Freddie_PharkasSpace Cadet
Posts : 114
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Status : Online | First off, its great to have JA back!!!
Curious to see if anyone else is having a rough go with this game. I picked up the Euro (english) version for Christmas, and with the US release coming, I thought it my duty to warn would be purchasers that this game may challenge your patience as it has mine.
While I suppose this is sort of a review (and personal therapy session), there will be no spoilers, heck, I have not even finished although I seem to be close to the end. For those of you who finished, I'm at a part where I keep exploding. Good times.
First the good. Game looks great and generally runs well on my admittedly low end system. Story is better than average so far and the voice acting, at least for the major players, is spot on and entertaining. It also does a great job of capturing a cinematic feel, as well as the tension of a good Indiana Jones type action movie.
If only it were fun to play. Controls, as you likely heard, are a chore. Yes, its generally easy to get the hang of it, but certain things will consistently daunt you as you move around. Prepare for challenges like walking through doorways and getting past your companion in a small space. Perhaps a minor quibble, but it can and will get on your nerves as you look around for what to do next.
As for the puzzles themselves, my wife and I have tried to finish AOD since Christmas, playing a few nights a week. Seldom has an adventure punished us for playing it so consistently as AOD. Gaming sessions invariably seem to end in one of two ways, with us giving up after several hours of going nowhere or consulting with a walkthrough after getting nowhere for hours. In either case, our gaming sessions feel like failures and are dissapointing ways to spend an evening. Its gotten to the point where finishing the game is almost work and the story is not doing enough to motivate us to fight our way through it. Really a shame as I love this series and was hoping for something I would not stop thinking about until we finished it.
My gripes with the puzzles seem to fall into a few categories:
(1) Bottomless pockets: George just won't throw anything away. When stuck, be prepared to use an ever growing number of inventory items with everything, enduring useless and lengthy (adds up when doing it 25 times) commentary from George as he tells you "I can't use that." If only he were telling the truth, which leads me to..
(2) George Lies: Don't misinterpret George's comments as hints. He'll frequently tell you he can't use something, or that he "can't do anything with that". These are stock responses and not hints. At least 3 times George told me something was useless when it was in fact essential. Heck, after I used it he continued to tell me he couldnt do anything with it.
(3) Backtracking/triggers: I never did like puzzles which require needless backtracking. Yep, you can't pick up or use certain things up until you have triggered their relevance, even if you know you need to do so. Don't worry, whatever it is is just a short walk away, unless you've already forgotten you saw it.....which brings me to my new favorite...
(4) Computer Hacking minigame (this is in the manual, so dont call it a spoiler): You'll just love this. First few are a breeze. But out of nowhere, the difficulty will ramp up and you'll blow up. Frequently. This is the point in the game thats inspired me to prepare this warning to all.
So there you have it. We are about 13 hours into the game, we are stuck, again, and it seems that we can either play through with a walkthrough (an affront!), suffer, or quit. With so little time to play games anymore, AOD seems destined for the unfinished pile. That I would even consider that of a Broken Sword game is both shocking and disspointing.
Therapy session over. Hopefully if you brave AOD you'll have a better experience than we did, but be warned....and don't trust George!
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