Le murmureur

I've been playing point and click adventure games since my Commodore 64 days. Despite the years of improvement in technology and the development of computer storytelling, this game manages to fell like something I wrote as a pre-teen in BASIC, but with prettier graphics. Just as simplistic, constrained, and uninspired as a young me would have made it. I got this game for free and I still think I paid too much. It cost me time and that time was not a fair trade for what I received.

This, so called "game" looks like new scheme of reverse financed advertisement: you pay for watching ads. The Whisperer looks like an ad to buy the other game. Quite botched in my case. First of all The Whisperer is incredibly clumsy game as for the date it was released. I was pretty sure that game was from nineties, last century. The story looks like made on-the-go during programming. Mechanics is so terrible that it takes an hour to do three simple tasks (white cursor and items description in a Canadian blizzard background, awkward using and collecting items, no orientation point, happened to me twice going back when I thought I was progressing). Visuals are atmospheric and tense, that I have to give to it. I had to finish just before the end as saving game while I was facing the wall resulted in me ending half under the floor. Or perhaps it's because of my poor internet connection because I noticed the game has a problem to run without internet (minimizes window to taskbar all the time), I got it for free and that's about right price. However I have no plans to buy, or even get for free the advertised game.

Can't believe there is a price tag on this, there is nothing in this game except abritrary items and plot.

Honestly, this feels like somebody submitted their secondary education student project to GOG. Plot? Ranging form trivial and unimaginative to flat nonexistent. Locations - uninteresting, if nice looking. You get to look around, but you cannot walk. There are many useless locations, which I imagine were added to hide the fact there is not really that much content in-game. Sound? Weather effects, footsteps, door noises, that kind of stuff. Characters? What characters? Psychology disclaimer? Useless. So far, from "adventure", "point-and-click" and "horror", you do point and click around a lot. Puzzles are mostly based on you searching for missed locations and items. From adventures point of view, you do have an inventory and you do combine items. There should be more to adventures, though. I didn't feel hooked in by the setting of the story, I didn't relate to any of the one character, You will probably be able to combine enough stuff to advance through the game, but the logic of your actions is... isn't. Honestly - I gave up playing and finished this piece via youtube walkthrough on double speed. Horror - yea, some elements of the ... locations are gory, wooden houses make wooden noises, but I didn't feel scared or ... or really anything else than frustration. Size of 2.2 gigs and loading times (even off ssd) hitting dozen seconds are way beyond what I'd find acceptable As a student project, I'd have tons of remarks and then I'd let it slide - it's not bad as a technical demo, but for a GOG game? One star is one star too much. Rating of ?/5 or n/a would suit better.

Whilst the isolated setting and spooky atmosphere were good and built up some tension, the minimal story meant there wasn’t any kind of payoff. The menus were clunky, the ‘teleportation’ movement and unclear objectives annoying and the graphics, whilst functional, were nothing special. It has potential but is far too basic and short to recommend.