November 07, 2002
Platform: Windows PC Developer: Dream CatcherPublisher: Dream CatcherReviewed by: Alkaiser
Gameplay: [6] Graphics: [8] Audio: [7] Replay: [3] Overall: [6.2]
Whilst working with the guys over at Netjak.com, Search tells me, "Hey, the folks over at Dreamcatcher are sending us some games, you wanna review 'em?" I say, "Sure." Free games are always fun. One of the games I got sent was this, Mystery of the Nautilus. I specifically requested this because I kinda liked the book, and there was also that really funny sketch on Saturday Night Live where Kelsey Grammar plays Captain Nemo. Story You're a scientist on board the USS Shark. You're mapping the sea floor when you come across a big object. The Captain denies you the opportunity to look at the item. Your character says something stupid like, "The chance to explore, this is what scientists dream about!" and takes a submergence vehicle off the ship. What the hell, man? Does this guy jump off of his vessel every time they find a new blinky light? As far as I'm concerned, the story didn't have a beginning...you're just at the bottom of the sea in the Nautilus. Anyway, you step on board, and are greeted by a computer voice. It thinks you're the Captain. And guess what, now we're going where every single, "Ooh, look a mysterious ship from the past" story arc goes. I really wish this had turned out differently...someone else had gotten to the ship first and they were still on it. Maybe aliens had gotten it. I was just hoping for something different. Instead: Ship thinks you're Captain. Ship finds out you're not the Captain. Ship tries to kill you. This has been done 7 ways to Sunday and back. I keep saying this...the game industry needs some original ideas. Some new blood is probably needed. Now this is a game that bases itself off another work, and to top it all off, it gives me a story and situation that I've experienced so many times before. I was nonplussed to say the least. Controls The interface itself is kind of nice. If you right click, it'll pop up a display of all the items you have in your inventory right now. You can also drag and drop items onto your person, like gloves, etc. When you encounter an object the needs to have an item used on it it'll give you a little pull switch icon. Then it's a matter of trial and error to figure out which item you need to use. The biggest problem with this is the interface for Nautilus is that the triggers to change the cursors for the items are so small in some cases that you'll completely miss the item even though it's right in front of you. Other times, the items will be shadowed out, and the cursor not changing doesn't help matters any in that regard. This is a HUGE problem, as it makes the game take a lot longer to finish, because you're hunting around for items to solve problems. It'd be much more useful to have the area be much larger so the player isn't constantly fumbling to FIND items and is instead thinking of ways to actually USE them. Apparently, though, that's because the guys over at T-Bot couldn't really construct all that many puzzles, and instead just felt like having you play a souped-up game of hide-and-seek. There isn't a puzzle that'll really leave you stumped as long as you have the items. Graphics The graphics range from nice to bland. However, this isn't really so much the fault of the artists, I mean, it's supposed to be an old looking ship. But, they do a pretty good job of making the ship look high-tech in an old manner...like something you'd see out of Arcanum...except with lasers. Audio The voices in the game are bad. I hope they didn't pay much for them, because they are a detraction from the game. Captain Nemo sounds ok, but aside from him, I can't think of a single person I like. Every time you perform an action, it gives you a corresponding sound, and for the most part everything advice aside from the voices sound pretty good. Gameplay With the huge slant towards item hide-and-go-seek aside, the gameplay isn't horribly bad. You can die in Mystery of the Nautilus, which is going to be a bit of a shock to Myst players, and seeing as how you don't really interact with anyone else, Myst players are probably going to be the ones who enjoy this the most. The game also has a fair bit of timed puzzles, in which you are required to perform a series of actions, or face the consequences, usually death. You have a fair amount of time to do things, so don't worry too much about running into save/restore syndrome, but it does add a little bit of tension to the proceedings. Overall All in all, if you're going to pick up an adventure game from Dreamcatcher, I'd recommend Syberia, which is getting far better reviews, and deservingly so. But, if you've already played that, well, then, by all means, at least give this a look... not to mention it's under 20 clams.
If you plan on buying the game, and feel that we helped you make a decision, why not support netjak at the same time and pick this up online? (did that sound too whiney?)
MYSTERY OF THE NAUTILUS: 20,000 LEAGUES
n/a
All rights reserved. All contents published by netjak | info@netjak.com
