电路边缘

Circuit's Edge

电路边缘（Circuit's Edge）是一款有趣的冒险/RPG 混合类型游戏，它改编自乔治・亚历克・埃芬格 1985 年出版的《当重力失效（When Gravity Fails）》一书。本作的故事发生在一个反乌托邦式的赛博朋克未来，和大多数的同类作品一样，本作也从威廉・吉布森（William Ford Gibson）的《神经漫游者（Neuromancer）》中汲取了大量灵感，但其设定的特别之处在于：世界并没有被日本企业所占据，与之相反的是，它受到了伊斯兰文化的影响。

游戏里玩家要控制的主角名为马瑞德・奥德兰（Marîd Audran），按照一贯的标准设定：他是一个倒霉的私家侦探，为了维持生计会替他的合作伙伴跑腿送货，但在一次看似安全的送货过程中，他发现自己的客户死了，并且可能死于谋杀。黑手党老大帮助主角免于被捕，但代价是主角必须帮他调查这起谋杀案，深入布达耶恩市（The Budayeen）的地下社会探寻真凶。

本作的游戏形式更偏重于 RPG，因为游戏中真正的谜题很少，并且玩家大部分时间要做的只是跑去不同的咖啡馆或酒吧，与人交谈以寻找线索。玩家还能够通过赌博、同小混混战斗或出售垃圾来获取足够的钱以购买赛博义体改装，这些改装能够提高玩家的各种技能，如战斗与黑客能力。

游戏中并非所有的事件都是线性的，与标准的冒险游戏相比，本作的游戏形式相对自由一些。值得一提的是，游戏中的时间会不停地流逝，这意味着某些人只会出现在特定的时间和特定的地点，如果玩家做其它事花了太长时间，就很可能会错过部分游戏内容。

虽然本作故事一般，界面又难用，但《电路边缘》把赛博朋克的气氛处理得十分妥当。游戏中的 16 色图形完美地呈现了城市的错落感，音乐虽然不多，但却会恰到好处地进行变换。此外，本作存在着相当多的暴露镜头，许多的女性都是“变性者”，玩家几乎可以和任何人睡觉，甚至进行亲昵行为。

Circuit's Edge is an interesting Adventure/RPG hybrid, based on George Alec Effinger's 1987 book When Gravity Fails. It takes place in a dystopic cyberpunk future which, like most of the sort, owes a tremendous debt to William Gibson's Neuromancer. The major difference is that, instead of the world being overtaken by the Japanese, it's instead been influenced by Islamic culture.

You control Marîd Audran who, per usual pulp standards, is a down-on-his-luck detective that has resorted to running goods for his pals. During a seemingly innocuous delivery, you find your client dead, presumably murdered. A mafia boss saves you from being arrested, but now you must help him investigate the murder, exploring the seedy underground of a city known only as The Budayeen.

The gameplay leans more towards the RPG end of the spectrum, as real puzzles are sparse and most of the time is simply spent running to different cafes and bars, talking to people, and finding leads. You'll also end up gambling, beating up punks and selling junk to get enough money to buy cybernetic modifications, which can be equipped to improve various skills, such as combat and hacking.

Not all of the events are linear, making it relatively free-form compared to a standard adventure game. The game runs in real time, meaning certain people are at certain places during certain times and it is entirely possible to miss stuff if you take too long.

While the story is standard and the interface is a pain, Circuit's Edge really nails the atmosphere. The 16-colour graphics are perfect to depict the city's grittiness, and the music, while sparse, is appropriately moody. There's quite a bit of nudity, many of the females are “sexchanges”, and you can sleep with practically anything or even light up.

《电路边缘》的开发曾得到《当重力失效》的作者乔治・亚历克・埃芬格（George Alec Effinger）的亲自指导，他声称自己编写了“游戏中 75%的文字内容”。

Circuit's Edge had the help of When Gravity Fails author George Alec Effinger, who claimed to have written “about 75% of everything on screen”.

在布达耶恩市有超过 60 个地点可供探索，玩家可以通过在酒吧里流连、试着找乐子、赌博或是观看全息的成人节目（当然，只是在游戏世界里）轻易地消耗掉本作最初的几小时游戏时间。

尽管本作的互动系统比较有限，但仍拥有足够的深度，以使得这趟布达耶恩之旅变得趣味十足，甚至在几十年后也是如此。总的来说，《电路边缘》作为一款 RPG 游戏是差点意思的，但作为一部互动小说却是十分成功的。

There are over 60 locations in The Budayeen, and you can easily spend the first few hours trawling the bars, trying to pick up hookers, gambling and watching holo peep shows, just taking in the game world. While the interaction is somewhat limited, there's enough depth to the hellhole that is the Budayeen to make the trip worthwhile, even decades later. As a whole, Circuit's Edge flounders as an RPG but succeeds as a work of interactive fiction.