Part 3
Hey guys, hope you're ready for the next update, because it's a doozy.One thing I wanted to note before we begin proper: You remember that time limit I mentioned before involving the amnesia turning our hero into a vegetable?
Yeah, turns out that happens really fast in this game. I'd say ten minutes, tops, before instant game over. So, finding the cure actually takes a much higher priority than it did in the NES version. I bring this up because you may see some inconsistencies between certain screenshots. Even though I'm in roughly the same place, I had to start the game over and speedrun back up to where I was before. This also means item sorting is out the window while I do this, so the inventory will be a mess in the meantime.
Anywhere, where was I?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_CutvlHN4Y
Oh yeah, this bitch.
Got a surprise for you too, you gun-toting harlot!
Yup, the solution to this puzzle is violence against women. Welcome to the 1940's!
Good thing that description box is there at the bottom, or that container name might get pretty awkward. Completely incorrect coloring aside.
Anyway, inside of the woman's purse there's a makeup kit, a twenty dollar bill, and a gun. Taking everything, naturally.
It's a makeup kit. Don't get any funny ideas.
It's a small Saturday Night Special.
All right, let's get out of here.
...
But first.
On the way back, I get mugged by a second random passerby.
Seriously, it's the same solution. Maybe you're starting to see what inspired the title for the thread.
This guy is actually very, very annoying and dangerous, however. More on that in a bit. We need to open the car, and since there was only one person in the bar, chances are Joe's unmarked key goes to his vehicle.
Success! Let's check things out.
...
I did dawdle a little at the beginning, but most of this is necessary to get to the cure in time. Humorously enough, replaying the game turned out largely the same, except I skipped the gator and ran through the bar. Still got mugged on two consecutive screens by two bitches, though.
Sweet, my own Mercedes. Let's drive to the hospital and-
-die a horrible flaming death, apparently! Although, that hooker did mention an unpleasant surprise for Joe, looks like it's a bomb.
The glove compartment reveals a few items of interest.
A photo and a map? Ohhhh, I get it. The map was supposed to make me drive the car. Clever, clever. Still, it sounds like there's something important in the trunk. The trunk release is just to the left of the steering wheel, but...
Seriously, how would you rig up an explosive to a trunk release?
Oh, the third item, the sheet of paper, is Joe's registration for the vehicle.
It's a car registration made out to Joey Siegel of 1212 West End St.
We already picked up his room card in the bar, so that sounds like as good a place as any to head for. But if we can't drive a car, we'll have to find alternative transportation.
...Seriously? I just went into a car and came back out!
The suckiest part about this guy is how random he is. He can show up nearly anywhere outside in this particular neighborhood, even if you just punched him on the previous screen.
Seriously, HOW is he getting to do this in front of a police station!?
You can't actually kill him, of course, because that would make too much sense. Saving often is about the only thing I can recommend, because it's not a good idea to keep encountering him.
Just west of the bar is a newsstand that's apparently operating in the middle of the night. Oddity aside, you can speak to the kid, but I haven't found anything to say that gets him talking. You can also buy a newspaper for a quarter, but all it does is mention Pearl Harbor. Time to keep moving.
You can randomly encounter this
His advice is pretty useful, although how he knows this is beyond me. You can also shoot him, but all that does is get you arrested instantly.
Further west is a gun store.
It's a pretty good idea to stock up here when you have time, but sadly that's one thing we just don't have. You give the storekeeper money, and for some reason it counts as a "deposit" that lets you take an item of equal or lesser worth. The gun is twenty, bullets are a quarter each.
You may not be surprised, but stealing or attempting to harm the gun shop owner is pretty fatal.
Just west of the store is a blue taxi. I don't like to use this taxi, however. The driver is described as "nervous" when you get in, and I'm pretty sure it increases the chances of police searching for you in the area if you use this one.
Oh yeah, I don't think I went into this mechanic. If you're outside, there's a small but ever-present chance that you'll hear police sirens, and the game will advise you to get off the streets. Going into a building is usually enough to reset this.
Anyway, there's another screen west it looks like so let's try there.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Yup, you can hit the same mugger twice in a row. Guess even an ex-boxer has pretty quick reflexes.
This cab is a lot better. I'll take impatient over nervous any day.
If you want to change locations, you have to Speak the location directly to the driver. You may have noticed this is actually the location on the medicine bill of sale and not Joe's registration, but no harm done; each taxi drive is 75 cents, and I did still visit the slot machine before leaving the bar. Our real destination is 1212 West End Street.
Not exactly a lot of choices on this street, so let's go inside.
Pretty fancy little penthouse here. The elevator up ahead has a card reader, which responds to the card from the bar. Did they have card-reading elevators in the 1940's? I'm genuinely curious here.
Geez, Ace, lay off the morbid humor. Joe needs a joke like that like another hole in the head.
Inside here are a few magazines, and rather hard to see photograph above the fireplace.
"Physical Culture" magazine has many a fine article to enlighten the human race where the human race enjoys to be enlightened the most.
It's a photograph of a very stout-looking brunette. On the back you find an address: 520 S. Kedzie in Chicago.
Oooh, another address. To the taxi-mobile!
This place seems substantially less fancy than the last area we visited. Also, the door is locked and none of the keys work. So...
Kind of makes you wonder why Ace doesn't just do this with every locked door he finds; this game would be a lot shorter if he did.
See, even speed-running, I'm still racing the clock very closely; that's your last warning before game over.
There's lots of items in here, but I'm seriously in a hurry at this point. The most important thing for the moment is the key, which the game doesn't really bother to explain to you. Still, we can come up with some vague theories. The doctor's bill of sale wasn't in Joe's desk, it was in the receptionist's. And, we've identified that the woman we met on the street knew Joe and probably booby-trapped his car. Since Joe has a picture with this woman's address in his penthouse, it's not a far conclusion to draw that she may be his receptionist. It's a long shot, but the only possible lead this key goes back to is the doctor's office.
Literally racing the clock, we have one more destination to go in this update: 934 West Sherman.
Another small destination, and the door's unlocked.
Sticking to the first floor for now.
The name of the doctor from the bill! And the unmarked key from the receptionist's bungalow works!
There's loads of medicines on the cabinet.... damn! How will we know which one works?
Find out next update!