Interplay’s Frankenstein:
Through the Eyes of the Monster has two terrific selling
points: an intriguing premise and Tim Curry as Dr. Frankenstein.
Are they enough to make a good game? But it
is also a mixed bag: it’s a solid Myst clone with good graphics,
story, and puzzles, marred by bad voiceover acting and a designer
obsessed with mazes.

“IT’S
ALIVE! ALIVE!!!”

This first person point-and-click
title opens promisingly: you awake on a slab in Frankenstein’s laboratory, with Tim Curry as the
mad doctor looking down upon you and uttering the classic (or cliche,
depending on whether your in a generous mood) words: “He’s
alive! Alive!”

Yes, your character is the actual Frankenstein monster. Great idea,
huh?

Unfortunately, this very premise adds considerable silliness to
the plot right away. Why? Well, what do you do at the beginning of
any adventure game? Explore, explore, explore, of course. Check out
every nook and cranny, every room, every hallway, every greenhouse.

And, yes, that’s what you begin this game by doing. What’s
silly about it? Well . . . can you imagine a Frankenstein scenario
in which, after successfully reanimating the dead body, the good
doctor simply shrugged, turned his back on this miracle of science
and went on with his paperwork, and allowed the creature to stumble
around the castle unchaperoned?

HE’D RATHER
BE PLAYING SCRABBLE

Believe it or not, that’s exactly what happens in this game.
Frankenstein fusses over you for a minute, then basically dismisses
you. It makes you want to scream, “Hey! Please tell me what’s
more interesting in your life right now than a DEAD MAN come to LIFE?!?!” Very,
very silly. Not to mention the security issues of having a monster
stumbling around free in a huge castle.

A castle, it seems, with absolutely NO servants, domestics, or assistants
of ANY kind. Also very, very silly.

However, if you can get
past this odd premise, there is a reasonably chewy game here. There’s
lots and lots to explore and a diabolical mystery to uncover.

The storyline of Frankenstein:
Through the Eyes of the Monster, is quite good. Who are you? Why
are you the subject of Frankenstein’s
experiment? What is your past? What can you remember? All this is
pretty good stuff.

Tim Curry is solid, if uninspired, in the role of the doctor. He
had a lot more fun playing this same role in The Rocky Horror
Picture Show.

LIGHTHOUSE LITE

And if you like mechanical
puzzles, this game has them! Particularly involved and challenging
are a series of puzzles involving heavy
equipment in a mine, and of course, there’s the doctor’s
laboratory to figure out and make use of.

Also on the plus side:
the game has very nice graphics, a smooth, intuitive and facile
user interface, and very smooth performance.
Not a bug or a glitch in sight. The game even has the terrific feature
of giving the player the option of turning on or off the “smart” cursor.
Great idea! Why don’t more games give you this choice?

The game has two big problems
which severely hampered my enjoyment of it. First, the voiceover
of the main character is truly terrible.
Who go to the trouble of hiring a pro like Tim Curry to play Frankenstein
and then use some bargain basement chowderhead to voice the main
character? Big mistake, because you have to listen to him CONSTANTLY.

YOU’LL BE
A-MAZED.

But the flaw that really
undoes this otherwise solid game is the design team’s OBSESSION with mazes. Now, I don’t
think I know a single adventure gamer who actually LIKES mazes.
Why do
designers use them so much? [Answer: LAZINESS]

I usually cringe when
I realize a game includes a maze. This game is ONE BIG MAZE AFTER
ANOTHER. The castle is a six-level maze with
hallways, stairways, and hidden passages galore. Then there’s
the hedge maze. And did I mention the huge mine tunnel maze?

Maze, maze, maze, maze,
maze. Ick.

Overall, a solid adventure
title with several nice qualities, a strong story and challenging
mechanical puzzles and two fatal flaws – the
main voiceover really sucks and the game is one big maze after another.
Try it if mazes don’t drive you too crazy.

Final Grade: C

System Requirements:

PC

• IMB PC 486 DX33 CPU
• Windows
  3.1 or Win95
• 4Mb memory [560 Kb
  base memory]
• SVGA graphics
• 2xCD
  ROM
• MS DOS 5.0 or newer
• Mouse
• Keyboard.

  Recommended:

• Win95
• 8Mb of memory

MAC

• 256 color Mac
• 5120K free memory
• 68040 Power PC Processor
• System 7.0 or later

This
review is copyright Ray Ivey and Just Adventure and
may not be republished elsewhere without the express written consent
of the author. Republication of said review must also contain a link
back to Just Adventure.