Posted March 09, 2009
I didn't know of this game until I stumbled on a video of its death scenes on YouTube, and was fairly surprised how graphic they were. Shortly after, I found GOG and discovered that it was for sale here - given the very reasonable prices and no DRM, I decided to have a go at a new-old game for a while.
The game starts you off letting you pick which of four sections to solve in any order you choose, each set in a different time period playing past members of your family with a different nemesis to confront; your evil twin at the time. The story is slightly junky and is more of an excuse to go for the split time-periods and situations, which are actually very cool and a great idea employed quite well, so it's easily forgiven.
The way the game has been split up allows for some good creativity and experimentation in the game, with each section playing quite differently to the last. The Pyramid waxwork is very trap and puzzle based, the Victorian work is based around avoiding confrontations, the Graveyard being the opposite and very combat heavy with the Mines waxwork playing like a point and click Resident Evil game, complete with ammo depreivation. The Victorian waxwork is based around the premise that your evil twin of the time was Jack the Ripper, which I thought was a very nice touch and gave that scenario a lot of atmosphere.
The graphics are fine for the era, with the odd rough part but are mostly clear and moody. The death scenes especially are very graphical and probably gain more power than they otherwise have because of their graphical style, especially in the mines where the ways to die are exceedingly grisly.
Sounds are few and far between but are pretty good, however the music gets repetitive and the instrumentation is very low-fi and harsh. While this is great for the death scenes it's too much for the general play and will probably get the volume-down treatment. The Graveyard and the Pyramid especially are most at fault for this. It's really a shame as it's arguably the only fly in the stylistic ointment of the game.
Gameplay is where the game is truly unique. The first person viewpont and the point-and-click adventure style works well here, and it shows that there was a good amount of thought put into the game flow. The puzzles are logical and dont need leaps of mental faith ("try every combination" syndrome) as infamously seen in point-and-click games from time to time, but the exploration element brought on by the first person element means that the puzzles are mostly superficial and are based about being to locate all parts of a jigsaw puzzle. Despite this I wasn't lost for what I should be doing or looking for next in the game, and was free of the feeling of frustration brought on by no clear route forward. The way the game is laid out also changes the impact as after each stage your items and stats are reset. This means that the developers were free to experiment with different formulas for basic gameplay as mentioned before, and this kept the game feeling fresh.
What didn't work as well was the combat system. The game keeps up an experience counter through each level, which boosts your health and your combat skills slightly as you progress. This would have worked well if there was something for it to worth with. The combat system is a simple affair of repeatedly clicking on the enemy until it dies or you die, which is just not all that compelling, and it is a wasted oppurtunity to make combat more meaningful and worked into the game better than it currently is, where it stands simply as a mildly annoying distraction from your task of locating items and solving puzzles. It's made a sadder fact by the only real experimentation with the system in the Graveyard work, where you can hack off the head and limbs of zombies in any order you wish, and it shows that if a little more work was applied to making combat more involved especially in the Pyramid, then this could have been far better woven into the game.
Each section took me about an hour to two hours to complete; length is not a strength in the game but it was very enjoyable experience indeed. All things considered, more than worth the money marred by a combat system in need of improvement and some weak music.
The game starts you off letting you pick which of four sections to solve in any order you choose, each set in a different time period playing past members of your family with a different nemesis to confront; your evil twin at the time. The story is slightly junky and is more of an excuse to go for the split time-periods and situations, which are actually very cool and a great idea employed quite well, so it's easily forgiven.
The way the game has been split up allows for some good creativity and experimentation in the game, with each section playing quite differently to the last. The Pyramid waxwork is very trap and puzzle based, the Victorian work is based around avoiding confrontations, the Graveyard being the opposite and very combat heavy with the Mines waxwork playing like a point and click Resident Evil game, complete with ammo depreivation. The Victorian waxwork is based around the premise that your evil twin of the time was Jack the Ripper, which I thought was a very nice touch and gave that scenario a lot of atmosphere.
The graphics are fine for the era, with the odd rough part but are mostly clear and moody. The death scenes especially are very graphical and probably gain more power than they otherwise have because of their graphical style, especially in the mines where the ways to die are exceedingly grisly.
Sounds are few and far between but are pretty good, however the music gets repetitive and the instrumentation is very low-fi and harsh. While this is great for the death scenes it's too much for the general play and will probably get the volume-down treatment. The Graveyard and the Pyramid especially are most at fault for this. It's really a shame as it's arguably the only fly in the stylistic ointment of the game.
Gameplay is where the game is truly unique. The first person viewpont and the point-and-click adventure style works well here, and it shows that there was a good amount of thought put into the game flow. The puzzles are logical and dont need leaps of mental faith ("try every combination" syndrome) as infamously seen in point-and-click games from time to time, but the exploration element brought on by the first person element means that the puzzles are mostly superficial and are based about being to locate all parts of a jigsaw puzzle. Despite this I wasn't lost for what I should be doing or looking for next in the game, and was free of the feeling of frustration brought on by no clear route forward. The way the game is laid out also changes the impact as after each stage your items and stats are reset. This means that the developers were free to experiment with different formulas for basic gameplay as mentioned before, and this kept the game feeling fresh.
What didn't work as well was the combat system. The game keeps up an experience counter through each level, which boosts your health and your combat skills slightly as you progress. This would have worked well if there was something for it to worth with. The combat system is a simple affair of repeatedly clicking on the enemy until it dies or you die, which is just not all that compelling, and it is a wasted oppurtunity to make combat more meaningful and worked into the game better than it currently is, where it stands simply as a mildly annoying distraction from your task of locating items and solving puzzles. It's made a sadder fact by the only real experimentation with the system in the Graveyard work, where you can hack off the head and limbs of zombies in any order you wish, and it shows that if a little more work was applied to making combat more involved especially in the Pyramid, then this could have been far better woven into the game.
Each section took me about an hour to two hours to complete; length is not a strength in the game but it was very enjoyable experience indeed. All things considered, more than worth the money marred by a combat system in need of improvement and some weak music.