With the recent reluctance of many US game developers and publishers to delve into the adventure genre, Europe and Canada have been filling the void nicely. Actually, very nicely. Russia has now joined in with their first North American marketing venture with the release of their new adventure game Jazz and Faust. Founded in 1991, the Moscow based 1C Company has plans to continue to market PC games in the US and Canada. Based on the quality of this initial offering, this is good news.

Jazz and Faust is a very traditional point and click adventure except that, when beginning the game, you choose one of the two characters (Jazz - a conniving smuggler, or Faust - a stalwart sea captain). Although the storyline is about the same for either character, each character has a different personality and perspective, so differing methods of "puzzle solving" are employed. In effect, you have two games in one. In mid-game, you'll actually run into the "other" character. Thank goodness, you'll need the help. Start as Jazz and you'll find yourself in jail (don't you hate it when that happens?); as Faust, you'll start on the dock where his ship is berthed - and he's under investigation for murder.

Jazz and Faust weaves a tale which winds its way through different worlds in the ancient East. Over eighty puzzle laden scenes and over fifty characters are presented during your journey. The prerendered scenery is gorgeous and perfectly matched to the era. The game begins with some truly beautiful cinematics and inspiring music. I first played this game with Russian voices and English subtitles. The final North American release employs English voice acting, and it is surprisingly very good. The game's initial plot ostensibly involves a search for riches and wealth, but you'll ultimately end up saving the world from a nefarious being. The attention to detail is excellent - day/night transitions, birds soaring overhead, attractive water fountains, and realistic smokestacks, to mention a few.

The game uses a wealth of setup options which may be tailored to the available horsepower of your machine. Hardware acceleration or software rendering are available. The graphics employ 3D characters on 2D prerendered backgrounds. You'll have the typical morphing cursor for movement, dialog, pick up, use item, and information. The inventory use is a breeze. Simply right click and select the item to use. So far as I could tell, the game offers unlimited save slots, and I found the load times lightning fast.

Although I found the game enjoyable and challenging (you'll have a jigsaw puzzle to solve -arghhhhhhh), the game does not present much in the innovation department, and the storyline is a little weak. But, hey, this is the real deal - a good solid adventure yarn, and I recommend it. Welcome to North America 1C!

NOTE: a patch has been issued to address a few game problems and may be found at this site or at: http://www.jazzandfaust.com/download.htm.

Final Grade: B

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
Pentium II 300 MHz (400 MHz recommended)
8X CD-ROM drive
3D video card with 4MB ram (16MB recommended)
16 bit Direct-X compatible sound card.