The year is 2005. Intrepid, ambitious photojournalist Ariane, on
assignment in Iceland, falls through a crack in the Earth and engages
in feats of derring-do beneath the surface, encountering colorful
characters, traversing exotic territory, confronting prehistoric
creatures, and uncovering a diabolical plot…

There you have a thumbnail
sketch of Journey to the Center of the Earth, a new third person
point-and-click adventure game from Frogwares
that’s loosely based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name.

In the opening sequence,
a helicopter carrying Ariane and her pilot sets down on an Icelandic
volcano. Our heroine exits the helicopter
only to see it destroyed by a rockslide few minutes later.

As our adventure begins,
Ariane is unable to find the pilot. She sets off to seek help and
ends up in a very dark cave, where
she
falls through an unseen crevasse and is knocked unconscious.
When she comes to she finds herself lying on a beach, with
a shaman
standing over her. He tells her they are beneath the volcano.
After a bit
of expository dialog, he offers to help Ariane find a way back
to the surface, but only if she will do something for him first…

The balance of the story
revolves around Ariane’s search for
a path that will return her to the world above, and her pursuit of
The Big Scoop That Will Make Her Famous. She covers quite a bit of
territory and encounters a wide variety of characters. Her adventures
take her to such places as an exotic forest of giant mushrooms, a
savannah occupied by dinosaurs, and a multi-level diamond mine. She
crosses a huge suspension bridge, pilots a submarine, and rides in
a helium balloon that’s fashioned after a pterodactyl. Our heroine
is a very busy young lady!

Meanwhile, a tense political
situation is brewing on the surface. Ariane learns of this via
news bulletins sent to
a laptop computer
she carries with her. I found the laptop to be a rather
nifty story-advancing device, and Ariane puts it to a variety of
uses.

In the world below, our
heroine soon discovers that all is not as it appears. She embarks
on an investigation that
will
take
her to
the subterranean world’s only city and lead her to a village
inhabited by giants, some of whom possess mystical powers.

Will she get to the bottom
of things? Will she identify any wrongdoers? Does she ever find
a way back to the
surface? Will she expose
the underground world she’s discovered to those who
live above it,
or will she keep its existence to herself? The answers
to
these questions
and more are revealed during Ariane’s sojourn through
the strange and exotic lands of JTCE.

A particularly interesting
aspect of the game is that it comes in two lengths, each with a
different ending.
One
of the endings
has
a quite unexpected twist. I just love those!

The story itself is imaginative
and held my interest throughout. The game boasts many unusual and
captivating
characters
with whom Ariane interacts; NPCs are plentiful
as well. Speaking
parts are
delivered in a variety of accents and dialects
(although I do feel that some of the voice acting could have
been better).

JTCE is an impressive-looking
game. Its environments are creative and visually intriguing, making
use
of vivid colors
and interesting
overhead perspective shots. The music, performed
by a philharmonic orchestra (called “Sneffels,” which is also the name of
the game’s volcano!), is simply beautiful. Sound quality is also
very good. Some of the ambient sounds — chirping birds and such
— could have easily been coming from outside my window as I played
the game.

In one particular sequence
Ariane encounters a non-threatening baby dinosaur that follows
her
around like a puppy.
It’s an adorable scene.
I even spent a little extra time there and
had Ariane simply run around the area while the little
dinosaur
scampered
along behind
her. It’s that cute! (All together now: Awwwwww!)

The game’s inventory
is attractive and easy to use; it displays across the bottom of
the
screen
and can
be toggled
on and
off. It does,
however, present one drawback. When left
open, it can obscure items that are crucial to gameplay.
(I
realized
this only
after I’d become
completely stuck a few times and had an epiphany
of the forehead-smacking variety.)

JTCE serves up a veritable
cornucopia of puzzles, ranging from fairly simple to rather
excruciating
(watch out
for brain cramps).
One particular
puzzle left me completely baffled, but
I did manage to solve it through trial and
error.
At least one
puzzle has a random
solution.

Several of the game’s puzzles are optional, as are some of
Ariane’s actions. Although JTCE can be successfully completed without
these optional items, they do add dimension to the story and enhance
the immersive experience offered by the game.

But alas, no game is
perfect, and I had my share of problems with JTCE.

None of the cut scenes
would run smoothly for me (had they not been choppy, they
would have
been
gorgeous). Although
I’m currently
unaware
of any known problems related to
the game, I suppose this could be attributable
to
my video
card. Action
within the
game itself
presented
no such problem.

The game also had a tendency
to freeze and crash. One of the puzzles was
particularly adept at
triggering crashes, although
this didn’t
happen consistently. While I’m sure that not everyone will
experience this kind of instability, I do feel that mentioning it
is warranted.

At times, I found Ariane
a tad difficult to control. For instance,
she wouldn’t
always go where I
wanted her to
go; occasionally,
several attempts were necessary
in order to
get her moving. At other times
she would refuse to budge altogether,
become stuck behind things, go
sailing off the
screen, overshoot
her mark,
and/or run into
solid objects (sometimes passing
right through them). Yet when
viewed from
the proper perspective, this
kind of thing can actually be entertaining!
(Yeah…I know…I’m not a well
person…)

Now here’s something
that’s not so entertaining. Ariane would
sometimes end up in a position
that would effectively
block
my view of items
with which our heroine needs
to
interact.
This would also render absent
the icon that displays
to indicate
the presence
of an
item needing attention. It
didn’t always happen in the same spots,
but
on more than one occasion it
caused me to miss items that
are essential
to the
completion
of the game.
Until I played
JTCE a few times
and basically knew where everything
was, moving
Ariane to the side and
checking for hidden items became
the order of the day.

Some of the game’s hotspots
are quite small. Hitting
them with
precision
can be tricky;
they can also
be fairly easy
to miss.
Additionally,
there were times I was unable
to see the icons used for
navigation (footprints)
and interaction
(a hand)
that
display beside
the pointer. The footprints,
for
example, could end up just
off screen.

A certain structural
aspect of the game was a source
of frustration.
If I had
overlooked an
essential
item or action,
I was sometimes
able to continue the game
well past
the point
of having missed it. By
the time I reached a sticking
point,
it was almost
impossible to discern which
item or action was needed.
This made
for some
time-consuming
backtracking and replaying,
which can become tedious
after awhile.

Fortunately, JTCE allows
unlimited saves. Until
one is familiar
with the game’s vagaries, I recommend saving it frequently.

This next thing is entirely
personal. I found Ariane
to be a tad fidgety
when standing
in one place
and while other
characters are
speaking to her. Her
abundance of mannerisms
proved rather
distracting to me,
particularly at first.
Fewer would have been
better.

JTCE is presented in
six sections, called
levels,
which serve
to divide the story’s
major segments
and locales.
As previously
mentioned,
the game also comes
in two lengths with
two
different endings.
One can opt to
end the
game after Level
4, or ride it all
the way through
Level 6. I liked
the longer
version better and
found its resolution
to be more satisfying.

All things considered,
JTCE isn’t a bad
game. Had it
performed better,
it would have been
quite good.
It’s
very reminiscent
of Syberia,
albeit not as polished.
Still, Frogwares
definitely
has
the
right idea and
JTCE does have quite
a bit going for
it.

At a suggested
retail price
of $19.95,
this is a very
affordable game.
Despite its flaws,
I
consider it to
be a worthy and
challenging diversion.
I do suggest
playing it more
than once, however
— particularly
if you’ve encountered problems. After I’d become familiar with
JTCE’s quirks and eccentricities it became a much more enjoyable
game. I’ve been able to appreciate what it has to offer more
fully with each successive playing.

In the future,
I’m hoping
that Frogwares’
game-creation
process
will evince
a bit more
finesse. JTCE clearly
indicates that
this developer
is capable
of greatness
within the
adventure-gaming genre.
I’m definitely
looking forward
to it.

Final Grade: B

System Requirements:

• Windows® 98/Me/2000/XP
• Pentium® III 500
  MHz
• 64 MB RAM
• 16 MB DirectX® compatible
  video card
• CD-ROM Drive 8X
• 700 MB free disc space