Sherlock Holmes is the
creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and was the center of many of his novels.
After his passing, and Holmes’ popularity sustained, other folks began to put
his character into their own books, movies, and, eventually, video games. The
Mystery of the Mummy is the latest attempt at putting the detective in a game,
but is it worth checking out? Or should it be kept on the shelf for the
die-hard sleuths? Let’s investigate.
The game follows an original
plot created by the developers. In it, Holmes is invited to a mansion of great
proportions, looking for clues to find a missing archaeologist and his valuable
mummy. Needless to say, there’s always more to it than a simple kidnapping
(this is a Holmes story, after all!); and you’re led into a web of intriguing
characters, strange places, and creepy artifacts. The story remained
interesting throughout, and I believe The Adventure Company did a good job
creating it.
Unfortunately, the game
falls on its face where it counts the most: gameplay. The game takes a Myst
approach, with static scenery and a cursor. The cursor will allow you to pick
things up, use items, open doors, or click to another spot where you’ll move
to. You can spin the camera around 360 degrees, looking at everything around
you, but you can’t move to precise positions or anything. The problem is this:
when you actually do click to move to another spot (which can be frustrating,
since areas you would think would be recognized as places to move, can’t be
accessed) the camera often reorients itself, pointing you in an entirely
different direction. If I’m facing a bookcase and I want to move closer to it,
I want to be facing the bookcase when I get over there, not turned around to
where I just came from!
The actual puzzles range
from mediocre to frustrating, and occasionally pretty clever. There’s one early
on where you have to find four golden coins with pictures of mythological
symbols on them. There’s a door with four empty circles, each next to a picture
of a different symbol. It’s obvious you have to place the proper coins next to
the proper symbol, but there is very little to help you figure out which goes
where. There’s some information lying around in a glass case in another room
about mythology, but a lot of the information is just plain irrelevant, and
there’s very little that actually helps you. It ends up being a guessing game
until you get them in the right order, and can continue.
The game is quite linear,
even when you’d think it shouldn’t be. There’s a large staircase in the first
room of the game, with a little ribbon blocking it off. Honestly, how hard
would it be to take off the ribbon, or jump over it, or even crawl under it?
It’s simply not logical that you’re restricted from going upstairs from a tiny
ribbon. You’re forced to go through a series of puzzles before being able to
get past it. It’s not a terrible problem, but it just seems ludicrous. Why
couldn’t they have put a locked door there instead? That would have been a lot
more plausible.
The graphics are,
unfortunately, fuzzy. Since they are so detailed, looking for specific things
can be a pain when it seems like the game is blurrier than the ten-year old Myst.
Other than that little problem, they are designed pretty nicely for the most
part, and remain fresh and interesting. You’ll encounter some cinemas later on,
as well. A lot of them seem a little corny or even badly done, but they do what
they’re there for – help tell a story.
Sound is not terribly
impressive. Sherlock is given a voice, and he feels the need to comment on
everything you try to do. Thankfully, he sounds decent, although it sometimes
seems like the person behind the voice is reading off of a paper. It’s not
really impressive, but it’s not obnoxious, either. The music isn’t all that
great, and although it is fitting, it can become annoying during long sessions.
It lacks excitement and originality.
The Mystery of the Mummy is
not a terrible game, no. Fans of Doyle and his work will probably enjoy solving
a great mystery and going through a fairly good storyline. That is, if they can
put up with the annoying gameplay. If you’re not a fan, or you absolutely hate
Myst and similar point-n’-click games, then this is probably not for you. Check
it out if you’re interested, but don’t expect to have a blast playing it.
Gameplay: 5.0
The game plays just like
Myst, save for the inclusion of an inventory. We walk through static scenery,
clicking in the direction we want to go to. Although this is an outdated
technique, it would have been okay if it weren’t so picky. The camera is
constantly changing direction when you click to move, and sometimes you miss
places you can go because the designated spots aren’t all that accurate.
Graphics: 6.5
The game might play like
Myst, but it doesn’t look as sharp. In fact, the environment is often downright
blurry. This makes it hard when looking for a certain small object or even
trying to read writing on a sign. This area could have been improved greatly.
Sound: 6.5
Sherlock Holmes’ gets a
voice in this game. It’s not perfect – in fact, sometimes it sounds the the
voice actor is reading. Overall, though, it works. The background music really
isn’t anything exciting or fantastic, but at least it’s there. You might rather
turn on your stereo, as it can get tiring.
Difficulty: Hard
The game is quite linear,
and requires that you complete all the puzzles. Some of them are quite clever,
while others border on frustration. Granted, they’re not as obscure as the ones
found in Myst or Riven, but the fuzzy graphics can cause you to miss some vital
clues.
Concept: 6.0
The gameplay isn’t really
innovative or original, but the developers do deserve some credit for devising a
fairly interesting plot and a few cool puzzles.
Multiplayer: N/A
There’s no multiplayer mode
to speak of in The Mystery of the Mummy. But you might try solving some puzzles
with your friend…after all, two heads are better than one at this type of
thing.
Overall: 6.0
The Mystery of the Mummy is
not an extremely enjoyable experience, nor does it offer anything new to the
adventure genre. However, Sherlock fans will be sure to love it for its
original storyline, and the fact that you actually get to solve puzzles as the
man himself. It’s elementary, my dear Watson.
