by December 2004

Ready (starring Ready Eddie) (Cerulean Stimuli/Kevin Pease, 2004) Walkthrough

MINI-REVIEW

Get this game (www.cerulean.st) as soon as you can! This is one of the most original ideas I have seen in a while. We all know the official terrorist warnings and documentation that was issued in 2001. If not, visit the US Department of Homeland Security site. As Kevin Pease states in his readme, “to fully appreciate the humor, you might want to visit said site if you haven't before and look at the "visual guides" there before playing the game”. Here is a game that uses graphics based on the pictographs (similar to the graphics in airline literature about what to do in the event of a crash).

The game has a lot of humor, much of it black and very much tongue in cheek. There is minimal animation and only a few sound effects. All speech is text only but this did not detract from the game (usually does for me), as most of the speech could be the protagonist thinking to himself. Orff’s Carmina Burana, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries play throughout and lend an ironic seriousness to this humorous title.

The national alert level is at its highest and Eddie doesn’t have any duct tape! The goal is to help Eddie get the duct tape and save himself and the world from terrorists. This is an AGS game, so all the standard commands are there: “talk”, “use”, “look”, and “use inventory item”. The choice of clicking on the commands at the left of the screen or using the right mouse button to cycle through the commands is up to the player as is standard for AGS.

There is no way for Eddie to get stuck, according to the author, but this is not quite true. I died and was given the Sierra-like opportunity to undo my error on one occasion. This is a quality touch. Also, be sure to read the credit page at the end.

This is a quality freeware title. I look forward to more from Cerulean Stimuli.

WALKTHROUGH

EDDIE’S HOUSE

PC Room
Eddie is listening to the radio. The National Security alert has been raised to vermilion. The government advises stocking up on duct tape to protect against terrorism. But Eddie has none!

Pick up the air freshener. Use the PC. Search for “duct tape” on Gargle. Duct Tape and More (open until midnight) sounds just the right place to get duct tape. But how to get there?

Exit the room.

Top of the Stairs
Pick up the fan. Go down to the stairs.

Fall-Out Shelter
Get the ball. Open the drawer and get the road map. Go back up.

Top of the Stairs
Exit left.

TV Room
That neighbor, Steadman, has been throwing haddock in the window again. It stinks. Use the fan to clear the air.

Exit left.

Kitchen
Get the snack from the fridge.

Exit through the door.

NEIGHBORHOOD

Street
Get in the car. Drive to town.

TOWN

Street
Talk to the owner of Duct Tape and More (he’s the one choking). The man smoking has brought on an asthma attack. Go over to the smoking man. Use the air freshener on him. Enjoy!

Duct Tape and More
Talk to the owner. No duct tape!

Get the gloves. Throw the ball at the canisters on the shelf to spill the paint. Pick up the duct tape on the no smoking sign. Use the duct tape with the yellow paint to make it yellow. Eat the snack.

Exit the store.

Store
A dangerous wire is dangling near the car. Use the gloves to move it.

Get in and drive home. As you do, you notice a red glow in the distance…

NEIGHBORHOOD

Street
Eddie’s house is on fire thanks to Steadman, the evil neighbor. Eddie realizes he cannot beat this fiend and drives away.

AIRPORT

Parking Lot
Go back to town.

TOWN

Street
Talk to the suspicious man. Buy the antihistamines. Combine them with the drink.

Return to the airport.

AIRPORT

Parking Lot
Go in to the terminal.

Terminal
Talk to the man with the Swiss luggage (actually a red cross bag). He is very thirsty. Give him the Mickey Finn. Now that he is knocked out, take the luggage.

Talk with the booking agent watching TV. Note the orange rectangle on the screen indicating the danger level. Use the yellow duct tape on the screen.

Give the booking agent the luggage. He confiscates the aerosol.

Eddie escapes to the sanity of Switzerland…

THE END