Publisher: ASC Games
Developer: Dreamforge Intertainment
Year: 1998
Platform: Windows
If you’ve ever crushed hard on somebody and then saw those sparks disappear almost as fast as they developed, then you’ll know what it’s like to play Sanitarium.
Publisher: The Adventure Company
Developer: Kheops Studio
Year: 2006
Platform: Windows; Wii; DS
A non-sequel to the original Safecracker (though somewhat similar in style), this puzzlefest has a pretty simple premise: you’ve been hired by a wealthy family to break through all of the safes in the eccentric patriarch’s mansion and get to his last will and testament.
I’m back playing another Survivor-themed writing contest at Spookymilk’s blog. This time around we have twenty-eight contestants, a rather intimidating number. There are four teams of seven. My team (chosen by anonymous draft) call themselves Liam Neeson’s Walrus. The other team names are Miranda Priestly’s Unholy Sweater Crisis, Freshly Ruptured Hymen, and Big Brass…Band. My teammates are as follows:
Publisher: Take-Two Interactive
Developer: Take-Two Interactive
Year: 1996
Platform: DOS; Mac
Take 2 Interactive’s first FMV adventure was highly touted and had a high-profile cast as one of its selling points. Scott Cohen stars in this cyberpunk thriller as Jake Quinlan, a reporter for a virtual tabloid in 2040 New York City. A mastermind has been committing gruesome murders in the vein of Jack the Ripper, and has been anonymously contacting you in order to get himself some attention in the papers. Your girlfriend and fellow reporter has become the fourth victim. Luckily, she managed to survive the attack and is resting in a coma. Now the case has become personal. You must seek out the Ripper in order to help to save your girlfriend and prevent more pointless murders.
Publisher: Sanctuary Woods
Developer: Sanctuary Woods
Year: 1995
Platform: DOS; Mac
A rare adventure game by Sanctuary Woods, The Riddle Of Master Lu does a decent job of capturing atmosphere and flavor while sadly being mediocre in many game elements. You play as Robert Ripley, the real-life entrepreneur and collector of oddities. Chinese terrorists are on your heels to stop you from discovering the secrets of Master Lu (and also use those secrets to take over the world, naturally). You’ll travel to many exotic locales, including Peiping, Easter Island, and Sikkim trying to unravel the mystery, save the world, and save your neck. All the while, of course, collecting rare artifacts to help profits for your Odditorium back in New York.
Continue reading Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!: The Riddle Of Master Lu
Publisher: Freeware
Developer: Legend
Year: 1998
Platform: DOS
I’m stretching this by calling it an adventure game, as it is more of an edutainment title. But it was developed by Legend Entertainment and written by Bob Bates, so I’m going with it. This game is actually an ethics training program designed by the U.S. Government and used as an ethical training tool for its employees. As it was fully funded by the government, the game is freeware, and worth a play by anyone who is interested in ethics.
Continue reading QuandariesPublisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1995
Platform: DOS; Windows; Mac
Score: 5
With his sophomore attempt, Gates succeeds at creating an effective simulation that takes one facet of police work and mimics it very well.
Continue reading Police Quest: SWATPublisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1993
Platform: DOS; Windows; Mac
Sierra hired Daryl F. Gates, the former LAPD chief and founder of SWAT, to help design the fourth installment in this best-selling series. His lifetime of experience no doubt helped ensure Police Quest 4 felt realistic when it came to police culture and tactics. However, his ability to design an adventure game is not readily apparent.
Continue reading Police Quest: Open SeasonPublisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1992
Platform: DOS
Score: 6
Out of the many remakes that Sierra released of their original adventures, Police Quest fared the best. But as is the case with most of them, they failed to actually improve the game.
For the most part, the game follows the events of the original, though a lot of the ancillary camp is toned down or removed completely. For example, your coworkers act much more professionally and there’s less locker-room talk, matching the more serious tone of Police Quest 3. I might have appreciated this had the game’s serious moments been dramatically improved. Unfortunately, the atmosphere feels so dry that moments like the loss of Jack’s daughter aren’t any more moving than they were before. On the other hand, Sonny is surprisingly funny. His deadpan delivery made me chuckle a few times.
The interface has been switched to point-and-click, which removes a lot of the parser-type Easter Eggs, while admittedly removing some of the parser frustration. But the driving is similar to that of Police Quest 3, which is needlessly cumbersome. And, sadly, the MIDI soundtrack somehow does a worse job of conveying tension than the internal soundboard of the original. When I play the EGA version, I find myself on the edge of my seat during several scenes. Here, everything felt muted.
Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1995
Platform: DOS; Windows; Mac; SEGA Saturn
Score: 4
Never before has Roberta Williams, or rather any game designer, integrated horror and humor to such monumental proportions. Of course, the humor derives from the George Lucas-type dialogue and poor acting, and much of the horror comes from the realization you had spent quite a bit of money to play this mess.
Continue reading Phantasmagoria
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