External Links


above.gam
Requires a TADS interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
above.sol
solution

Have you played this game?

You can rate this game, record that you've played it, or put it on your wish list after you log in.

Playlists and Wishlists

RSS Feeds

New member reviews
Updates to external links
All updates to this page

Above and Beyond!

by Mike Sousa profile

Espionage
2000

(based on 6 ratings)
1 review

Game Details


Awards

Nominee, Best Individual Puzzle - 2000 XYZZY Awards

Editorial Reviews

Baf's Guide


Skullduggery in an office environment. Your first day at a new job yields ceaseless snooping around and breaking rules, partly due to the mundane frustrations of the workplace, but ultimately tying into the mysterious disappearance of several coworkers. Gameplay is organized into three chapters, each of which is pretty much linear - in particular, the last section basically consists of a sequence of locked or guarded doors. Good programming, good sense of place, several very fiddly multi-stage puzzles, lots of characters (although only a few truly distinct ones). Careful attention to the text is necessary; many subtle hints are not repeated. One nice feature is the "winnable" command, which lets you know if you've locked yourself out of victory (although the reply can be rendered inaccurate by time limits in a few places). Features built-in hints that gently guide you onto the right path without revealing solutions.

-- Carl Muckenhoupt

SPAG
[...] while there are one or two clues to find or conversations to overhear, most of the problems are of the traditional kind: obtaining objects, getting through locked doors, and all the other activities we IF-ers love so much. These puzzles aren't very many - it's a relatively short game - but most of them are very well polished. As it should be, it is often easy to see what you are supposed to do, but difficult to see how you should do it. [...] (Robin Adams)

[...] The story develops mostly by eavesdropping, which lends the game an atmosphere reminiscent of a David Mamet thriller, as well as giving a good opportunity for humour. [...] a rapid climax was for me let down by a final confrontation with the villain of the piece which lacked credibility. [...] The game makes up for the formulaic and functional plot in the non-player characters, of whom there are around 30. [...] (Cedric Knight)
See the full review

Brass Lantern
I found the plot, although outwardly mundane, gripping in a sort of subdued way as the mystery unfolded gradually and the conspiracy was gradually explained. The big revelation at the end, although seen coming a mile off, served to tie up most of the remaining loose ends as the ending of all good mystery stories should. As I said earlier the puzzles were not too hard and not too easy, and even when I did get stuck fast it only took a little nudge in the right direction for me to speed through a few more puzzles. It's not a slow trundle, more of a leisurely glide.
See the full review

Tags

- View the most common tags (What's a tag?)

(Log in to add your own tags)
Tags you added are shown below with checkmarks. To remove one of your tags, simply un-check it.

Enter new tags here (use commas to separate tags):

Member Reviews

5 star:
(0)
4 star:
(4)
3 star:
(2)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
(0)
Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 1
Write a review


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A large, linear worklife/conspiracy game , February 4, 2016

Above and Beyond is a pretty large and well-polished game. You play a programmer on their first day of work; the first third consists of getting into work after losing your card, the second third consists of getting a form signed by jumping through exhausting hoops, and the third is an endgame dealing with a conspiracy.

The feel is a mixture of spy stuff and extreme tedium of work. The walkthrough is 600 moves or so.

I was pretty impressed with this game. It's linear and hard, but it's fun walking through a dozen rooms with 2-4 offices each and meet all of the workers.

Was this review helpful to you?   Yes   No   Remove vote  
More Options

 | Add a comment 

Above and Beyond! on IFDB

Recommended Lists

Above and Beyond! appears in the following Recommended Lists:

Great games in a mostly realistic setting by MathBrush
These are games that for the most part don't contain magical elements or futuristic technology. This includes games where there might be magic or futuristic technology, but you don't know until the end. So several of these games do...

Noteworthy T2 Games [Formerly: Which Can't Be Played on the Web] by Walter Sandsquish
This list was created because TADS 2 didn't have a Web-based 'terp for a long time. It's still here because these games, from long ago, are good enough to not be forgotten.




This is version 4 of this page, edited by Mike Sousa on 7 February 2016 at 8:59am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item - Delete This Page