It may not seem impressive, just viewing the screenshots. Typical photo-esque style slideshow adventure on the Titanic. Given the time of it's release, it would seem like an early cash grab on the James Cameron film. If these were you preconceptions then, or now, you are just simply wrong.
I have always been interested in the titanic since I was probably 8. I remember reading books about the ship, the many mysterious it contains, and the strange beauty it holds. I remember distinctly reading about, and watching documentaries on Robert Ballard as a child. I looked at maps, ship layouts, the Titanic fascinated me. Fast forward to about 1997 (I realize the game came out earlier, but unlike today, game media was something of an underground journalistic movement then, and you had to go out of your way (not to mention, have an internet connection) if you wanted to find out about a video game before it's release. Typically your best bet was to just browse the shelves of your local retail store, and if you were lucky, you found treasure. That was the case with this game. I remember being incredibly fascinated by it. I must have been in Middle School at this point.
There are two amazing things about this game. One is the sense of exploration. It's one thing to look at photos of the Titanic, but to explore it from a first person perspective in almost real time movement (for the time) was extraordinary. Wanted to visit the Turkish baths? Simply go there, talk to the lift boy, learn the ship's layout and navigate it like you were actually a passenger. It was amazing, and the graphics really complimented the experience. Sure the talking heads seem like wooden puppets now, but at the time, it was the best you could achieve for. They had such personalities to them, which brings me to the second thing.
The story to this game is really great. Not because you don't know what's going to happen. But because you do know what's going to happen, and you have this limited time slot to make the best decisions you can, to change what you can. In many ways it's a personal journey, you are out to wrong the mistake you made on the Titanic. Okay fair enough, but this influences your decision making. Who should I talk to, what should I say, if I need a thing, who do I go to. And again, the characters. They didn't have to be great for me to like the game, but they are and it just adds to the immersion of it.
This is what games used to be, it may not mean much compared to games of today, but it is a work of art, and if you are in the least bit interested in appreciating the adventure game format, is an absolute must play.
