Adventure games have
enjoyed a bit of a resurgence lately. Games such as the excellent Syberia, Law
and Order, the Cameron Files and the more recent Post Mortem have revitalized
the adventure genre. Maybe revitalized is too strong a word, but some of these
games are pretty good. This is a welcome sign from the multitude of stinkers
offered in previous years.
There are even rumors
that the late great Tex Murphy franchise may actually see the light of day
again. The queen of adventure Jane Jensen is working on a new project as well.
The Longest Journey 2, and the sequel to Syberia are in production. Even the new
Lara Croft cash cow has adventure game elements in it. Yes sir things are
definitely looking up.
Sure Got Games doesn’t
have the clout that other big house developers carry or the budget, but I’ve
heard some good things about a prior GG title called The Watchmaker. So when an
opportunity to review Rhem arrived I jumped at it.
Rhem is billed as a first
person adventure with "brain-teasing" puzzles. This is the part where I tell you
about the plot. I’m still trying to figure out what the story is actually. The
game begins with a long cutscene of a train car traveling on a barren wasteland
of an environment. It finally delivers you to a land called Rhem. We don’t know
why we’re here or what exactly Rhem is.
You’ll spend the first
part of this adventure clicking through an endless mazelike area depicted
through static screenshots. It appears to be an industrialized environment full
of catwalks, metal stairs, several building structures, the occasional rocky
hill and small bodies of water that do not move. Again there is no indication as
to why we are in Rhem.
At this point I finally
stumbled back to my train car so I could get the hell out of Rhem when I was
suddenly confronted by a slender humanlike glob. Turns out he wants to get the
hell out of Rhem too. He decides to rid me of my train. He also tells me how
it’s too bad I can’t tag along, but its too late.
After that I just
wandered around and opened doors, and got water pumps to spill water in certain
spots to open up bridges and other interesting puzzle type stuff. All the while
not knowing much about this mysterious land of Rhem. It was too late, and I was
gonna find out why damn it.
The game is very similar
to Myst. You basically click-click-click your way from screen to screen. There
are many puzzles in the game that range from fun to frustrating. The mind
twisting convoluted landscape will get your brain frazzled. Unfortunately,
navigating was more challenging than puzzle solving, because much of the terrain
is similar. I found myself turned around every which way scratching my head. A
compass would have been a welcome tool, but sadly there is none.
I solved many of the
puzzles by methodical repetition. There are subtle clues located throughout Rhem
to lend a helping hand to your tripping brain. My advice is to get a pad and
pencil so you can keep track of directions, shapes, patterns and numbers. Trust
me you’ll need it.
Eventually we find out
that there is a letter consisting of four hidden fragments. You guessed it. The
player must track it down and piece it together. As I said before there is not
much to the story. Rhem is a brain-teaser that relies heavily on click-click
repetition, and is definitely not action orientated or story driven. Still, for
an independent company I’ve seen much, much worse.
If you are an obsessive
Myst fan (and judging by the amount of units that game sold there are many of
you out there) then perhaps you will find pleasure in Rhem’s many puzzles. If
you are looking for a story driven classic adventure with memorable
characterizations I’d suggest looking elsewhere.
Gameplay: 6
There isn’t much
to do here. Point and click. Then spin mouse in desired direction, and click
again. The fun (or frustration) is figuring out the solutions to the confounded
puzzles. That gameplay happens inside your head.
Graphics: 6.5
Rhem’s graphics
are designed for a 16 bit 640-low end resolution, so you will have to change
your desktop settings. It will run on higher resolutions. However, the game was
prone to crashing on different settings, and the graphics don’t look any better
anyway. For the most part the visuals are fine, but far from impressive and not
very interesting.
Sound: 6
Rhem is
apparently a very lonely place. Aside from wind and squeaking doors there isn’t
much to say. The squeaking sounds just like it should.
Difficulty: Hard
There are many
puzzles, and I must admit I got stumped several times. The hardest part was
constantly traveling from one end of Rhem to the other (and then back again) in
order to complete certain parts. As I said a compass would have been incredibly
useful at times.
Concept: 6
I suppose one can
compare this game to Myst. There isn’t much of a story, but it wasn’t all that
bad.
Overall: 6.5
There isn’t a lot
to complain about with Rhem. It’s just not a very engrossing product. If you
really like solving puzzles for the hell of it, I’m sure you’ll dig this game.
Just make sure to bring patience.
