Posted By: oldmariner
Black Mirror 111 - 04/18/11 11:42 PM
Black Mirror 111
Viva Media Release.
Here were are again in the Willow Creek dark universe of the cursed Gordon clan where we learn the secrets hidden darkly hinted at as we puzzled through earlier games. This entry is dark as is to be expected. We follow Darren in his quest to prove his innocence and end the curse. The graphics are outstanding, especially the effects of water running off the rooftops in the depressed town. Everything is gray, foreboding and quite often depressing. The Black Mirror castle gives the appearance of having lost a war. From its rubble strewn entry room to its demolished kitchen the graphics truly depict a sharply depressed venue.
Mechanics
The mechanics of the game are quite similar to the second. It is a 2d world with very good backgrounds enhanced with subtle movements, some more obvious than others. Water seems to flow endlessly highlighted by ominous perpetual dark clouds broken only by sharp unexpected sounds adding to the atmosphere. The inventory is discovered by sweeping your mouse along the bottom and the options are accessed by icons on the top of the screen. Make frequent use of Darren's diary and the map when you find it during game play. The map allows instant access to locales you have already visited. This is very useful as Darren will not run, so it cuts down watching a lot of blocky walking. Darren maintains his Maine accent and all characters are voice acted well including the grating whining of Murray. Access to hot spots are obtained by tapping your space bar. There appears to be unlimited saves which are highlighted in the load screen and numbered in reverse order to how they are shown in your save folder. The save folder is found in my documents, at least they are in XP. There were a few flaws which may not have been glitches but instead design flaws. More on this later later. There is also a walk through included on the US release of the disc. The manual is also found there as no printed one is provided. The game is fully point and click and you can die, save often. There is an auto solve built in to help resolve puzzles. You do not need to play Black Mirror 1 and 11 to enjoy this game there is enough back story to make this a stand alone game. To fully understand the story of this 3rd person game playing the first two is advised but not vital.
Game Play
You play Darren aka Adrian Gordon of the cursed clan through six chapters, the first five exclusively. During the sixth you spend some of the time playing an unexpected ally. I won't say who because part of the challenge is trying to figure out who the bad guys are. The puzzles are primarily what you would expect from adventure games. They include a mixture of applying knowledge of things learned through conversation and hidden clues gained by that activity. Pay attention to what is said. There are the usual inventory items. The primary Adventure game rule applies. Look at and pick up everything you can before leaving the scene. Though there is one point in the game when following the rule causes a problem. this will be discussed later in spoilers. The conversation tree is displayed in icon format appearing where your inventory is normally displayed. Most of the time when a topic is completed the icon will disappear. Some questions must be asked twice. But once in awhile the icon remained and when pressed again you got the same reply. There is also a maze called the labyrinth which is a bit different, quite ingenius and rather fun to figure out. Some of the puzzles are called mini games, however, they are puzzles and not what we have come to hate that are true mini games. The game is based entirely within the Willow Creek environment including all the depressing places in the previous game with at least one other location added. There are also new places to visit in the town. Many of your old favorites are brought back along with some new denizens. All in all it is a challenging game that is fun, depressing, with a few startled moments and some frustration. Quite likely is it the best of the three. We do get a resolution to games one and two with a satisfying conclusion, even if the results for some minor characters are not spelled out.
Spoilers
Flaws or glitches?
All in All
It is a terrific game, perhaps the best of the three. It is of a reasonably long length and lives up to the franchise. So far the best game of 2011.
Viva Media Release.
Here were are again in the Willow Creek dark universe of the cursed Gordon clan where we learn the secrets hidden darkly hinted at as we puzzled through earlier games. This entry is dark as is to be expected. We follow Darren in his quest to prove his innocence and end the curse. The graphics are outstanding, especially the effects of water running off the rooftops in the depressed town. Everything is gray, foreboding and quite often depressing. The Black Mirror castle gives the appearance of having lost a war. From its rubble strewn entry room to its demolished kitchen the graphics truly depict a sharply depressed venue.
Mechanics
The mechanics of the game are quite similar to the second. It is a 2d world with very good backgrounds enhanced with subtle movements, some more obvious than others. Water seems to flow endlessly highlighted by ominous perpetual dark clouds broken only by sharp unexpected sounds adding to the atmosphere. The inventory is discovered by sweeping your mouse along the bottom and the options are accessed by icons on the top of the screen. Make frequent use of Darren's diary and the map when you find it during game play. The map allows instant access to locales you have already visited. This is very useful as Darren will not run, so it cuts down watching a lot of blocky walking. Darren maintains his Maine accent and all characters are voice acted well including the grating whining of Murray. Access to hot spots are obtained by tapping your space bar. There appears to be unlimited saves which are highlighted in the load screen and numbered in reverse order to how they are shown in your save folder. The save folder is found in my documents, at least they are in XP. There were a few flaws which may not have been glitches but instead design flaws. More on this later later. There is also a walk through included on the US release of the disc. The manual is also found there as no printed one is provided. The game is fully point and click and you can die, save often. There is an auto solve built in to help resolve puzzles. You do not need to play Black Mirror 1 and 11 to enjoy this game there is enough back story to make this a stand alone game. To fully understand the story of this 3rd person game playing the first two is advised but not vital.
Game Play
You play Darren aka Adrian Gordon of the cursed clan through six chapters, the first five exclusively. During the sixth you spend some of the time playing an unexpected ally. I won't say who because part of the challenge is trying to figure out who the bad guys are. The puzzles are primarily what you would expect from adventure games. They include a mixture of applying knowledge of things learned through conversation and hidden clues gained by that activity. Pay attention to what is said. There are the usual inventory items. The primary Adventure game rule applies. Look at and pick up everything you can before leaving the scene. Though there is one point in the game when following the rule causes a problem. this will be discussed later in spoilers. The conversation tree is displayed in icon format appearing where your inventory is normally displayed. Most of the time when a topic is completed the icon will disappear. Some questions must be asked twice. But once in awhile the icon remained and when pressed again you got the same reply. There is also a maze called the labyrinth which is a bit different, quite ingenius and rather fun to figure out. Some of the puzzles are called mini games, however, they are puzzles and not what we have come to hate that are true mini games. The game is based entirely within the Willow Creek environment including all the depressing places in the previous game with at least one other location added. There are also new places to visit in the town. Many of your old favorites are brought back along with some new denizens. All in all it is a challenging game that is fun, depressing, with a few startled moments and some frustration. Quite likely is it the best of the three. We do get a resolution to games one and two with a satisfying conclusion, even if the results for some minor characters are not spelled out.
Spoilers
Flaws or glitches?
Click to reveal..
All in All
It is a terrific game, perhaps the best of the three. It is of a reasonably long length and lives up to the franchise. So far the best game of 2011.