Ups: The dynamic duo (George and Nico) are back at it again, and there are a lot of humorous comments. There are also many people that we have met in previous BS games that show up in this one, too. The storyline is rich in history and a gripping mystery to work out. There are not the miserable controls that were in some of the earlier games - this is more of a real point & click and not about how quick you are with mouse buttons or a game station if you have one. Downs; Mostly just one, but it counts as several: 90% of the game is spent talking and listening to a lot of babble from the characters, some of which is informative and necessary. The rest of it is just dumb and wastes time, like when George says something like "I put the batteries into...." or "I clicked on the container...." Well duh, I made you do that and you didn't need to tell me about it too. Fortunately I got this game when it was on sale; not sure I would want to get it for the full price.
Most of the other reviews had been written before the COVID pandemic or the war in Ukraine, so now the story feels weirdly appropriate. Even if the writing is not as profound as some would like or the puzzles are not as complex, I do not really care about those details when such an important thing is happening in our world now. There were quite a few times when I wished game characters would just shut up and stop talking so I could have my mouse back, but that is a general thing to have to suffer with in many adventure games. Mercifully there is often a way to cut their inane drivel short once you have played through the whole game enough and know what needs to be triggered next.
I did get this game to work, but there were several times that I had to go back to an older save, reload, and do everything all over again because I couldn't get back to where I had put something in storage to make room for new objects that I had to pick up. Eventually I was not allowed to make further progress and complete the game, which made me really mad. Why the inventory is designed like that and does not have more room in it is a major pain in the ass. Otherwise, the game is exciting; I found myself wanting to catch the scumbag killer and help the FBI get him.
Pros: Interesting story - starts out kind of lame and then gets good Doesn't use up a lot of computer resources and need a video card with, like, 25G Great backgrounds; you get to travel and stay inside Cons: Really annoying characters. I have been amusing myself by talking back to the monitor. For instance - Darren, in his broad Bostonian accent: What is that round thing up theah? It has a large hand & one that is small. Me: I don't know, Darren, perhaps it might be a clock? Frustratingly linear at times. If you don't specifically make Darren look at an object by clicking on it and suffering through the inanity that follows, you might end up not being able to progress later on in the game. All in all, Darren does act like someone barely into his 20s. Occasionally he is brilliant, displays his education, and MacGuyvers his way out of hairy situations. Other times, he is rather stupid. This game does help to pass the time while I stay indoors as much as possible during the COVID pandemic.
I prefer puzzle & atmospheric games to those with lots of shooting and gore so I loved the various scenes in this game, which gave me hours of play. Some of the puzzles are maddening, though. I had a hard time with some of them because it was challenging to get the pointer in the correct place and not just mess up my last action, so there tended to be a lot of cussing at the computer on my part. I did ultimately get through the whole game to the end - there have been some other games that I've had to abandon since I just could not get the bloody pointer to do what I wanted it to, and I ended up stuck wherever I happened to be. I am also a big fan of the Myst series, and this had the same feel to it without the time limits on certain puzzles that also made it impossible for my graphics to keep up as I tried to go from scene to scene.
