Picked up a bundle pack from GoG and am very glad I did since I see that its no longer offered in the games list when I went to do a review. If it ever comes back I would recommend this adventure point and click . Blackwell 1 had some issues for me, mainly quick travel fudiginess, changing hotpoints as progress gates, if you didnt reclick that spot after a certain event then the game just didnt go forward etc, so in effect you had to reclick over and over every hotspot in game, to get the event needed. all added to irritation of gameplay but still a nice adventure game after all that.

Blackwell II has none of those issues. The only problem I had was sound for dialogues being drowned out by environmental noise, usually during a big event with no option to pause game to reset sound options.. which led to loading a saved game later and then making sure the sound was reset in options and then replaying the scene. If you played with subtitles this wouldnt matter at all.

The rest of the game was pretty darned good. The graphics were very well done, some backgrounds were outstanding. The animations of the characters was also well done, some blockiness in turning to hotspots but nothing drastic. The puzzles were logical and although not too difficult could pose some hard thinking in order to solve them. The story was quite dark at times, and a jump scare or two. The lead character's accent was spot on for the area, which is a bit of a drag as thick Bostonian/upper east coast is hard on the ears. heh His voice acting was pretty good but a bit whiney when he got excited but all in all enjoyable. The game allow you to pick up items and carry them way ahead of need, which also avoids back tracking to get that same item later. Also, if you see an interactionable item but its not time for the action then the game dialogue tells you, so you dont continue to fiddle with it. All very intuitive and done for the players convenience and pleasure. Wish more adventure games would do that as it leaves just a pleasant experience to the player who can then focus on the story rather than annoyances and irritations tainting the story of the game.

Its a longish game, if played straight thru without breaks may take a good few hours but I needed many breaks as adventuring the full landscape took lots of time, with lots of dialogue to give background to the many hotspots. Its taken me several days. The best part of it were hotspots disappeared after you 'researched' them, avoiding unnecessary re-clicking that fouled the first series. I didnt pick up on the camera mini game until much later in the game, missing some achievements that unlocked pictures and so on but no biggie.

Cant say when I have enjoyed an adventure game like this.. maybe Syberia or Myst. I am looking forward to Black Mirror III

Glad you enjoyed it! I always thought that the Black Mirror series was a decent point-and-click adventure gameplay-wise. No all too complex puzzles but also no child's play either and the mechanics were definitely improved after the first part. But together with the story, it just really draws you in. I remember playing this in winter evenings and I thought it was some really good entertainment. After I finished it, I longed for more.

I never really got into Syberia so much. I can't really put my finger on it, but I just think that the world is too empty, too dull. I love having interactions with interesting characters and in Syberia, most of the time the characters acted like robots! Myst isn't really a point-and-click adventure in the classic sense, really more of a puzzle game. I like having a balance between story and puzzles and Myst always seemed to lean more to the former.

Still Life reminded me the most of Black Mirror so far. It's a lot more story-driven, has some beautiful scenery and tedious puzzles. Unfortunately, I never enjoyed its predecessor Post Mortem or its successor Still Life 2 (which I found a complete letdown). So it was just this one game.

I hear you on those games, Syberia had alot of problems with blocky movements and incessant backtracking but the artwork charmed me to no end. I havent played Still Life in ages so its time for another go, there was an interesting game that I enjoyed on steam awhile ago, I think it was called Anna.

the best part of it all is that gog offers so many adventure games which I pick up on sale for very little cash, so for the first time in ages I have a full library of new games to play, rather than having to buy one every now and then as budget allowed.

Just finished another game called Gray Matter. It reminded me in many ways of the Black Mirror series, mostly in terms of atmosphere, music and detective-style mystery plot. Although not as good, in my opinion, it may be worth checking out if you liked this series.

GM also features a very likeable main character, I might add! ;)