passive reader. You can talk to the story, typing in full English sentences. And the story talks right back, communicating entirely in vividly descriptive prose. What's more, you can actually shape the story's course of events through your choice of actions. And you have hundreds of alternatives at every step. In fact, there's so much you can see and do, your investigation can last for weeks and even months.

To find the Infocom interactive story that's right for you, just choose any one marked with the level of difficulty listed below that best matches your current level of interactive skill.
Junior: Best introduction to interactive fiction. Written for everyone from age 9 up.
Standard: Good introductory level for adults. This is Infocom's most popular level of interactive fiction.

Advanced: A greater level of challenge. Recommended for those who've already experienced Infocom's interactive fiction.
Expert: For real diehards seeking the ultimate challenge in interactive fiction.
Then find out what it's like to get inside a story. Get one from Infocom. Because with Infocom's interactive fiction, there's room for you on every disk.

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Alternate Titles
"The Witness: Somebody's going to take the Deep Six!" -- Tag-lined title
"The Witness - An INTERLOGIC Mystery" -- Tag-lined title
"Invitation To Murder" -- Working title


http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/witness/trivia
