Circuit's Edge
| Company type | Video game |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Westwood Associates |
| Products | Circuit's Edge (video game) |
| Parent | Infocom (distributor) |
Circuit's Edge is a video game released in 1990, created by Westwood Associates and distributed by Infocom. The game draws inspiration from George Alec Effinger's 1987 book When Gravity Fails and merges elements of interactive fiction with role-playing mechanics. It presents a combination of textual narrative, visual representations of the player's surroundings, and menu-driven interfaces for managing character attributes and gameplay options.
Plot
The player assumes the role of Marîd Audran, a private investigator operating within "The Budayeen," a district characterized by entertainment and criminal activity in a Middle Eastern setting influenced by New Orleans. While performing tasks for his associate "Saied the Half-Hajj," Marîd becomes falsely accused of murdering Kenji Carter. Though his employer Friedlander Bey exonerates him, Marîd is assigned to probe into Carter's homicide, which draws him deeper into the criminal networks of the Budayeen.
The storyline takes place between the events of Effinger's initial two novels featuring Marîd Audran: When Gravity Fails (1987) and A Fire in the Sun (1989). This narrative is part of a trilogy that concludes with The Exile Kiss published in 1991.
Reception
In a review for White Wolf, Jim Trunzo gave Circuit's Edge a rating of 4 out of 5, highlighting its engaging atmosphere where danger and excitement are ever-present.
The team behind Game Player's PC Strategy Guide honored the game with the 1990 award for "Best PC Graphic Adventure Game," describing it as "an intelligent, literate, and thoroughly compelling sci-fi role-playing game" and recognizing it as the finest cyberpunk title available at that time.
External links
- Stay Forever: Circuit’s Edge: A conversation with Michael Legg (Transcript of an interview from the Stay Forever podcast, dated March 6, 2020)