Hamlet Walkthrough by Alexander Tait

Hamlet: A Murder Mystery
(EMME
Interactive, 1996)

Hamlet is a multimedia
title inspired by and incorporating the events of the Kenneth Branagh adaptation
of Hamlet. It uses cutscenes from the film to flesh out the story, but
it can be confusing for those who have not studied the play because of the language
differences from Shakespeare’s times. The game begins with a video that assumes
you know the events leading into the play. The acting is top-notch, though the
quality of the video is average, far less clear than the game graphics. The puzzles
are, for the most part, easy, straightforward, and well-integrated into the story.
A couple of puzzles stumped me for several hours and were thoroughly enjoyable,
particularly the logic puzzle utilizing verse from the play. The game is completely
linear, offering no alternative areas to explore at any time. On the negative
side, the game has the worst save feature. The only way to save the game is to
exit, and once you are engaged in a puzzle you must complete it to exit the game
(your other alternative is to shut down the game using Ctrl-Alt-Del!). The game
has a dramatic finale, which is much-deserved after a hit-or-miss duel conundrum
that is more arcade than puzzle. Overall, the game kept me entertained for several
days. It wasn’t good enough to replay in future; however, it should keep your
brain active for a few days of easy-going play. One more thing: this game is about
as rare as Duckman, so if you see a copy, grab it with both hands!

Introduction

The
game introduces you to a "murder most foul." A video of the ghost of
Hamlet’s father reveals he was murdered and Hamlet is told that he must avenge
his father’s death.

Gates of the Court of Elsinore

Click on
the gates ("To be") to enter the courtyard. Click on the building directly
in front of you to enter the Vestibule.

Vestibule

A voice whispers,
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Examine the map to the
right of the door directly in front of you. Click on the map at Christiania, Warsaw,
and Copenhagen to view videos. When complete, click on the door to enter the State
Hall.

State Hall

Click on the throne to hear an announcement
regarding Hamlet’s death. At left, some chess pieces appear on the chessboard
pattern floor. I’m not sure if this was a puzzle. If it was, I didn’t seem to
"win" it! Anyway, this is what I did (you control white):

• Move
  the left castle to place the king in check (the king will then move to safety)
• Move
  the other castle to take the knight (the game ends)

Click on the staircase.
Turn right immediately at the staircase. Click on the mirrored door (second from
the left) to enter Hamlet’s study.

Hamlet’s Study

Click on
the little table. Switch off the light. This reveals a handprint on one of the
doors. Click on the handprint to reveal a secret passage to the tower. Here you
are given a quest to demonstrate skills to be granted: the Wits of Touch, Taste,
Smell, Sight, Judgment, Imagination, Invention, Hearing, Memory, and Instinct.
You find yourself in the Observatory.

Observatory

Click on
one of the pictures above a door (the only one that can be interacted with). You
are challenged with a jigsaw puzzle. The target image is the main building in
the Court of Elsinore. The building is in the background with a wide path leading
up the middle to it. Complete the picture by swapping puzzle pieces. Trial and
error will get you there. When complete, you are given a map of the complex. This
is then accessible during the game by clicking on the compass at the top left
of the screen. Click on the alcove that reads, "All the world is a stage"
(although in close-up it actually reads, "The Gates of Hell shall not prevail").
Click on the books to read the story of Hamlet (good for Shakespearophobes like
me!). Return to the door below the picture that contained the puzzle. Click on
the door to exit to the State Hall again.

State Hall

Click
on the table to the left and front of the throne. Click on the seal to open the
letter. Watch the cutscene. Choose the second letter when given a choice. Exit
to the Vestibule.

Vestibule

Turn immediately right and enter
the Royal Hall.

Royal Hall

When you arrive, turn right. Click
on the first door on the left. Look through the peephole. Watch the cutscene.
Return to the Vestibule.

Vestibule

Exit right to the courtyard.
Watch the cutscene of Hamlet’s father’s ghost. When the video completes, you are
in the forest.

Forest

Turn right. Click when the action icon
appears the second time. Go forward to a tree with blinking eyes (!). Click on
the tree to see the ghost of Hamlet’s father. The ghost reveals he was killed
by his brother but that Hamlet’s mother had no knowledge of this. You return to
the observatory.

Observatory

You are granted the Wit of Instinct.
Exit through the only accessible door, which takes you to the Royal Hall.

Royal
Hall

Turn right. Look through the peephole in the door on the right.
Then look through the peephole at the left door. When you have done this, you
will have changed position. Turn around and look through the peephole. Turn left
and return to the Vestibule and continue then to the State Hall.

State
Hall

Click on the sealed letter to read it. Watch the cutscene. Turn
around and click on the door. Watch the cutscene. Turn right to exit to a room
containing the Wheel of Humours and Tempers.

Wheel of Humours and Tempers

Click
the wheel on the wall. You are taken to a close-up of the Wheel of Humours and
Tempers. The goal is to get all of the characteristics to match their respective
protagonists. You must start from the inside and progress out. All four characteristics
must be complete before it will allow you to progress to the next. Click on one
characteristic and then another to exchange them. When they are correct, they
will light up with color and will no longer be manipulable. The answers are as
follows:

• Top left: Earth/Black Bile/Melancholy/Reflective/Hamlet
• Top
  right: Water/Phlegm/Phlegmatic/Pale/Marcellus
• Bottom right: Air/Blood/Sanguine/Plump/Horatio
• Bottom
  left: Fire/Yellow Bile/Choleric/Tall/Alerts

When complete, you are
placed in the Garden Maze.

Garden Maze

It is easy to find your
way through this maze if you take notes because any erroneous path will take you
back to the start. I doubt there is more than one solution. This will get you
to the middle: Turn left. Go right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn left.

You
are now at the center of the maze. Here, a royal chair sits. Watch a cutscene
where Claudius kills Hamlet’s father. You are returned to the Observatory.

Observatory

Again,
success! You are granted the Wit of Hearing. Exit through the door to arrive back
at the Court of Elsinore.

Court of Elsinore

Turn immediately
left. Look at the car. Watch the cutscene. You are presented with the compass
puzzle. This is by far the most challenging and intriguing puzzle in the game.
You must figure out how Hamlet’s meetings occurred. You must decipher the lines
of prose at left to work out who arrived, at what time, from which direction,
and what they carried. Trial and error will not get you this puzzle unless you
are very lucky! (You have a 1 in 13,824 chance of guessing … good luck!) I am
thankful that the game has a built-in interpreter that translates the verses at
left to modern English just by moving the cursor over them. By using all of the
information in the verses, you should discover that:

• Horatio arrived
  from the west at 9 o’clock carrying a book
• Rosencrantz arrived from the
  east at 10 o’clock carrying a map
• Guildenstern arrived from the north
  at 11 o’clock carrying a ring
• Laertes arrived from the south at 12 o’clock
  carrying a sword

You are then returned to the Observatory.

Observatory

You
are given the Wit of Imagination. Your next goal is to collect evidence to show
Claudius is guilty of Hamlet’s father’s murder. Exit through the door to the State
Hall.

State Hall

Turn 90 degrees right. Exit through this door.
You are presented with a series of cards. Click on Gonzago. You will enter the
Anteroom.

Anteroom

Turn around. Click on the table to play
a card game. You must beat the king by having a better hand. (High card wins.
Pair beats high card. Three of a kind beats a pair.) First to get to three wins.
When you have won, you are taken to the State Hall Bridge.

State Hall
Bridge

Head across the bridge. Watch the cutscene. In the next puzzle
(one of the hardest in the game), you must decide where each of the twelve scenes
below go. There are three rows with a line from Hamlet. Four pictures go in each
row, but they must be placed in the correct order as well as the correct row.
When complete, a video of the sequence plays and the scenes are rendered immobile.
The solution is:

• Top row: A centurion/John Gielgud/Judi Dench (looking
  like a monk)/Night
• Middle row: Hamlet’s father (asleep)/Hamlet’s father
  asleep (close-up)/Hamlet’s father with his head in his hands/Claudius (close-up)
• Bottom
  row: A courtesan/Man and woman (close-up)/Young man/Claudius

You return
to the Royal Hall.

Royal Hall

Turn left. Click on the door
to hear Hamlet speak. A dagger appears at right. Click on it. Watch the cutscene.
You are now presented with the bizarre rat game! Believe it or not, you
now have an arcade game where you must kill the rats to protect the fellow behind
the curtain. Do not click on the curtain where the man is standing or let
the rats attack the man. If you do, you will have to start again. When you have
saved the man, you are in Gertrude’s Suite.

Gertrude’s Suite

At
left, click on the chest of drawers to see two pictures, one of Hamlet’s father
and one of Claudius. Turn further left and click on the picture on the wall. Continue
to turn left. Click on the table. Click the light to switch it off. Watch a cutscene
where Hamlet’s mother can’t see the ghost! You are returned to the Observatory.

Observatory

You
are now given the Wit of Sight. Exit the room to Ophelia’s Chamber.

Ophelia’s
Chamber

Click on the picture on the wall. Watch a cutscene where Hamlet
shows off his big mouth. Turn right and click on the third panel to get a close-up
of the panel. Click on the upper left wreath design to exit the room to the Observatory.

Observatory

Read
the flower book. Then exit to the Flower Garden.

Flower Garden

Wander
around the paths here to collect flowers. Make sure you turn left and right to
find the flowers. Also, don’t forget the flowers in the corners. You must collect
the following flowers: Pansies, Daisy, Rosemary, Rosebud, Rue, Columbines, Fennel,
and Violet. When required, give the following people these flowers:

• Claudius:
  Columbines (top right) ; Fennel (bottom left)
• Gertrude: Rue (second right);
  Daisy (third right)
• Laertes: Pansies (third left); Rosemary (top left)
• Ophelia:
  Violet (bottom right); Rosebud (second left)

You are then transported
to the Forest.

Forest

To find the exact path to take, you’ll
need to experiment a little. Keep in mind, though, that there’s only one, so it’s
just a matter of trial and error. Turn right. Find the correct path that takes
you to a large tree. Click on the tree. You are then near a stream. Click at the
bottom left of the screen. An image of Ophelia appears. Click above her image.
A daisy appears. Click above and right. Click on the branch at right. A key appears.
Click to the right of the daisy. The branch falls into the stream. Watch the cutscene.
You are returned to the Observatory.

Observatory

You have saved
Ophelia and are given the Wit of Smell. Again, exit through the door. Watch the
cutscene. You find yourself on a Danish ship.

Danish Ship

Turn
around. Go below decks. Turn left. Click on the map. Examine the map. Click on
the flashing circle to learn there are pirates in the area. Click on the box in
the corner of the room. Click it to open it. Read the document that bears a death
warrant for Hamlet. Click on the text to change it to read that Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern go to prison. Return upstairs. Take control of the helm. Turn the
ship north until you are met (and overrun by pirates). Watch a cutscene in which
you are a prisoner. Eventually, you are returned to the Observatory.

Observatory

You
are granted the Wit of Judgment. Click on the door to continue in the Cemetery.

Cemetery

Turn
around. Click on the gravestones. Watch the cutscene. (Bad accent, Billy!) Now
you must solve the gravestone puzzle. The goal is to click on three stones in
succession that go together. They are linked by the pictograph that appears on
the gravestone when you place the mouse over it. The triplets are:

• Row
  1-1, Row 2-4, Row 3-2
• Row 1-2, Row 3-1, Row 3-4
• Row 1-3, Row 2-2,
  Row 2-5
• Row 1-4, Row 2-3, Row 3-5
• Row 1-5, Row 2-1, Row 3-3

When
all of the gravestones are removed, you are at the Mausoleum.

Mausoleum

You
have solved the puzzle of death. Now you have to save Guildenstern and Rosencrantz.
Enter the Mausoleum. To progress, you must change one letter of each word and
enter it in the blanks below. Continue until you have formed the phrase. The answer
should look like this:

You then enter Purgatory.

Purgatory

Through
Purgatory, you are given more videos to view. Turn left. Watch the cutscene. Go
forward. Turn right. Watch the cutscene. Go forward. Watch the cutscene. Exit
Purgatory to the Forest.

Forest

Turn until you find a crossbow.
Click on it. Read the letter to Norway. Click on it and it is placed in the crossbow.
Aim the crossbow at the pennant of the Norwegian army. Watch the cutscene. You
are back in the Royal Hall.

Royal Hall

Click on the door in
front of you. Click on the peephole. Watch the cutscene. You are in Claudius’s
Suite.

Claudius’s Suite

Click on the table at left. Read all
of the letters: Claudius plans to poison Hamlet. You are immediately returned
to the Observatory.

Observatory

Go to the alcove that has the
banner, "Poison is the Coward’s Weapon." Read the book "Plants
and Poisons." The book reveals the antidote for Henbane (what Claudius is
going to use to poison you). Exit the book and move close to the alchemist’s table
below. Pick up the metal spoon. Add Rosehips from the herbs above to the right
glass container. Click on the switch for the gas to distill the essence to the
other container. Proceed to do the same with Chamomile, then Hawthorn, then Chicory,
then Hibiscus, and finally, Blackberry. You now have the antidote. You are back
in the State Hall.

State Hall

Turn right and click on the table.
Watch the cutscene. You now must choose your mother’s goblet. Choose the cup that
is labeled (when you move your mouse over it), "In this cup an union."
This goblet contains a pearl. Add the antidote by clicking on it and dragging
it into the goblet. Watch the cutscene. Now you are thrust into a duel. When asked
to choose a sword, take the left one (I didn’t even come close to winning with
the other two). In order to complete the game, you must beat Laertes in the duel.
The first to nine is the winner, but you must win by two. To win, you must click
on his sword when he attacks to defend yourself, but when he leaves himself open,
click on his chest quickly.

The final cutscene shows a very exciting end
game, once again proving that computer games have much to learn from literature
about how to tie loose ends up!