I tried to play this game, really I did. Each time I opened it, I'd play for 10 minutes and then find myself checking Facebook or doing those chores I'd been putting off all week. The story didn't interest me, and the two-dimensional movement was frustrating and slow. I suppose it's worth it if you're into the art for art's sake-type game, but I need a more gripping narrative and the ability to interact more with objects and places. Not the game for me.
I'm not usually into these kinds of puzzle games, but this came up on the last Insomnia sale and I thought I'd give it a whirl. This turned out to be a great game! The puzzles were challenging (even for a hard-core adventure gamer like me). The "story" was pretty weak, but it didn't matter--I was having too much fun trying to sort out the puzzles. I occasionally had to seek help online when I got stuck, but I played this game for hours and hours and never got bored.
So creative and beautiful, I'm at a loss for words. Without dialogue, these games manage to have clear characters with clear goals. I was highly entertained, and I found the puzzles challenging yet logical. Recommend.
Sometimes games are more than just a game--they're art. This game was magical for me. It was like getting to explore the world of Wall-E. Good puzzles, good story, and a beautifully rendered world.
I had some issues with this game. Don't get me wrong, the game was fun to play. The visuals and sound effects will truly freak you out. DO NOT PLAY in a dark room with speakers on loud. Some of the areas are simply grotesque and disturbing to look out (scissors, blood, syringes, freaky statues like the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who). HOWEVER, as an avid adventure gamer, I felt the plot of this story made little sense, and the end of the game left much unexplained. Some of the characters and plot elements were not logical. Also, in terms of gameplay, the movement was stilted, and you often had to spend a long time moving from one room to the next. You can only look at certain angles, and it's easy to miss a hotspot if you don't click just the right way. Also, it wasn't always clear what you were supposed to be doing, so the puzzles were not intuitive. Sometimes it was a simple matter of having to move around, and "hit" and area where you would get a message (the next clue). This could be frustrating, as you'd be wandering around without knowing where to go next and why. The characters simply weren't as three-dimensional as a game such as Myst; even so, this game is worth it for the graphics alone. It's the stuff of nightmares.
This game is a lot like a novella. The story has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the plot unfolds little by little, the way it should with a good sci-fi mystery. It isn't terribly long in terms of gameplay, and the graphics are quite old-school (but that's why you come to GOG, right?). I liked the characters, and the voice acting was very good. It was an immersive experience, and quite entertaining for the one day it took to play through.
This game is worth it for the intriguing story. It gets especially good in the final chapters, when you finally start to figure out what's going on. My issue was simply that the character was hard to move, and several times I found myself doing the right action (clicking on X), but I was just a teensy weensy bit off in my clicking so the action didn't register, and I thought my solution was incorrect. Some of the inventory items are hard to see and blend into the background as well. The puzzles were okay (mostly inventory/dialogue puzzles--as mentioned, my biggest problem wasn't coming up with the solution but clicking in the right spot). It was often a total pain to get the character to move in the direction you wanted him to. Despite these drawbacks, it's a fun little game and worth the half a day it takes to beat it.
