## Description
In _The Vaults of Zurich_ the player takes control of a master thief who
attempts a very daring heist. As the title implies it all takes place in the
subterranean vault system of a Swiss bank and the goal of the game is to reach
the chairman’s chamber on the ninth level and steal the bank’s most valuable
possession: the OPEC oil deeds. The player has two hours of real time to
accomplish this and return to the bank lobby. The game consists of nine levels
that are connected with stairs. Each level is five sectors wide and five
sectors long and each sector can be either a corridor or a vault room. As the
player descends the value of the vaults increase but so does the strength of
the guards that patrol the corridors.
The game is mostly played by entering keyboard commands (on some versions it’s
possible to move around with the joystick). Each vault room contains a certain
amount of blue ship stock and a number of people. They can also contain tools
and a television camera. To gain control of the wealth of a vault the player
has to either fight, bribe or explode the people of the vault. Fighting is
automatic once initiated and goes on until the player or the opposition has
won. If the player wins he gets all the content of the vault. When bribing is
successfully used the most valuable occupant of the vault joins the player and
the player gets the vault contents in exchange for the bribe. If not
successful combat will start with the player’s change of winning being lower
than normal.
In addition to fighting and bribing there are other actions requiring various
tools that can be found around the vaults. These include plans that show the
map of the level in full, keys that can open vault doors, drills that do the
same but with a time penalty, wires that disable TV cameras and explosives
that can kill people and destroy cameras. If a camera is not wired or
destroyed an alarm might go off. When this happens the player has thirty
seconds to leave the level or the game will be lost. Running into a guard when
the alarm is on will also lead to game over. Alarms also lead to the player
losing some wealth and the longer it takes to leave the more will be lost.
In the corridors the player will come across guards. These can be fought but
not bribed. Instead there are two other options, sneaking by or dumping.
Dumping means the player drops one quarter of his wealth on the floor as a way
to distract the guard and will then be able to pass. When sneaking there is a
chance of triggering the alarm if spotted.
The Vaults of Zurich