classicgames.org - BlackStar: Agent of Justice

Blackstar draws upon dozens of stereotypes to craft an exquisitely mediocre adventure game.

The title character (and I might mention that the dude looks like a lady) is a grizzled private detective who knows life on the mean streets. Sorta like Sam Spade. Or Rick Deckard. Or John Shaft. Or, for that matter, any of hundreds of characters from the worlds of fiction. As Blackstar, you skulk around town, obstensibly gathering clues and information. In reality, you're just wandering aimlessly. The game is wholly linear--if you attempt to do anything that is not directly the next step in advancing the plot, Blackstar will say something along the lines of "I'd rather not". As a result, at any given point in the game, there is only one thing on which you must click to advance the plot; it's just a matter of trying to click everything until you find it.

This game is a shoddy attempt at melding the classic Sierra-style adventure game with the world of a hardened cop. Blackstar tries to be witty, cynical, and sarcastic, but is really just annoying.

Posted by Kevin on 2001-03-08

Okay, so I'll admit it. I had me a run-in with BlackStar a long time ago. See, I was your average dewdropper until my old lady kicked me out of the house. So, I had to rake in the mazuma somehow, you know? I get a job as a torpedo for some recording bigwig downtown at Tin Pan Alley. I got some heavy sugar for beatin' up jazz musicians who didn't put out records in 4/4 time.

Anyway, I was roughin' up some piano player who invented some screwy tune called the 'waltz' or sumpin' (what'd he take me for, a goof?) and this guy walks right into the alley. He looked like he had the goods on me. I could see it in his eyes. But I could also see that he was a sap--a real pill, know what I'm talkin' 'bout? Then I realize: he's a bull, but he's a sap. It was BlackStar, Agent of Justice. For a second, I thought I'd have to split, you know, end up on the lam.

But then he moves at me, like he's gonna try and stop me in the act. He walks up, and then says "I'd rather not do that."

So I'm thinkin' this guy's hopped up on some powerful dope. So I says, "You'd rather not do what, Ethel?"

"I'd rather not stop you right now: first I have to find the bank teller who can positively identify you. But the teller lives in a high-rise and the stairwell is closed, so I have to break into the window-washer's closet and steal his clothes and also help an old woman find her dog so that she can give me a small cash reward with which I can purchase tools that will enable me to fix the washer's platform. Only then can I diguise myself as the window-washer and make my way up to the top of the building. Even after I get the proper evidence from the teller, I still need to find the handcrank hidden in the sewer maze which I can put inside that crank box over there (logically, I could use my tools to do the job and save some time, but I'd rather not), thus enabling me to cause that crate which is dangling so precariously over your head to fall on you, saving the musician and the waltz as we know it."

So I pulls out my shiv and I bump him off. But don't tell no one.

Posted by Manny Victrola on 2001-05-12

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