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Beautiful yet difficult: two words that not only accurately describe my ex-girlfriend, but also the new PC adventure game Black Mirror. Although the visual and audio aesthetics of this title are outstanding, the same just cannot be said for the gameplay. Muddled, frustrating, baffling, and time consuming (even for an adventure game) are the thoughts that come up after just a short period of time playing Black Mirror. Check out our full review of this title right here at The Laser for more information on this title. Black Mirror, the latest adventure themed title from the aptly named publisher The Adventure Company is a stylish dark romp that promises much more than it truly offers. While the graphic designs and audio elements are truly outstanding, the horrible gameplay mechanics pretty much keep this games' entertainment value at a disappointing low level.
The audio and sound aspects of Black Mirror are also quite detailed, adding another air of realism to the game. The various voiceovers found throughout the game are not only genuine (giving us the air of British aristocracy with talented UK actors and actresses), the background sounds and noises also add quite a bit of realism throughout the game. Crackling fireplaces, creaks and moans in the house and castle, the calls and singing of woodland birds and creatures, the rustling of leaves from a slight wind, and the other everyday sounds of life: no small piece of sound is taken for granted in this game. Even the musical interludes that take place during scene changes as well as well as the game's main menu page are quite dramatic and very well orchestrated. Black Mirror provides a treat not only for the eyes, but for the ears as well. Where the aesthetics of a game can be an incredibly important aspect of the overall gaming experience, gameplay still must be the main thread that holds together the tapestry of a PC title. Without it, even the prettiest of games can come unwound with just a few loose ends. That's exactly the case with Black Mirror: while the product contains spectacular production values, the gameplay portion of the game suffered horrendously. Trying to figure out what was going on in the game was bad enough: most of the time we found ourselves wandering aimlessly through the castle just trying to figure out what to do next. Having to repeatedly 'point & click' and every stinking portion of the room with the hope of turning over something was way too tedious of a task, even for our seasoned Adventure gaming tastes. After finding objects or information that seemed relevant to the ongoing story/task lines (like finding a hammer in a drawer that might be needed for a nailed shut doorway) you couldn't actually use the item. Instead, you'd have to complete several other identifying tasks or complete a conversation with another character concentric to the storyline. After then, you might found yourself lucky enough to move on to the next pseudo-objective, if you could even figure it out. More often than not, you'd end up missing some minor little detail or item on your never-ending search to make sure you could move on. On more than once occasion, I'd research a room 3 or 4 times with no luck: using a standard search pattern on every available room, I'd stumble over some minor thing that you know you looked at before, but for some ungodly reason missed it the first time around. Frustrating is not a good enough word for the feelings invoked while playing this game: painful, mind-bending headache level frustration is a more accurate depiction of our mindset.
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On
the surface, Black Mirror appears to contain all of the basic elements that made
its' sibling title Syberia such a hit last year. For example, the aforementioned
visual elements of the game are just phenomenal. All of the backdrops that
surround the 19th/20th century British locations found throughout the game are
painted mattes, each with quite a bit of intricate detail. From the main
location of the castle to the famous British countryside, everything depicted in
the game is beautifully drawn in Black Mirror. The remaining visuals fall in
into the realm of rendered 3-D characters and effects, providing another high
quality aesthetic sense to the game. The main characters of the game consist of
high quality detail modeling and contain realistic moving patterns and actions.
All of the 3-D models also blend in quite well with the background elements of
the game, with smooth actions and movements.
Up
to the point of writing this review, we're still stuck on one particular section
of the game that just will not let us continue on. After checking for patches,
updates, and other valuable information on the web, nothing came up. Even after
checking out a sordid cheat site (which we try not to use when playing adventure
games, believe me) we still couldn't figure out what it was we had done wrong.
Everything checked out from beginning to end, and we still couldn't move past
one particular point. After days of checking and rechecking, and even after
restarting the game, we still found ourselves stuck at the same point in the
game. I've all but given up on playing Black Mirror and believe you me when I
say that this is definitely not a common occurrence when playing even the
hardest adventure games in the past. Perhaps there's another more patient soul
out there in the gaming world that might be more willing to sift through the
hours of agony as you continuously retrace your in-game steps. Or, maybe it is
some sort of bug or fluke that only affects me and my gaming rig. Either way, if
you're an avid adventure gaming player, I suggest passing on Black Mirror until
some time later next year. Maybe by that time, someone will figure out what went
wrong and fix it. Until then, save your hard earned cash for the upcoming
release of Syberia II or just go read a book for a change.