anthonyJourneyman
Posts : 1270
Joined: 11 JUN 2003
Status : Offline | I just finished this excellent game. It had a great plot, wonderful characters and realistic puzzles. I was particularly impressed with the realism of one puzzle.
In the scene, the protagonist (PI Tex Murphy) is in a room that has a jacuzzi and a vase that is tapered inward and attached to the wall (mid-height) in an upright position. At the bottom of the vase there is a champagne cork (the kind wrapped in wire) that Tex wants, but he can't reach it because he can't fit his hand in the narrow, bottom portion of the vase.
SPOILER HERE: His solution is to use a champagne glass to remove water from the jacuzzi and deposit it in the vase until the cork floats to a level that he can reach. For added realism, Tex (automatically) makes three trips to the jacuzzi due to the limited capacity (approx. 3-4 oz.) of the champagne glass. END SPOILER.
When puzzles approximate real world situations this closely, it facilitates the player being able to immerse him- or herself in the game, which increases the entertainment value of the experience. The above example should be contrasted with those puzzles, which, while perhaps fair in that clues are provided permitting the player to choose correctly among numerous items in inventory, are wholly contrary to real-life (or expected real-life) situations, like using a spray can containing processed cheese to propel oneself onto a space station.
I look forward to the Pandora Directive.
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