Developer: Anim-X Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: July 2001

By Ray Ivey

You have to do me a favor. Don't tell Randy Sluganski about this review, because there will be no living with him; he'll "I told you so" me to death.

I was quite excited about this ambitious new game after playing the free pilot module. I regret to report that my enthusiasm is somewhat dampened after completing the first paid installment.

The entertaining story about a group of game designers accidentally stumbling onto a vast evil conspiracy that was so well begun in the pilot episode continues in Episode 1. The setup is ingenious: After the release of the game Majestic, a suspicious fire destroyed the game studio, and the surviving designers went on the lam.

As in the pilot episode, the story is moved forward by a fun combination of phone calls (both received and recorded), faxes, emails, instant messages, and web sites. The story is enjoyable, but it's really just that--a story. Majestic is more of an interactive story than a game.

And that's really okay in principle. The problem is that Majestic is pitched to the public as an actual game. And there's precious little in the way of gameplay, at least in this episode.

There's one very chilling moment when you receive a phone call from someone you know to be a very bad hombre. He cheerfully informs you that he'll be in your neighborhood next week and will stop by to "get that picture from you."

As fun and scary as the call it, the game's very limitations undermine it. Of course no one stops by, and the game simply forgets about this dangling loose end. Now, I'm not suggesting that someone should have come by my house(!), but the game should have found a way to deal with the fact that it didn't happen--the bad guy's plans change or something. How hard would that have been?

Fairly deep into the episode you get hooked up with a master hacker, and he's an entertaining character indeed. Initially mistrustful, he grudgingly agrees to work with you after you perform a couple of simple tests to prove yourself. This leads, unfortunately, to the real episode killer.

The hacker needs your help to facilitate a break-in at a company that's involved with the conspiracy. He emails you a schematic program that actually lets you practice the procedure. The premise of the puzzle is wonderful: There's a character who's going to physically do the break-in, and you'll be controlling the doors, alarm control, guard surveillance, and movements of the burglar.

I practiced on the demo module over and over again until my technique was smooth as silk. The other character patiently stood by on AOL Instant Messenger waiting until I was ready. Finally, I gave him the word, and we were off.

I began the painstaking, surgical operation of moving my man through a minefield of guards and alarmed doors. My apprenticeship on the Thief games came in handy. I successfully navigated my confederate through the first floor and onto the second.

Then it happened. Halfway through the treacherous second floor, the puzzle just stopped working. The burglar stopped responding to my orders. I failed. Mike was caught. Why? It turns out that the plot of the story requires that Mike be caught.

In other words, the game designers foisted on me that most evil and unacceptable of bugaboos, the Forced Failure Puzzle. I was furious. After hours of practicing on the puzzle, to have the rug pulled out from under me like that was unconscionable. In a puzzle-starved game like Majestic, to have the first serious puzzle in the game turn out to mean absolutely nothing was infuriating.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that the plot should have allowed Mike to succeed. But the game should have had Mike's failure happen after I had a chance to successfully complete the puzzle. Either don't give me a puzzle that's involved with the plot, guys, or let the puzzles you give me mean something.

Despite my disappointment, I'm going to give Episode 2 a try. I hear the puzzles get much chewier. I'll let you know.