Posted December 23, 2009
Allright, so if your even on this page it's obvious that you have an interest in adventure games so I'll skip the whole "you'll enjoy it if you are an adventure game fan" thing.
Let's get the cons out of the way first and, to be honest, there's really only two things I could complain about and both deal with play time. First, it is a short game. That's the main flaw. You'll probably finish it in about 4-7 hours depending on how quick you are with the puzzles. Second, as with most adventure titles, and especially ones that rely a lot on puzzles, you'll probably only be able to enjoy one playthrough unless you suffer from severe memory loss.
Now that that's done let's get top the good stuff. On top of everything else, you want to play this game for the atmosphere. Is it going to make you wet your pants? Probably not, but it is still very creepy nonetheless. The word I would probably use to describe it is unsettling. You find yourself completely alone in a run down, condemned hotel and train station ( well not completely alone) and the more you discover the less you're going to want to linger. There are very few moments during the game where you wont feel at least uneasy. As an example, there is not a single living creature (in a physical sense, disembodied voices aside) in the game besides you and maybe a bug or two and yet you always feel as though something could jump out at you any minute. The sound's are played perfectly to enhance this creepiness and the graphics were never bad enough to break immersion. Then there's the story. Maybe it's not so much the plot itself as much as how it's told that I like. You pick up pieces of what happened from newspaper clippings, notes left lying around, journals, and occasionally spirits. You're always searching for the next bit of information and every little item found feels like an accomplishment. The story itself also is very solid with plenty of paranormal and arcane happenings to keep any horror fan satisfied. But, an adventure game isn't just a setting and a story right? That's where the puzzles come in. This will be what you spend most of the time thinking about in the game. I found the puzzles to be at a perfect difficulty: not so easy that you become bored but also not so hard so that you'll rarely ever need to consult a walkthrough to beat them.
I would probably give it a 4.5 if I had the option but I'll round up because it's certainly closer to 5 than to 4. If you're looking for a psychological/ horror adventure game (and if you're here I'm assuming you are) then I cant think of a better game. If you're even slightly interested give it a shot you wont be disappointed.
Let's get the cons out of the way first and, to be honest, there's really only two things I could complain about and both deal with play time. First, it is a short game. That's the main flaw. You'll probably finish it in about 4-7 hours depending on how quick you are with the puzzles. Second, as with most adventure titles, and especially ones that rely a lot on puzzles, you'll probably only be able to enjoy one playthrough unless you suffer from severe memory loss.
Now that that's done let's get top the good stuff. On top of everything else, you want to play this game for the atmosphere. Is it going to make you wet your pants? Probably not, but it is still very creepy nonetheless. The word I would probably use to describe it is unsettling. You find yourself completely alone in a run down, condemned hotel and train station ( well not completely alone) and the more you discover the less you're going to want to linger. There are very few moments during the game where you wont feel at least uneasy. As an example, there is not a single living creature (in a physical sense, disembodied voices aside) in the game besides you and maybe a bug or two and yet you always feel as though something could jump out at you any minute. The sound's are played perfectly to enhance this creepiness and the graphics were never bad enough to break immersion. Then there's the story. Maybe it's not so much the plot itself as much as how it's told that I like. You pick up pieces of what happened from newspaper clippings, notes left lying around, journals, and occasionally spirits. You're always searching for the next bit of information and every little item found feels like an accomplishment. The story itself also is very solid with plenty of paranormal and arcane happenings to keep any horror fan satisfied. But, an adventure game isn't just a setting and a story right? That's where the puzzles come in. This will be what you spend most of the time thinking about in the game. I found the puzzles to be at a perfect difficulty: not so easy that you become bored but also not so hard so that you'll rarely ever need to consult a walkthrough to beat them.
I would probably give it a 4.5 if I had the option but I'll round up because it's certainly closer to 5 than to 4. If you're looking for a psychological/ horror adventure game (and if you're here I'm assuming you are) then I cant think of a better game. If you're even slightly interested give it a shot you wont be disappointed.