Web Fed Award-winning Planets

Reviewed on February 15, 1998

As our reviewdroid jumped through the link, its circuits began picking up some familiar signals. Sure enough, it was on another Earth analogue from the 20th Century; in this case, the city of St. Paul in the 1930s. Minnesota's a dangerous place to be during the 1930s, though, with St. Paul being the stomping grounds of various gangsters like John Dillinger, George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes, Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, and Katherine "Ma" Barker... to name a few!

Once you've landed on the planet, though, you'll quickly see that your services are needed. There's been a kidnapping, and it's up for you to solve it. The question is, who's behind this dastardly deed? The entire city of St. Paul is waiting for you, but be careful! You'll have to descend into St. Paul's seedy areas, and those were never known for being tourist friendly.

Shoot has a clever puzzle, in part because you really get a feel that you're a gumshoe on a case. You really get a feel that you're in St. Paul, in part because all the locations aren't pushed next to each other; you really get to drive around from street to street looking for evidence. The locations you visit are also written in a manner that gets a good feel of 1930s pulp novels, and the illusion of being back in time is never broken.

Shoot's a great planet, and well worth checking out, especially fans of the mystery or gangster genres. Congratulations, Dillinger, you've just won the Carpenter's Award!