Shamus

IBM CGA version of Shamus

Shamus is an action/adventure game originally released in 1982 by Synapse Software for Atari 8-bit computers and shortly after ported to numerous other computer systems. Inspired by the arcade game Berzerk, players need to find their way though a large, multi-room maze to reach "The Shadow's Lair" at the end.

As the robotic detective Shamus, the player's goal is to defeat the Shadow who is located at the end of a large maze of electrified walls broken up into 128 different rooms. To reach the end, players need to navigate the maze of rooms while avoiding not only the walls but the numerous enemy robots as well. Shamus is equipped with a Short High Intensity Vaporizer, or SHIV, which can be used to shoot opponents; only two shots can be on the screen at a time, so careful aim or timing may be necessary. Similar to Evil Otto in Berzerk, if players remain in a room too long the Shadow will eventually appear; it can travel straight through the walls and can't be destroyed, but shooting it will temporarily pause its movements. The rooms in Shamus aren't random and follow the same layout each time the player plays the game and moves from room to room; additionally, if a player travels back to a previous room any enemies that had been destroyed will reappear. Some rooms have exits that are locked; keys appear throughout that players need to collect to open the doors (other bonus items appear as well, including bottles the award an extra life and a question mark which awards a mystery bonus).