When he was assigned to review this game, Stuart Yoder
produced an experiment in creative reviewing. While we here at Just Adventure
rather liked it, many readers complained that it was not informative for those
who had not already played the game. So Stu kindly agreed to write a “regular”
review, too. Below you will find the “experimental” review followed
by the “regular” review. Please keep an open mind and try to enjoy them
both.

Stu’s “Experimental” Review

As you enter the world of game reviews, you feel the cold wind
of Opinion sweep across the darkened land. The citizens of this fine land have
all been turned to stone by the evil difference of opinion concerning the worthiness
of adventure games. You hear the eerie caw of the Raven Randy, who leads you to
the Crafty Craig, a powerful wizard who explains your task: find the five pieces
of the Mask of the Reviewer. He conjures a special map for you to use in your
quest. You realize that you, and only you, can find the lost pieces and free the
people from the curse. You have thus completed the introduction and now must begin-eth
your quest with one piece of the Mask.

You begin your adventure in the Region
of the Plot. You soon discover that you can play from the first-person or third-person
perspective, and even better, you can switch perspectives during gameplay. You
find this to be a very honorable, and helpful, thing. Your quest is to find all
five pieces of the Mask of the Reviewer, but in order to do so, you will have
to explore vast and varied regions and solve challenging puzzles. What’s even
more challenging is that besides just solving puzzles, you will have to confront
and defeat many beasts and evil beings whose only purpose in life is to stop you
from fulfilling your quest. You will have to fight such monstrosities such as
the illusive I’m Right, or the bony and angular It’s Good Only If I Think It’s
Good. However, you like this challenge and you face it head on. Through might
and ingenuity you defeat these spawns from hell, solve the puzzles, and find the
second piece of the Mask.

The next region is a beautiful place called Graphics.
Here you enjoy all the visual treats that make the adventure so enjoyable. This
region is indeed captivating: water, trees, animals, hills and mountains, plants,
and architecture. O, sure, you’ve seen prettier places, but it’s the differences
in one world compared to another that make adventuring so enjoyable. You will
have to defeat a beast or two in this region, but with a few swings of your mighty
sword of Understanding and Forgiveness, the beasts lie dead at your feet and you
enjoy all the good that you see. Thus, you discover the third piece of the Mask.

You
enter the region of Sound, Music, and Voice Acting. This is a strange land, sometimes
filled with the sounds of battle, and at other times swathed in the soothing sounds
of safety and comfort. The music is your ally as it warns of imminent danger and
is your friend as it quietly stands by your side as your mind steels itself against
some powerful puzzle. The voices of those you encounter are as varied as the personalities
themselves. Yes indeed, this be a strange land, but one of quality and beauty.
The beasts you must slay are Repetitive and her twin I Can’t Stand To Hear Myself
Die Yet Again. You slay those monsters and are filled with joy to find the fourth
piece of the Mask.

You sense that you are close to victory and the fifth
piece of the Mask as you enter the ominous region of Puzzles. Once in the region
you are quickly swarmed by packs of demons and monsters. You quickly realize that
if victory shall be yours, you will have to swing a mighty sword. Indeed, one
of your biggest challenges is, “how do I defeat all these wicked and vile
beasts?” And lo, these beasts are mean and hungry for your flesh. There’s
the two-headed monster, The Puzzles Are Too Easy or The Puzzles Are Too Hard.
You will also encounter a foul beast called Jumping Puzzle. These are evil things
that have the power to kill you several times over. The big, dark being I Hate
Action Elements in Adventure Games is powerful and requires reasoning and some
meaningful exploring within yourself. But if you crack open your mind (and a barrel
or two), you will find more than enough healing potions and magic spells to keep
you healthy and strong. By far the most powerful beast in this region is the Feather
Patch with its ability to freeze you. You will encounter a puzzle that yields
a feather. When you take this feather and then try to access your main menu, your
game may freeze. The quick and agile ally Sierra has already paved the way to
victory over this powerful and foul beast. You will find the magic potion (patch
file) you need here. Once again, patience and persistence have allowed you to
discover the fifth and final piece to the Mask of the Reviewer.

The discovery
and gathering of the five pieces of the Mask allow you to enter the final region,
the region of The Final Grade. Once in the inner sanctum where all Game Reviewers
are sacrificed, your hands quiver with anticipation as you reassemble the Mask.
As the final piece of the Mask slides into place, you are confronted by the Sinister,
Sly, and Somewhat Silly Stu, the evil being who broke the Mask into five pieces.
You know you are in for the fight of your life as Stu beckons you to combat.

“So, brave warrior, you think this Mask will protect you?”

“All
I know is that I had fun playing this game.”

“Fun!? Fun!? What
about the Feather Patch! Surely, you found this to be a foul, despicable creature,
capable of destroying your whole adventure.”

“Nay, dark knight.
My friend Sierra gave me the magic potion and together we slew that evil beast.”

“Ah,
but there was Jumping Puzzles. You hate Jumping Puzzles. Those beasts alone surely
soured your enjoyment of this game.”

“Wrong again, Sinister, Sly,
and Somewhat Silly Stu. I dislike dying as much as the next adventurer, but the
difficulty of the challenge only serves to make the victory that much sweeter.”

“Arghhh.
Surely, you found the slow load times between regions and reloading to be unacceptable
and extremely irritating.”

“Ha. I laugh at your lack of appreciation
of how difficult it must be to create a world as vast, beautiful, and challenging
as this. I could wait for the next region to load for it only meant that my quest
continued, and I live for the quest.”

“Your pious attitude makes
me sick. For I know that the mere inclusion of action elements into your petty
little adventure must surely make you cringe in fear and cower in defeat.”

“Don’t
call me Shirley! I found the slaying of monsters and beasts to be rather enjoyable,
and my ally Roberta supplied me with plenty of healing potions and magic spells
to keep me strong and alive. And, now I shall enjoy slaying you and your opinion
minions. Die thou Sinister, Sly, and Somewhat Silly Stu!”

You
hold up the reassembled Mask of the Reviewer, and Stu is sucked into the vortex
of It’s Just My Opinion. As you savor the heady rush of victory, running your
hand across the smooth surface of the Mask, you are overcome with the realization
of Truth: you had fun playing this game. Nay, more than that, you had a royal
blast, so much so that you hated to see it end. And that ultimately is what gaming
is all about.

Pass out the ballots for Action/Adventure game of the year.
I’m ready to vote!

Final Grade: A

Stu’s “Regular”
Review

Well, here we go again. Some of you liked my first
review; some of you did not. In retrospect, my original review was primarily,
if not solely, for the entertainment of those that have already played the game.
Therefore, the reason I am rereviewing Mask of Eternity is because I agree
that the review does not help someone make a decision whether or not to purchase
the game. We at JA do listen to our readers and we appreciate your feedback, so
Craig and Randy have allowed me the chance to rewrite my review. So let’s get
to the game.

Let’s establish a very important fact right off: this is an
action/adventure game. A good portion of the booklet that comes with the CD is
a gallery of pictures along with explanations of the creatures that you will encounter
and fight as you explore the regions. Sierra even went so far with the fighting
to include death scenes featuring the severing of limbs (your enemies’, not yours!)
and the spewing of blood (once again, your enemies’, not yours). Action also means
that instead of only using your head to solve puzzles, you will also have to use
your keyboard and mouse effectively in order to navigate and traverse the different
terrains. In fact, most of the puzzle-solving involves figuring out ways to conquer
the physical environment, i.e., running, jumping, climbing, and pushing. One of
the features that I found helpful was the ability to choose between playing from
first or third-person perspective. What was even more appreciated was the ability
to toggle between the two perspectives. I played the game from the first-person
perspective, but I found it extremely advantageous to look at a particular challenge
from the third-person perspective, especially those nasty jumping puzzles, but
more on those later. The bottom line is, if you don’t like action elements in
your adventures, you have been forewarned.

The plot of the game is simple
and straightforward: you must find the five pieces of the Mask of Eternity. Since
the Mask has been broken, the citizens of the world have been turned to stone,
and anarchy reigns among the other species. You play as Connor, the hero challenged
with this task. In order to be successful, you will have to travel and explore
vast and varied regions, solve challenging puzzles, and defeat many foes whose
only intent is to kill you. Although the plot is not overly original or involved,
I liked the plot because it was clear from the beginning, and remained clear throughout
the game, what my mission was. I give the plot a B.

There are seven
distinct regions that make up the game world of Mask of Eternity, so you
get to see a lot of different scenery and architecture. The challenge of creating
such a huge game world must have been daunting for Sierra: water, trees, animals,
hills, mountains, plants, buildings, etc. I found most of the graphics to be pleasing
to the eye and conducive to the storyline. However, I found the “blockiness”
of the characters and scenery to be somewhat distracting. Also, there are times
when Connor doesn’t match up to the environment. For example, during one particular
jumping puzzle, I could get Connor into a position where he was standing in mid-air
next to one of the stones, and what was even worse was I clearly had Connor making
it to the next stone, but he would end up going through his agonizing death scene
regardless. Clearly, the graphics didn’t match up to the game in this case. I
grade the graphics a C.

The sounds, music, and voice acting are all
done quite well. The music score was at times useful as it warned me of imminent
danger and was at other times enjoyable as it soothed my wearisome adventuring
spirit. This is always the hardest category for me to rate because the sound,
music, and voice acting really don’t matter that much to me. You can have the
worst sounds, music, and voice acting as long as the story and gameplay are good.
I will tell you that I got rather tired of hearing myself (Connor) die. Because
this is an action/adventure, I did a lot of dying, and I found myself reaching
for the volume control whenever I knew I was going to die so I wouldn’t have to
hear that dramatic moaning and groaning again and again. Overall, this is the
strongest category of the game, so I give it an A.

When it comes
to puzzles, I have found there to be different approaches depending on what type
of adventure it is. For example, one of the approaches to puzzles is the real-world
approach, i.e. find the wrench so you can loosen the bolts. In Mask of Eternity,
the puzzle approach is exploration. At the beginning of the game, you are
given a map. This map will fill itself in as you explore the different regions.
When I found myself wondering what to do next, I would often refer to the map,
even to the point of leaving it on screen so I could watch where I was going and
could see what part of the map still needed to be filled in. This became an important
approach because as the booklet that comes with the game says, “if you get
stuck, try exploring the places you haven’t been yet.” Part of the exploration
approach means that many of the puzzles involve figuring out ways to get where
you want to go. What I’m trying to say is this game has jumping puzzles. I don’t
particularly like jumping puzzles, but it does feel good when I finally make it
to the other side! In addition to exploration, a majority of the puzzle-solving
is figuring out how to kill all the evil beasts that you encounter. I appreciated
all the healing potions and magic spells that were generously scattered across
the land. I ate a lot of mushrooms during this game. One final note about the
puzzles: you may need a file patch for a particular puzzle. I say “may”
because Sierra has corrected the game for future presses of the CD, but you may
buy a copy with the problem. During one particular puzzle, you will receive a
feather. After you have the feather and then try to access your main menu, your
game may freeze. Sierra has posted the patch for this error at www.sierrastudios.com/games/mask/updates.
As I have said in previous reviews, I play adventure games for the puzzles. Overall,
I had fun playing MOE, so I give the puzzles a B.

I can hear
everyone who read my previous review already asking the question, “Why the
change from straight As to one A, two Bs, and a C?” That’s a good question;
I’m glad you asked. Let me answer using a device that MOE uses, the ability
to toggle between first and third-person perspective. In all honesty, I wrote
my previous review from the first-person perspective with the mindset that I would
rather play a fun game than wait around for the “perfect” game to come
along. I rated MOE all As based on the amount of fun I had playing the
game, and I indeed had a great time playing the game, in spite of the flaws and
weaknesses. In other words, I got more than my money’s worth. However, the grades
that accompany this review are given based on a third-person perspective in an
effort to try to help you decide whether or not you should buy the game.

Final
Grade: B

System Requirements:
Pentium 166

Windows 95/98
32 MB RAM
4X CD-ROM drive
400 MB of free hard drive
space
DirectX
Graphics Card
DirectX 16-bit Sound Card