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Not
a Penny More Not a Penny Less is the story of Stephen
Bradley and his unfortunate encounter with a devious
businessman by the name of Metcalfe. Bradley was conned
into pumping all his money into a company owned by Metcalfe,
and then rewarded by having it collapse under him. Left
virtually penniless, Bradley swears revenge on Metcalfe
and in the process discovers three other businessmen
in a similar situation to himself who also wish to see
the ruin of Metcalfe. However, there is no proof that
Metcalfe did what he did to these four men, and therefore
the forces of law and order are powerless to help. They
are on their own. Stephen tries to coordinate his newly
found allies in such a way as to replenish their lost
capital, yet stay within the boundaries of the law.
The
game presentation isn't the best I've seen, incorporating
dark blue text glaring out from a light blue background.
The graphics, displayed at the top of the screen, are
basic to say the least and add nothing to the atmosphere.
Below their designated area are the very brief descriptions
of where Stephen currently is and what he can see. At
the very bottom of the page is a single line for text
input. There is some speech within the game, but after
hearing it for the first time I turned the volume down.
The
parser is a little annoying -- it seems to understand
most of the usual adventure type words, but the way
they are input has to be very precise. Synonyms aren't
its strong point. Also, the way to visit people in the
game is odd, as the player has to type EXAMINE (name
of person) to get to see them, and it will only allow
him to do this when certain events have taken place
and puzzles solved. I found that in the first location
I could type EXAMINE ROBIN and the game would reply
'OK', but I was still in Stephens' office.
The
general objective is to fill Stephens' folder with information
about Metcalfe and his other three victims (reading
the odd magazine is very informative), and use it to
regain his assets.
Once
the many idiosyncrasies within the game have been mastered,
the actual depth of play is revealed, which is somewhat
disappointing. The computer game is no match for the
book (which thankfully is supplied in the packaging)
and it's quite frustrating to play. However it's by
no means a terrible program, definitely worthy of some
perseverance -- but not too much.
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