The Czech Republic is heaven for adventure gamers. For years, domestic developers have created new adventures, which sold relatively cheaply and saturated the adventure market, even after this niche genre stagnated in the rest of the world. Back in the 1990s, however, most Czech titles were spoofs of famous adventures (The Secret of Donkey Island comes to mind) or opportunities for local movie stars to make an extra buck. Future Games jumped on the bandwagon with something unique: a mix of Indiana Jones and Broken Sword, called The Messenger of the Gods, that took itself seriously. This game also got its developer, Unknown Entity on the radar screen. In 1998, however, the game was such a technological dinosaur (the resolution was set to 320x200 pixels, for example) that asking money for it was unforgivable. Consequently, I've had very low hopes for the companies' second collaboration, even though it has been named the best Czech adventure game of all times.
Game mechanics
You play Samuel Gordon, the youngest member of the Gordon clan. After his grandfather died under mysterious circumstances, he decides to return to the family castle of Black Mirror to investigate his death. Everything is not as it seems: almost everybody harbors some terrible secret, Samuel is haunted by the memories of his dead wife, and the weather is dreadful. To make matters worse, he suffers from terrible headaches and nightmares. As people start dying in earnest, Samuel is the family's only hope to catch the killer and bring him to justice.
Black Mirror is a point-and-click adventure game. You'll move your character by mouse clicks, and you'll manipulate objects in the same fashion. In fact, the only time you touch the keyboard is when you need to rename a saved file. The interface has been lifted straight from the early Broken Sword games, where the screen had a black strip on the top and bottom, one containing the game menu and the other the inventory. This makes the interface extremely intuitive and allows the player to fully concentrate on the game.
With the exception of several sequences where you have to quickly access an item in your inventory, the game doesn't have any action sequences, and its progress depends solely on your speed. All puzzles in this title are extremely logical and quite varied. You'll combine items, solve chess puzzles, talk to people and do all the other weird things, like getting your head chopped off, which make adventure games so much fun. The game itself is very linear, and will often lock you in a certain location. Because of this, the gameplay is relatively easy, and unlike in other adventure games, you won't need to wander needlessly through all the locations in order to find something you missed before. Unfortunately, you'll need all the help you can get, as the game includes quite a few frustrating pixel hunts.
Technical considerations
The game ran flawlessly on my system, and the hardware requirements were what I would expect. Considering the quality of the graphics and the length of the game, I was impressed that even after a whole day of playing it didn't become unstable. A few people reported problems with the Starforce copy protection, but I wasn't one of them.
Gameplay - 7
The story is by far the best aspect of the gameplay. It starts out very slowly, and until I was about a third into the game, it was a little bland. However, as I learned new interesting facts and as the chemistry between the various characters crystallized, I became drawn into the story and towards the end I even became obsessed to come to a conclusion. The length and the complexity of the story easily match those of the best adventure games of recent years. However, the storytelling is not as good. It will appeal only to select few people who approach the game as a good book they want to read. Those who look for instant gratification will be disappointed.
The linearity of the story allows for some complex puzzles to appear simple. Most puzzles are very inventive and almost always logical, but one particular problem requires the player to consult outside sources. This puzzle involves sorting zodiac symbols in the proper order. The game was developed in a country where you get horoscopes in all major newspapers and magazines, so the domestic players wouldn't have a problem finding the proper order of the symbols. However, elsewhere the player would have to shut down the game and go on-line to find the solution. Fortunately, this puzzle is an exception; all others were much better presented.
The gameplay has its downsides, too. First of all, there is one dead-end, which will get you killed later on. If you overwrite your save file between the fork in the story and getting killed, you would need to load an older save or start the game anew. Second, the linearity of the game sometimes borders with the ridiculous. While it allows the developer to present the story in the proper order, the average player will figure out certain things long before they are revealed in the game. Finally, the translation is sometimes awkward and greatly detracts from the game experience. For instance, when at a moment of terror Samuel proclaimed: "I am filled with distress", I burst out laughing instead of feeling afraid. While the game box speaks of a horror game, this kind of translation takes the horror out of the game.
Graphics - 7
Graphics are a mixed bag. The backgrounds, which are locked at 800x600, are superb. They are vibrant, appropriate to the setting and full of things to explore. While the last thing will force you to do a lot of pixel hunting, the eyecandy is worth it. The characters don't fare as well, though. They are clearly not a part of the interface, as they are portrayed in brighter colors and quite pixilated. To make matters worse, all characters with the exception of Samuel move in a very slow motion. Because they need to execute certain animations before talking to you, starting a conversation was usually a great exercise in patience.
Sound - 4
The technical quality of the sound and the original voiceovers are superb. The Czech version would get a perfect ten, but the English translation is simply awful. The ambient tones are very life-like, and I really liked how the voices changed depending on your location. In large spaces, such as a lobby or a church, the voices got an echo, while in small spaces they sounded a little dimmed. However, the voiceovers are some of the worst since the infamous Watchmaker. Even though there are a few characters who sounded quite authentic, the most important people were terrible. Samuel needs a separate category, though. He not only talks, but also thinks loud, so you'll hear him all the time. Unfortunately, he sounds like the village idiot, and not the keen investigator he is supposed to be. His voiceover almost destroyed the game experience for me.
Replay value - 6
The gameplay is the longest of last year's adventure games, by a wide margin. Once you get into the story and get hooked you will spend numerous hours trying to finish it, and you'll get your money worth. However, I see little possibility in playing the game again. The storytelling is very linear and the puzzles offer some challenge only the first time you try to solve them. In addition, the poor translation and bad voiceovers greatly detract from the game experience.
Overall - 6.3
The Black Mirror is a boon for every serious adventure gamer. The story is superb, the interface is easy to grasp, and I reveled in the puzzles for a long time. The game offers enough gameplay for two weeks, and great graphics will accompany you from the beginning to the end. However, the presentation of the game didn't fare as well. Character graphics are a little awkward and many of the voiceovers are terrible. It's a shame; after so many console-style adventure games I was ready for a real adventure, and while I got what I asked for, I realized that in addition to a good interface, story and puzzles, I needed a matching presentation to fully enjoy the game. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and Black Mirror thus ranks barely above average.
