Posted By: Gamehound
In Memoriam - 01/11/04 04:23 PM
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the picture that would best describe playing In Memoriam is Edvard Munch's 'The Scream.' Imagine, if you will, playing an adventure game where most of the time spent playing that game was spent rifling through a filing cabinet looking for clues. That, sadly, is a good way of describing what it is like to play this game. The game developers thought they could add in occasional arcade-style games to break up the monotony of the constant rifling through unchanging means to find clues (Internet searches). These arcade-style games were a HUGE mistake. These games involve hand-eye coordination, luck, and persistence to get through them. So, one may wonder why I believe this game is similar to 'The Scream' painting. Well, that is exactly what you will do many times throughout the game due to utter frustration with the "puzzles." The little fact-finding hunts, and the intermittent arcade-style games are enough to make you go mad. Perhaps, though, that is what the developers had in mind.
In Memoriam, however, does have some good points. The overall story is rather involved, and you are left to unearth tidbits along the way. The tidbits of information given to you are enough to keep you intrigued to see how the story will end. This game is not for people without persistence. I'd imagine many would give up during one of In Memoriam's many arcade-style games. These games can be extremely difficult, and you cannot progress in the game without successfully completing them. Another point I liked of the game were the graphics. The graphics were pleasing to the eye (and the videos shown along the way were nice interludes between puzzles). Other than those two points, the vast majority of the time spent playing In Memoriam is spent hoping it would soon end. The greatest joy I got from playing this game was when I had finally completed it, and I learned how the ending played out.
Ultimately, I thought I would have felt a sense of accomplishment completing this game. Instead, I felt annoyed with myself for sticking it out and learning of the lackluster conclusion (which leaves room for a sequel to In Memoriam). I admit, I was eager to see how the story would unfold, but the developers left us with a big goose egg by the time it was all said and done.
Throughout the game, a grand total of 66 e-mails are sent to the player. The first contains your login and password information. The remaining 65 e-mails pertain to the gameplay itself. For some, like myself, this will be a constant annoyance. For others, this may be a refreshing break from the frustrating/monotonous gameplay.
If someone wanted my opinion whether or not to purchase In Memoriam, I would say skip it. The actual puzzles (minus the arcade-style games) are mostly awful. There are several pixel-hunting puzzles in the game, and most of the others make you look for the missing information on websites (which gets very boring). If the websites ever go down, the owner of their copy of Im Memoriam is left with useless game CDs. E-mails play a vital role in solving some puzzles, and the final game is played on the Internet. So, one would never be able to truly finish the game without the ending scenario being played out (if the website ever closes). If you ever consider purchasing this game, in the future, be certain that all online sources are still up and running. In fact, you would not even be able to begin In Memoriam due to not being able to create an account (which is a required step in playing In Memoriam).
One, final note I would like to offer is the added annoyance a player gets doing the Internet searches for clues, and the sifting through garbage to find them. There are numerous websites with walkthroughs, strategy guides, and forums (each in various languages) on the Internet. Well, if you type in key words to the puzzle you are trying to solve, you get numerous, other sites as junk to sift through to find what you are looking for. Hopefully, In Memoriam will be left to die (a sequel never be made), and no other developers will follow the lead of this game. The Internet plays a vital role in completing In Memoriam, and I will assume the costs of bandwidth will force the developers to close their websites and mail servers in the future.
Gameplay: F
Graphics: B/B+
Audio: F (same, repetitive clips over and over)
Story: C+ (somewhat intriguing until the end)
Overall: D/D-
Reviewed by: Gamehound
In Memoriam, however, does have some good points. The overall story is rather involved, and you are left to unearth tidbits along the way. The tidbits of information given to you are enough to keep you intrigued to see how the story will end. This game is not for people without persistence. I'd imagine many would give up during one of In Memoriam's many arcade-style games. These games can be extremely difficult, and you cannot progress in the game without successfully completing them. Another point I liked of the game were the graphics. The graphics were pleasing to the eye (and the videos shown along the way were nice interludes between puzzles). Other than those two points, the vast majority of the time spent playing In Memoriam is spent hoping it would soon end. The greatest joy I got from playing this game was when I had finally completed it, and I learned how the ending played out.
Ultimately, I thought I would have felt a sense of accomplishment completing this game. Instead, I felt annoyed with myself for sticking it out and learning of the lackluster conclusion (which leaves room for a sequel to In Memoriam). I admit, I was eager to see how the story would unfold, but the developers left us with a big goose egg by the time it was all said and done.
Throughout the game, a grand total of 66 e-mails are sent to the player. The first contains your login and password information. The remaining 65 e-mails pertain to the gameplay itself. For some, like myself, this will be a constant annoyance. For others, this may be a refreshing break from the frustrating/monotonous gameplay.
If someone wanted my opinion whether or not to purchase In Memoriam, I would say skip it. The actual puzzles (minus the arcade-style games) are mostly awful. There are several pixel-hunting puzzles in the game, and most of the others make you look for the missing information on websites (which gets very boring). If the websites ever go down, the owner of their copy of Im Memoriam is left with useless game CDs. E-mails play a vital role in solving some puzzles, and the final game is played on the Internet. So, one would never be able to truly finish the game without the ending scenario being played out (if the website ever closes). If you ever consider purchasing this game, in the future, be certain that all online sources are still up and running. In fact, you would not even be able to begin In Memoriam due to not being able to create an account (which is a required step in playing In Memoriam).
One, final note I would like to offer is the added annoyance a player gets doing the Internet searches for clues, and the sifting through garbage to find them. There are numerous websites with walkthroughs, strategy guides, and forums (each in various languages) on the Internet. Well, if you type in key words to the puzzle you are trying to solve, you get numerous, other sites as junk to sift through to find what you are looking for. Hopefully, In Memoriam will be left to die (a sequel never be made), and no other developers will follow the lead of this game. The Internet plays a vital role in completing In Memoriam, and I will assume the costs of bandwidth will force the developers to close their websites and mail servers in the future.
Gameplay: F
Graphics: B/B+
Audio: F (same, repetitive clips over and over)
Story: C+ (somewhat intriguing until the end)
Overall: D/D-
Reviewed by: Gamehound