Posted on: February 6, 2012
BeorntheBear
Jeux: 132 Avis: 4
A Cheap B-Movie with Puzzles
As with most sequels, The 11th Hour suffers from trying to outshine its predecessor by doing something completely different while failing to retain the essence that made the first one great. Instead of relying on the exploration of Stauf’s mansion to tell the story as you witness past events, discover clues, and solve puzzles, the story of The 11th Hour is provided through FMV cut-scenes players unlock by completing puzzles and locating items. The gross majority of these scenes take place outside of the mansion to supply background information on the person you are trying to find and the mystery she was trying to unravel about Stauf. Unfortunately, it disrupts the feeling of being immersed within the story and serves as a constant reminder you are being helped by someone on the outside who could probably call for help at any time. These design changes for the game mechanics and storytelling transitions the series from a suspenseful tale of horror into a detective mystery. --- The 3D rendered graphics are fantastic and make exploring the mansion feel like a whole new experience. It is thrilling to walk around where you’ve been before anticipating what has changed and how, what has stayed the same and why, and what new rooms will you discover. Thematically, searching the house at night using your flashlight is creepy and sets the mood. However, since you cannot control where you shine the light, it also eliminates the opportunity to appreciate how much detail and effort was put into creating each room. You have the option to play the game in black and white, but most of the puzzles remain in color and the juxtaposition is distracting. Moving through the mansion feels awkward when compared to The 7th Guest. Whereas before you would glide from room to room or item to item creating the sense you were physically moving, in The 11th Hour most of your movements snap from one place to another similar to Myst. If there were a time limit on the game (as the title may suggest), then streamlining how the player moves throughout the house would make sense. However, the title is just a gimmick and the eleventh hour has no bearing on your progress through the story. --- Unfortunately, the game suffers the most from the poorly done FMV sequences (the acting and production in Night Trap was better) and shallow plot. The relationship between Carl Denning and Robin Morales is forced and superficial, leaving no reason to believe he would actually go searching for her in the Stauf mansion—why not just call the police. And since the FMV scenes are narrowly focused on the details surrounding Robin’s disappearance, you learn more about the people in town than about Stauf or his mansion. The worst part of the storytelling resides in the multiple endings, which only cause you to wonder “Why did you need to enter the mansion at all?” --- Overall, The 11th Hour transmuted a captivating psychological horror experience into a cheap B-movie with puzzles. If you can look past the bad acting and forced storyline to focus on the puzzles, then you might want to consider this game. Otherwise, purchase and play (or replay) The 7th Guest while Trilobyte continues working on their third installment of this series.
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