Posted on: March 19, 2016

whaleswithsails

Games: 89 Reviews: 1

Nostalgia glasses needed

I loved this game when I was a kid as it was one of the first games I bought myself. The mysterious science fiction atmosphere was cool. However, I wasn't able to finish it as a kid. I got relatively far, but there were too many long stretches where it wasn't clear where to go next. Now out of nostalgia I downloaded "The Dig" again. It brought back old memories and was a fun experience to play through the whole thing. However, reading through other reviews, I would concur with a lot of the criticism. Positives: the atmosphere of the game is top-notch. The ambient symphonic soundtrack, beautiful painted backgrounds, and realistic sound effects (footsteps clicking on stone, crunching on sand) make the game extremely immersive. Negatives: The desolate atmosphere of the game, while mysterious at the beginning of the game, starts to wear thing by the middle. The beginning of the game after you arrive is the most fun, because at the point the world is relatively open, there are multiple items to collect, and there are some relatively fun trial-and-error puzzles. After that, the game starts to get frustratingly linear. You are supposed to go certain places, or talk to certain people or show them things only in one particular scene, and there's no kind of nudge or clue as to what or where that should be. The mysterious empty atmosphere of the game starts to get, well, boring, as you half to (slowly) walk back and forth between the same scenes, all across the game world, to collect one item or talk to one person. After a certain point, the puzzles stop being puzzles, and the game becomes a sort of wandering around, looking for the one trigger to advance the storyline, and finding it often has nothing to do with logic. I wish the game would provide more clues from dialogue as to where to go next. I also thought the puzzles sucked after the halfway point. The ending was also really cheesy too, and I would agree with the dialogue/voice acting being stiff. But still a cool game.

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Posted on: March 18, 2020

Benjamin_Valiere

Verified owner

Games: 2 Reviews: 1

Nice atmosphere but unlogical puzzles

The graphics are quite nice, the world is quite hypnotizing, the music is very immersive. But the puzzles, as in most point'n clicks, just lack of logic. So sometimes you'll be stuck somewhere, and the soluce is quite lame, and when you start doubting of the quality of the puzzles, it's hard to really keep trying since you always fear that the reason why you're stuck is you or the poor quality of the puzzle. It's still nice do to the game with the soluce near you, it's still a good experience.

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Posted on: December 6, 2015

Hanglyman

Verified owner

Games: 444 Reviews: 141

A Weaker Lucasarts Entry

I enjoyed this game a lot more back when it came out than I do today. I'd give it three and a half stars if I could- it's not exactly bad, but it doesn't hold up well compared to many others in the genre. Probably the biggest reason is the reliance on the scenery. The Dig was a little different than other adventure games in that there weren't a lot of hotspots to click and explore- the bulk of the game was the atmospheric beauty of the alien planet, with maybe two or three things to explore on each screen- some screens literally have nothing but an entrance and an exit, and you're meant to enjoy the scenery while waiting for your character to traverse between them. While it was visually impressive back when it came out, the graphics are nothing special today, and the reliance on them doesn't help. The backgrounds begin to look a little repetitive (everything is a sunset-lit ocean view), the animation is a little off sometimes, and the spider-monster in particular looks rather primitive. The story and dialogue also are less impressive than they were when I was 13. The story is fairly straightforward, and, while interesting, not a lot actually happens while you wander about fiddling with alien machinery. The characters never develop all that much, aren't particularly likable (especially the hero, Boston Low), and their dialogue, while often realistic, can also be a bit bland, and the numerous attempts at humor fall flat. The exception is Brink's descent into madness, which, while shallow on the whole, is well-acted and full of biting sarcasm, venom and increasing paranoia. The biggest flaw is probably the ending- after building up the danger with lots of ominous dialogue and warnings, the supposedly planet-ruining peril is resolved near-instantly in an almost casual manner. While still a pretty good adventure game, its weakness compared to eternal classics like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Gabriel Knight or King's Quest VI really show in the modern age.

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Posted on: June 26, 2018

SentientNo4

Verified owner

Games: 274 Reviews: 8

Way below expectations

I'm sure this game was a success when it first appeared, but this must have been based exclusively on the pretty graphics, which are passable even after all this time. Unfortunately, everything else is subpar. The puzzles are very unintuitive and nonsensical, which leads to an obtuse, unengaging story. You will most likely need to use a walkthrough, especially in the second part of the game. Even so, the constant backtracking, combined with unskippable and very long animations, dialogues and audio ques from the main character during almost every action, makes the entire playthrough very tedious and boring. I'm an avid adventure games player, I love all the classics from Sierra, Microids and the likes. I wanted to try this game for so long, and I had such high expectations, that the dissapointment was tenfold. I don't know if I can force myself to finish this game.

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Posted on: January 2, 2017

JohnTyrell

Verified owner

Games: 133 Reviews: 28

Could be better

So it's a Lucasfilm point+click adventure in collaboration with Steven Spielberg, hence it must be awesome, right? Sadly, no. The Dig is a good game, but in my mind, it is not on the same level as other Lucasfilm titles. The game starts out well, with good writing and characters, decent voice-acting and nice atmosphere, but quickly becomes boring. Furthermore, either the game design or programming seems sloppy, as I ran into a situation where it was impossible to make progress without starting over and doing things in a different order- unusual for the high-quality Lucasfilm titles. Unless you have completed most or all other Lucasfilm games, this game is ihmo not a must-have.

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