While I was sitting around waiting for my mail-order copy of Grim
Fandango to arrive (I feel like I am always waiting around for some new game
to arrive in the mail–just call this my standard introductory sentence), I was
looking for something fairly quick to play. In my local software store’s bargain
area, I found a two-pack containing Mummy: Tomb of the Pharaoh and Frankenstein:
Through the Eyes of the Monster, by Interplay/Amazing Media. It looked promising
since both boxes said “Adventure” right on their spines, and for $9.99,
I couldn’t pass it up. The first of the two that I tried was Mummy, and
here is what I thought of it.

The Plot: You are Michael Cameron,
facilitator for a mining company. You have been sent to Egypt to see why the frightened
natives refuse to work in the mines. It turns out an ancient artifact had been
unearthed in the mine, and the superstitious Egyptians feared the curse of the
tomb. You first meet an oily henchman-type named Chris, who will only tell you
where to find the mining compound’s director after you offer him a bribe. You
talk to the director, Davenport, who turns out to be another oily type, and obviously
none too happy to see you, and you immediately distrust him. Since the corporate
office bigwigs sent you, though, he does not have much choice other than to let
you look around and see what you can see. By coincidence of the sort that only
happens in video games, your ex-girlfriend, Lorrie, an Egyptologist, has also
been called to the compound to verify or discount the authenticity of the artifact.
This leads to one slightly uncomfortable moment, and then she is pretty much asleep
(and useless) until the end of the game.

You search the compound and find
several tools and items to repair or fiddle with, then you go to the mine. In
exploring the mine, you find evidence of sabotage to the mining operations. You
go deeper into the mine; when you get to the very bottom, you finally spot the
title Mummy! Then an earthquake hits, and you must escape before the mine caves
in and buries you alive. You make your way back into the tomb, where you must
outwit both supernatural and natural beings to defeat Davenport in his attempt
to locate a magic crystal worth millions of dollars. The plot was actually not
bad, but it was a little hokey (there was also Nazi stuff), so I gave it a
B.

Gameplay: First-person point-and-click on the hotspots. Sometimes
you can pick something up; other times, you have to interact with it somehow.
I found, however, that I couldn’t be too dependent on the hotspot cursor because
sometimes I had to be holding the appropriate item before the hotspot would appear.

There
were several instances where I died over and over while trying different items
to save myself. This is one of my gaming pet peeves; I always save right before
the death part and then have to restore and try something else, restore and try
something else, over and over again. It’s just plain boring! I usually am willing
to die about three times in the same spot, then I give up and get a hint.

The
game also had not one but two mazes. They are the kind that don’t have a lot of
different paths, but every part looks the same. Mazes are another one of my gaming
pet peeves. They are so easy to solve just by drawing a map but I find this whole
process really tedious. Usually, I just give up and get a hint for the mazes,
too. I just have no patience for this kind of repetitive crap.

The puzzles
are either really easy or downright impossible. All of the puzzles are typical
of adventure games-they all consist of having to find the right tools or parts
to repair something or open something or operate something. The impossible parts
for me involved finding some of the tools. I had to resort to a UHS hint file
on quite a few occasions to find out what I missed and where to get it, and I
am usually pretty thorough in my inspection of areas in games. A couple of times,
I neglected to click on the right part of something. For instance, I thought I
might have to move a flag that, on looking at it, I could see no purpose for except
to cover something up, and I clicked all over the rug with no results. Turns out
I had to click on the very bottom left corner of it (this I found out from a hint).

This
game had too many frustrations for me, and I find a certain lack of satisfaction
when I have to resort to my hint file too often, so I am only giving the gameplay
a D.

Graphics: The graphics are quite well-done. The game has
live actors on either actual or rendered backgrounds. I found it hard to tell
what backgrounds were real and which were rendered. Very realistic and atmospheric.
This game only has one CD, but they made the most of it. There was a lot of repetition
in the scenes; for instance, there are four trailers you can enter; they all look
the same except for a couple of different things superimposed on each. Also, the
mazes tended to use the same graphics over and over again, as stated above. However,
I think the scenery was quite well-done overall and very convincing, so the
graphics get an A.

Voice Acting/Music/Sound Effects: I usually
find the acting not worth mentioning in video games, but the acting in this game
is a cut above the rest. Malcolm McDowell plays Davenport; he manages to be somehow
sinister and irritating at the same time–irritating in a good way that moves
the game along, not just to annoy the player. The rest of the actors are unknowns
to me, but they all do quite a good job. There is no hamminess (if I can make
up my own words here; you all know what I mean) and no overacting. The acting
gets an A+.

The music sets the right ambiance for each area of the game,
but when you get stuck in one area for too long, it gets really repetitive and
thus annoying. I give the music a B.

The sound effects are in the
right place at the right time in the right amount. They are pretty standard–the
old stone-against-stone effect, for instance, appears in quite a few games. They
blend in well with the game and are not overused, so they get an A.

Overall,
the “noises” category rates an A.

Conclusion: This
is not a bad game but far from one of the greats. I would not wholeheartedly either
recommend for or against it. However, I found it well worth the $5 I spent on
it and would recommend it for that reason alone–you do indeed get your money’s
worth. The game was put together very professionally, but because the gameplay
stunk, I would rate the game overall at a C. I think this is a classic case of
where too much time and money was spent on the graphics and actors, which were
first-rate, and not enough time spent on the actual game–the designers copped
out on too many puzzles by trotting out the ol’ tried-and-trues, and there was
not enough, or rather no, originality.

Final Grade: C