Mission: Mainframe

Mission: Mainframe is a video game in the role-playing (rpg) genre originally released in 1987. It is currently playable on DOS.

Mission: Mainframe is a fun but little known Roguelike RPG - released as public domain back in 1987.

One of the first sci-fi Roguelike ever made, the game puts you in the shoes of a commando/secret agent/detective/private eye (you can choose who you want to be) sent to a skyscraper to find and defeat the mainframe that has gone mad and return to the lobby alive. The mainframe is located somewhere on the 27-30th floor. As in some Roguelikes, the levels in Mission: Mainframe are randomly generated, so no two games will be exactly alike. Of course, before you can go up to the 27-30th floor, you'll have to get around the employees guarding the elevator while trying to find the PASS KEY and SECURITY ENABLEMENT that will give you access to the higher floors.

The gameplay is typical Roguelike, although the sci-fi elements are a nice change from the usual dungeon crawler. Roll your character to determine their starting stats and send them into the complex. As your character battles 24 types of building employees and gains experience, his attributes will increase. Instead of chests, you will open 'files', and instead of spells you will 'use strategies', found in the Library at the beginning of each game. The results of these strategies (ranging from 'Bluff' to 'Flatter' and 'Hypnotize') are often fun to watch.

In addition to the straightforward gameplay, there are also some gimmicks not found in other Roguelikes, some more annoying than fun. For example, every once in a while all the lights will go out and you won't be able to see anything. The only way to keep going is to light a match (obtained from the employees you've defeated) and fight the fuse box to turn the lights back on.

But overall, though, Mission: Mainframe is a decent and fun Roguelike, although it wouldn't have hurt to have more weapon and enemy types, as well as more unique floor layouts (after a while they all look the same, just with different enemies). Recommended, although it's not a Top Dog.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.