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Corruption

by Rob Steggles and Hugh Steers

Mystery
1988

(based on 17 ratings)
2 reviews

About the Story

In the real world the good guys rarely win.

CAN YOU COPE WITH CORRUPTION?

The City of London. Deals and chicanery, Porsches and profit, wild animals in handmade suits. And you. Outwardly, you're on the fast track to success. The partnership in the broking from came through today, along with new car, new office, new secretary...

But behind the glittering facade, what corruption lurks unseen?
Are you really a winner? Or are you a dead man? Because in the world of big money, there's nothing in between.

Corruption. It's new. It's different. It's on everyone's mind. Because these people are rich. Vicious. And they run the country.

Corruption is written by Magnetic Scrolls, home of classics like The Pawn and The Guild of Thieves. It's a fast-paced thriller, a battle of wills like nothing else you've ever placed. Your only weapons are communication and information. There's nobody you can trust. And it isn't easy. But then, neither is life.


Game Details

Editorial Reviews

Crash

"Success can only be achieved by being cunning and daring - search your colleagues' offices while they're out. Mind you, Derek's plight provokes much sympathy - even his bitchy wife is having an affair with David, and now she wants a divorce. (It doesn't rain, it pours - Ed.) The poor guy can't win! With the sinister scenario it's a relief that the odd bit of humour is present: in the hospital TV room there's even a teddy bear named Boris, with a stethoscope (could come in useful?) round his neck!(?)

Corruption is a deep and intriguing adventure. Although the Spectrum version lacks the graphics of those on other machines, it loses nothing in atmospheric qualities. The modern setting also makes a refreshing change from the usual diet of mythical scenarios - an extremely professional package which might prove a little too difficult for novices. With so few adventures around, this has got to be one for the adventure alcove."
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SPAG
The Magnetic Scrolls Collection
"The game is timed right to the clock, and if you aren't in EXACT right places at EXACT right times, events go right past you. If that happens, you're starting over [...]" (The Magnificent Linnard)
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SPAG
"Fortunately, Steers and Steggles' prose doesn't ramble. It efficiently paints effective portraits of characters, events and locations, making the illustrations redundant. I turned the graphics off when I played. It's not that there was anything wrong with the illustrations, it's just that characters like the brusque secretary, who really tries to be friendly, and the indifferent lawyer, who, nevertheless, offers comforting platitudes to the law's victims, are vivid and honest enough to trigger mental images on their own." (Walter Sandsquish)
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SynTax
"I was impressed by the different responses I got from characters according to where I was at what time of day and what information I'd managed to find out so far. The wealth of detail is staggering - you seem to be able to examine nearly everything in sight - and the whole adventure is written in a nice, jokey style which I enjoyed." (Neil Shipman)
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SynTax
Magnetic Scrolls Collection
"You've just started a new job in the City and everything should be perfect but you'll soon become aware that Things Are Not What They Seem To Be and someone is heading for a fall - you! If you're not careful you'll be accused of some very dodgy dealings and put in the slammer. [...]

[...] if you haven't played Fish, Guild or Corruption, and you like text games and can put up with the small niggles I've mentioned, The Magnetic Scrolls Collection will certainly give you weeks, if not months, of head-scratching at its various problems." (Sue)
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Your Sinclair

"The day started well. That Scott Electronics deal you handled had done brilliantly, according to your boss, David Rogers, and he'd offered you a partnership in his broking firm, Rogers & Rogers. That means you get a new office, a new secretary and a BMW. It's nice in the morning, your first day as a partner, and David welcomes you and shows you to the new office. Mind you, it looks a lot like the old office - the same chair and filing cabinet, the same desk, and still no phone. A yuppie without a phone? That's like a fish without chips.

Noting your lack of enthusiasm, David tells you the firm will be moving to new offices soon anyway and asks you to take a list of early bookings to the dealing room at the end of the corridor. If you follow him out through your secretary's office, though, you hear him tell her that he'll see her later, and he says that he'll need her signature on a cheque. A secretary co-signing a cheque? Strange, you might think, but that's not the only strange thing you're going to find as you wander round the offices this morning." (Mike Gerrard)
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Member Reviews

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Number of Reviews: 2
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Crafty, February 2, 2011

Two schools of thought (used to) define adventure games. One school says, "an adventure game is a story whose conflicts have been translated into puzzles," while the second believes, "an adventure game is a puzzle described in terms of a story." The difference is significant.

If you look at "Corruption" through the eyes of the first school, you will see a vastly unfair and agonizingly difficult work of interactive fiction. The game cannot be finished, or even understood, without experience gained through player-character "death." Much of the behavior required of the player character, like spying on his peers or breaking into his partner's office, will, initially, seem unmotivated and paranoid until the player gets stuck in a few dead-ends first. What's more, I can predict, a little smugly, that everyone will discover, just before he thinks he is about reach "Corruption's" climax, that he neglected to do something or other at the start of the story, and must replay the entire game. For instance, (Spoiler - click to show)I found out that I should have thoroughly searched the toilet sometime before the 15th move.

If that sounds irritating and tedious, this may not be a game for you. On the other hand, members of the second school of thought will find a mesmerizing, Chinese-puzzle-box of a game. "Corruption" is a giant riddle, and to decipher its meaning, you must play, and replay, each of its parts. Once the player has mapped out the movements of the non-player characters — who are deftly portrayed, and whose characterizations add much to the bitter, cynical atmosphere of this game — he will recognize a web of deceit and betrayal, and be able guide his character to paths that lead to a satisfying ending.

In short, "Corruption" is a well-written, bug-free puzzle fest, and the puzzles are strongly related to an interesting suspense story. Just remember to save early and save often.

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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Blast from the past, July 15, 2008

There weren't many games about financial shady dealings and accounting fraud back in the 1980s. There aren't many today, either, come to think of it. Instead the gaming landscape was, and remains, dominated by barbarians swinging swords at trolls. So it was a breath of fresh air when Magnetic Scrolls released Corruption, a game set in the recognisable present, with realistic NPCs behaving like humans, and goals that didn't involve saving the world.

The game was hard, filled with timing puzzles and regularly required you to be in the right place at the right time, but with patience, and the hint books, you could piece together a finely tuned story that carefully drew you in to the yuppie "greed is good" culture operating in Thatcher's Britain. What a pity there were not more games like this.

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Corruption on IFDB

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Corruption appears in the following Recommended Lists:

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Polls

The following polls include votes for Corruption:

Non-Infocom games of commercial era worth playing by tekket
What commercial games published between 1980-1993 other than those by Infocom do you think are worth playing?

Games with graphics and/or sound by eyesack
I couldn't find an easy way to search for this, so I figured I'd ask the hivemind: What games use graphics and/or sound to enhance the gameplay, similar to City of Secrets and Necrotic Drift?

Wandering NPCs by Fredrik
I have always been fascinated with games that have several wandering and independent NPCs, especially when you have the ability to try to order them around. This sets the stage for a game where no one session is like any other, and even...

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