Mindshadow

This game is routinely ranked higher and remembered more prominently than its sibling The Tracer Sanction--so much so that at press time, Tracer isn't even listed in IFDB. That is a shame. Mindshadow's story is weak and it overall offers little challenge or depth. The Condor gimmick is fun but apart from being competently executed, Mindshadow isn't particularly noteworthy even as an artifact of its time.

I got ahold of this game as part of the Interplay's 10th Anniversary Anthology. The box art and the accompanying CD audio track with the installer made this game immediately captivating.

It's a rather simple game compared to most IF pieces, but the engine that draws pictures with each room gives the game a unique look. Maybe it's because I'm such a huge retro fan that makes me enjoy the pixellated CGA look.

One thing to know is that the name of the game is to recover your identity, and you need to know there is a command to think about names and places, in order to jog your memory. Between the simplicity of the world model and the use of Condor to help you when you are stuck, this game shouldn't take too long to complete. If you've read The Bourne Identity, you'll see the obvious similarities here.