I’ve just finished the short, independently-produced game The
Shivah Deluxe, and I can easily say I recommend it wholeheartedly. The game
is available for download from the author, Dave Gilbert’s, site (www.davelgil.com)
or the deluxe edition can be downloaded with all the bells and whistles
for $5.00 US. This edition includes new sprites and animations designed
by Shane Stevens new music
composed by Peter Gesser.

Dave Gilbert accepts payment
through PayPal, but he recognizes that people may not wish or be
able to pay this way. On his website he
states he will accept cash, especially in US dollars. He accepts
foreign currency but charges an extra dollar for conversion fees.
Similarly if downloading is a problem, he offers to burn it to a
CD-ROM for the price plus the cost of the shipping.

The game itself is devised
well and uses the AGS game engine better than most. The sprites
can be enhanced using the graphics filters.
At their best, they are akin to playing “Beneath a Steel Sky” through
DOSBox or ScummVM with filters turned on. The enhanced version has
pop-up portraits during conversation scenes. These are more detailed
and added to my enjoyment of this game. Hovering the mouse over items
brings up a subtitled description, making items to interact with
easy find. Using the left and right mouse buttons, the player can “look” or “interact”.
There is a limited inventory and a similar pop-up idea occurs when
examining individual items including documents. The game is mouse-driven,
point and click, and as easy for a newbie to learn as it would be
for an experienced player to play.

In “The Shivah” players
take control of Rabbi Stone, a good man struggling to deal with
the decline in interest in his
synagogue and the waning effect on his faith. Just as he is about
to throw in the towel, he discovers someone from his past has been
murdered and has left Rabbi Stone enough money to get the synagogue
up and running again. There is a significant backstory associated
with this man and Rabbi Stone feels an obligation to discover what
happened to him. There is the inclusion of some authentic words from
Hebrew, which also added to my learning. And, whatever you do, don’t
miss the Jewish jokes on Rabbi Stone’s computer!

The game is not excessively
hard, and most experienced gamers will figure out passwords provided
from within the game. There are few
puzzles as such, but everything is logical and well-integrated into
the game world. Certain areas are not accessible until other required
tasks have been completed. One of the novelties that this game has
is something I had not seen before: the information that the main
character discovers is stored in an inventory. These inventory items
can be combined to create “eureka” moments where the
links between two things are discovered. This then changes the conversation
choices available to the player and the game proceeds. Almost all
of the game is driven by conversation and the outcomes of conversation
choices. In most cases, the different conversation choices have little
impact on the game’s outcome, but later, it is very important. It
should be mentioned that the climax of “The Shivah” may
challenge players. Certain choices result in death and there is no
save option during this final confrontation. If the player dies,
unfortunately they must play through a few minutes of conversations
they had already viewed. I imagine this will be frustrated for players
who do not readily discover the solution. However, the concept of “rabbinical
fighting”, as Dave calls it, is one of the most interesting
concepts I have seen in recent games.

The acting is excellent throughout although one of the characters,
a thug, sounds as though it has been recorded differently, with excess
hiss-it is a little harder to listen to as it is grating on the ear.
All dialog is subtitled. The characters are fascinatingly different.
The player controls a rabbi! There is a Jew married to an Indian
(as in subcontinent). Although I am not an accent expert, the accents
sounded very good and I was genuinely surprised to find that the
actors were not actually of the ethnic group they were portraying.
Which leads me to another extra on the deluxe version of the game:
acting outtakes! Twenty-one (count ’em!) voiceover bloopers, many
genuinely hilarious, all worth a listen. These can be accessed in-game
as well by pressing Ctrl-B. The music is appropriately somber, very
fitting given the settings: in a synagogue, in a grieving widow’s
apartment. The music change for the climax is fitting and well-suited
to the game.

For another treat, turn
on “kibbitz mode”-this results
in commentary voiceover by Dave Gilbert about the making of the game
at relevant scenes. Just like the commentary found on many DVDs,
he is informative, interesting, and passionate about his game. It
ought to be recommended viewing for up and coming, would-be game
makers. The self-deprecation is fully understood by his request in
the readme: “Please submit any questions, comments or scornful
accusations to [email protected]”.

The
Shivah is a nifty little independent game, one I had a lot of
fun playing. It is strong in its design and has excellent voice acting,
especially considering this is no big-budget title. The game is short
and the puzzles are on the easy side, but these are things easily
forgiven when you have interesting characters and an unfolding storyline.
I expect big things are in store from Davegil games. I can’t wait!
The game deserves an A-.

Dave has a demo version of The
Shivah on his website as well as
full versions of his previous games, Bestowers of Eternity, Two
of a Kind, and several in the Reality on
the Norm series.