This opus of the trilogy is to be reserved for purists of the genre that love solving enigmas for the love of themselves. Indeed, in spite of a ton of situations to solve and a lot of reflexion phases, the action is too slow to take off and the overall pace of the game is rather slow. You will not find the elements that made BM III unforgettable like esoterism or murder or malediction. This one is purely about mac gyver's long phases of solving action to know a little bit more what is supposed to happen in the third and last episode.A lot of back and forth phases and dispensable action phases that unfortunately lead to no surprise. It is like the phases of actions or enigmas are overly complicated to make the game last longer. This episode is a bit of a disappointment since it lacks what makes the all the greatness of the Title (I and III) No spoiler here but you will have to wait until chapter V to come close to interesting scenaristic and history based related actions...and chapter V is near the end. I would not say it is a bad adventure game in its mechanics and enigmas since it is not, but maybe the third opus makes shade to this one and makes one consider this game as less essential, less thrilling, less surprising. To sum up: for fans only.
I did not know the Black Mirror Trilogy to this day although I had heard a lot about BM3 mainly for the remaster of the first one. It is probably the best adventure game I have done to this day, in term of storyline, scenario and atmosphere. The scenario of the game is the deepest and most mature I have seen for a video game yet. Some elements reminded me of Broken Sword, Gabriel Knight, Alan Wake but with a much much more extended, deep and realistic touch in all aspects. The thematics of this third opus include esoterism, malediction, exorcism, mysticism with some paranormal elements progressively developed around a classic detective investigation plot. I must aknowledge that I had to use a walkthrough at several moments because I was stuck, and also because some phases of gameplay and puzzles are pretty hard. No spoiler here, but towards the end, there are some sequences I would never have solved by myself ! so regarding game duration I think this one can beat some records because yes it is quite long... It was also mainly because I was eager to know what was about to happen next, because the scenario is quite thrilling and keep you hooked. The actor voiceovers are the only drawback I can see, the acting is inequal at some moments, some lines are not convincing but overall it has not hindered the experience, and is offset by the astonishing amount of dialogs and text in this game...I don't know if I ever played a game with so much dialogs. Good point also for the music that is very well for the atmosphere, subtle yet present, and for the visuals...the places to visit in the game are really detailed and beautiful at the same time. Finally, welcome and useful features: the spacebar that highlights all the objects on screen. The double click to teleport the character that speeds up the progression. To conclude, i am eager to play the 2 other games of this trilogy because finding this gem has been a very good surprise.
Being a fan of adventure games and especially the detective SH Games, I wanted to try this notoriously acclaimed game, despite all the bad critism I could read about this opus of the series. Anyway...after completing all the games of the series, I had to finish with the Holy Grail. When you are a fan, skipping one episode is not an option. Well, I must say I have not been disappointed at all and that the few game reviews I could read here and there were pretty accurate: this game is pure Hell. The title itself: Nemesis, that means "Vengeance" in ancient greek by the way is pretty well appropriated when it comes to solve the mysteries and try to break through the enigmas of this horrific game. Nemesis, vengeance ? Is this game a vengeance against all the casual gamers out there ? Is it a sign of rebellion against the casualization of the adventure games trend of those last years. If the response is yes, the aim is perfectly reached. I do not know if this game is the most "harcore" adventure game ever created, but, it probably is amongst the few titles that can compete for that title. - First of all, the game is insanely long. Once you solve a very hard and long sequence (like the Museum and the paintings...no spoiler intended here in case some people had the courage to really solve this sequence without the help of a Walkthrough), you think you made good progress and that the plot and story is going to advance...big mistake. The same slow pace prevails, and the same insanely hard and not intuitive gameplay sequences will follow. - Hopefully, the remastered version offers the possibility to highlight the active zones on the screen to ease the ...pain...hmm...I meant, progression in the game. - The game is no rewarding whatsoever in its progression. For example, the Painting Sequence (in the Museum) for example, could easily be a sequence towards the end or even leading to the ending of a classic with average difficulty game. (if you compare to other SH games with a lower difficulty). Here, it is just, basically the beginning of the game. And as mentionned before, solving a sequence won't bring any sense of accomplishment or triggering even the smallest cutscene. Nope. This is just for the pure pleasure of solving insanely difficult sequences and mini-games. -The graphics are outdated: well, I would not put that as a bad point since when you play that kind of games, you know that you are not quite there for the "graphics" or for the quality of the textures of audio. - Even with the help of a walkthrough, some game sequences are difficult to solve, hard to find, or not intuitive. Basically, all the actions must be accomplished by deducing the intentions of Arsene Lupin's Evil Plan to outgrow's SH intelligence...and I must say Arsene is pretty good at creating evil schemes that seem unsolvable to the flock of mortal players (or am I really that bad at solving mysteries ?) An example of that is finding the code of a lock for a crate at the start of the museum. Nothing of interest in this crate really...but findind the combination of that code will need calculations and deductions that outgrow difficulty that you can find in other SH games. And it is just opening a pointless crate that has no major incidence on the plot... - If new modern era SH games brought intuitive clue and deduction trees, nice cutscenes and a cinematic and emphatic style for the scenario, none of that can be found here. Sorry for the insisting references to the "evil" aspect of this game, but I cannot see any other adjective to describe a game, that seems like a neverending sequence of painful gameplay sequences with no reward at all. In conclusion, I would say that this game is to be reserved to purists, people who genuinely dedicated their gaming spare time to the Sherlock Holmes cause and that are not afraid to renounce or even question themselves about why on earth would they enjoy playing such a "game". I put quotation marks because to this day, I thought "playing a game" was meant to have fun from it at some point. Maybe I was wrong... When even a game is hard to play with a walkthrough, one has to have faith into one's talent to solve mysteries. For all those reasons, I put 2 stars beause I think despite all of those negative elements...this game is a unique gem, maybe the most frustrating and difficult adventure game ever created to the day. In an era where casual games for casual gamers are the rule, maybe this title will retrospecively be remembered as a milestone in video-games. Or maybe, symbolise the end of an era.
I decided to play this opus of SH despite a few bad critics I had read here and there about this game. Actually I was well surprised by the game being much better than some player reviews presaged. I precise than I am a fan of the SH franchise, this one was the only one missing, that I had not played, only excepted Nemesis that is considered too difficult even for purists. In this one, the remaster "space bar" function helps a lot for highliting the items and points of interets and eases the progression of the game. The intrigue and plot of the game is well written and interesting, the dialogs are good and conform to the quality of the other SH games. There is less action than in the latest SH games (Devil's Daughter, Crime and Punishment, Vs Jack the Ripper, The Testament) but also it is not an episode games, it is a full story, so action is carefully placed and fits the story. The graphics are a bit outdated but do not hinder the game experience. I play in First person mode, it is much easier this way I think. Life duration is pretty good for the genre. Many hours of adventure even with a walkthrough (yes, there is some difficulty in some passages). I think that for a fan of SH universe and adventure games, I would have missed something by not having played this game. The game is not perfect but still is a good SH adventure game in my opinion.
This game truly is remarkable and probably is one of the best games I ever played. The ambiance emanating from that game is unique, the storyline, the dialogs, the music makes it a very immersive RPG. The fact that the graphics of the game can be upgraded makes you wonder if you really played an old game since the plot and games mechanics reach near-perfection.
The myth about this game being reinstalled somewhere in the world anytime the name is mentioned is probably true, considering I finally played it on GOG and reached the end of the game this time. For some players, this game is considered to be the perfect game for a lot of reasons and a lot of things have been written on this game over the years so I will make it short. - Scenario: a depth, detail, themes, dialogs that have not been equalled in the video-game history even today. - Freedom of choice and gameplay: any mission can be done in many many ways, with many approaches. Gameplay: very playable and modern gameplay and interface. -Sound: tons of very immersive dialogs and superb soundtrack. This game still is a reference for many gamers today. The concept of writing a review for this game can be questioned since Deus Ex has become more than a video game and is a monument for the whole genre.
Back in the days I played Spycraft but could not finish the game, being too young at the time to really understand the deepness of the scenario and playing without help. (yes, some adventure games had some difficulty) So I was happy to see that this game was available on GOG. This allowed me to fully enjoy the gaming experience with today eyes and reach the end of the game (that time finally !) The thematics of the game are great: CIA, espionnage, politics, cold war. It includes very good intrigue and plot helped by a lot of cut-scenes and very good interface. I have to mention that I had to use some help to reach the end of the game because I was stuck more than once, this game is not an easy game to finish and it can be puzzling considering the modern-day adventure games. Anyway, that point did not alter the overall gaming experience, that was great, and justifies in my opinion, the 4 stars.
I enjoyed playing this game back in the days and finished it but not with the good ending back then (4 or 5 possible endings). I wondered if playing this game again today was purely about nostalgia or if the game was really very good as it used to be when it was initially released. Now I can confirm this game is truly a gem and is even today a very good gaming experience and great adventure (compared to other adventure games of that time that are not as playable or got old too fast.) Also, this is the only adventure first-person point and click adventure game taking place of the famous Titanic that has been made to that day (or I have not heard or played about any other). To me the pleasure of playing that game was intact, also, I am a fan of the genre. I read here and there that the game is considered to be short, but I remember spending hours on it at the initial release, and the length is pretty decent if you play without help. Also, getting the right ending (no spoiler here) is not easy and makes it replayable. Even with modern standards, i consider this game to be a must-play for any adventure game lover.
