When I was first asked to review
Crime Stories by Italian developer Artematica, I knew that it had
already been released under another name: Martin Mystere: Operation
Dorian Gray, published by GMX Media in the U.K. Since I had never had
the time to play the original, which was based on the popular graphic
novels by Alfredo Castelli…I consented to take a look at the game. After
all, I’ve always been rather fond of a good mystery. And since I knew
nothing about it, I thought I’d take a chance and have a look.
Unfortunately, there is the odd occasion when the “true” crime story isn’t
necessarily contained within the confines of the plot, game and box.
At first glance Crime Stories looked interesting
enough. I read through the manual (which, by the bye, was one of the items
that did impress me – it appears that care and thought went into its
creation). The manual imitates an “official” detective style black leather
Department of Justice notebook. Now contained within its covers, of
course, is the typical adventure game fare: requirement specifications,
installation, rules of gameplay and credits -- all very succinct and
readable. (No big surprises there.) What makes this item worthy of note is
that it also provides a small portion of Castelli’s graphic novel.
However, it would have been even nicer if a certain character germane to
the story had been somehow included, as the ending would have then made
far more sense to me. That said, I installed the game first on my Gateway
E3600 (which complained heartily at me as it barely made the minimum
requirements). I then settled into my Presario Laptop, which accepted the
game quite nicely, and I found myself inside the “Comic Book rendered
world of Professor Martin Mystere: ‘Criminologist Extraordinaire.’”
My first impression of the adventure was that the game
had potential. The opening scene of a stylized dream sequence and broad
musical flashes reminded me of The Broken Swords and Gabriel Knights of
yesteryear. The theme: a simple murder mystery which eventually grows with
a few subplots and a number of odd twists, adding in a mix of intrigue,
clues and exploration of the game’s universe, delicately peppered with a
touch of ancient Mayan culture and a little “mysticism” thrown in for some
flavoring.
Another item worth mentioning is the game’s attention to
detailed graphics and the level of interactivity between the character
sprites and their environments – all of which look as though you’ve just
stepped into the pages of one of Castelli’s highly colorful graphic
novels. The look and style is relatively immersive, and lends itself well
to a third person, mouse driven format. As the gamer, you will find much
with which to explore, engage and converse. The cut scenes normally employ
a form of double and triple “split” screens, typical of the graphic novel
genre. These did work well within the game. Yet they did nothing to move
the story along. Unfortunately, one will also find insanely long loading
times, lags and various crashes if one’s system is the least bit under or
(as in my case) at the maximum required specifications for the game.
The music for this game was fully scored…and the musical
color choices were vibrant, especially for those of us who are lucky
enough to have a Soundblaster XFI sound card. Still, overabundance seemed
to be the rule here, especially during the sections that were
inappropriate for the scene or emotion at the moment in question. The
music played a huge part in this adventure, yet in my opinion it was
thoroughly wasted on it. There are large expanses of lyrical phrases
constantly swelling toward some unknown crescendo only to be lost and
“mark missed” as the action just did not support the musical phrase.
The storyline and character development (or should I say
overdevelopment in some areas) had their good sides…but…as time wore
on…sadly, so did my patience.
The bulk of this story takes place in October of 2005 in
various locations in and around New York City and Mexico, where you can
experience the obligatory Aztec ruin to your heart’s content. Professor
Martin Mystere, the hero of our adventure, is asked by the New York Police
Department to help them solve a murder of a famous anthropologist, one
Professor Eulemberg.
Professor Mystere, a crack anthropological criminologist
of renown, is either a genius with absolutely no common sense or a
bumbling savant, the likes of which would put even “Lieutenant Columbo” to
shame. Add a gargantuan manservant from “some mystical unknown area high
in the Himalayan mountains,” and a buxom wife (honestly, all the women in
this story are more than buxom, to the point that if women looked this way
in real life, they would be constantly falling over for lack of
balance…but I digress) and we have the makings of a true comic book
adventure. Hey, wait a moment -- Martin Mystere is a comic book adventure.
This is a third person mouse driven adventure game in
which the player takes on two versions of the indomitable Martin Mystere,
as well as Mrs. Mystere in short shorts with nary a mosquito bite on her.
There is a generous assortment of puzzles, which are inventory and
mechanical based. All are quite easy and not too taxing. By finding
various items and clues and speaking and occasionally interrogating
various people within the game world, you will gain access to other areas.
The game seems to be divided into eight or so chapters and about just as
many saved game slots (far too few in my estimation).
The main task in Crime Stories is to find out who
the killer is and why the murder took place. The plotlines for this
mystery were never very clear to me -- and as I got further into the game,
I began to lose interest in the characters and indeed lose even more
interest in the story. Perhaps if more of the graphic novel had been
included for the purposes of back story -- say in PDF format -- this may
not have been the case. However, the music and scenery were curious enough
(along with the occasional comedic situations which surfaced now and then)
and I found myself being dragged along with the beat of things and
actioned the various puzzles until I came to the end. I won’t go into the
crux of the story because, even though I didn’t understand why the
murderer was the murderer, there will be some of you die-hards who will
undoubtedly love the story, especially those of you who may be fans of Mr.
Castelli’s work.
To say that Crime Stories as a whole did not meet
my expectations would indeed be an understatement. My biggest
disappointment was that the game looked so promising. The background
graphics are beautiful and artfully executed with much detail, and the
interesting split screen scenarios did not go unnoticed. And even though
the character sprites are “blocky” for the most part, they are passable
and don’t interfere with plot immersion, that is until they had to
move…then we had the “Martin Mystere Fetish Dance” whenever he or anyone
else walked across the screen.
But the largest issue for me -- the most grating and
irritating portion of this adventure -- was the dialog in both the written
and spoken forms. The written portions in the form of subtitles had just
too many typographical errors, poor grammar and several outlandish
misnomers. This hampered the gameplay to such an extent that I began to
care less and less about the story. I understand that a number of
reviewers have mentioned the poor voice acting in both the game’s U.K. and
U.S. versions. But I have to disagree here. It isn’t the voice acting…it
is the vocal directing style. It just didn’t work for me at all. This
single factor kept throwing off my concentration and seriously impaired my
willing suspension of disbelief. Now, in their defense, I have to point
out that the actors try valiantly to save this game; instead it is the
“dialog script” itself and the odd technical vocal direction which misses
the target. During the entire adventure, all of characters speak their
lines in a “piecemeal” fashion. The lines are clearly spoken to fit the
subtitles, a certain error in my opinion. Subtitles are there to support
the vocals in any theatrical venue -- be it cinema, television or
interactive media -- and not the other way around. Also the
overabundant use of what is known in the business as “guttural emotives”
such as “urhhhhs” – “ahhhs” --“erhmmmms” and “pfus” bordered on the
maniacal. Sometimes, less is more.
Would I recommend Crime Stories: From the Files of
Martin Mystere? That depends on the gamer, the system and what one is
looking for. If your system only meets the minimum recommendations, then
my advice would have to be: pass on this one until you upgrade, as the
glitches and lag times in this game will be many and the frustration level
will be high. If you already have Martin Mystere: Operation Dorian Gray,
this current version offers little difference for the gamer, so again my
answer would have to be: pass. But if you are a collector of all mystery
adventure games and/or graphic novels, or have an interest in the artwork
of Alfredo Castelli and would like to see his fantastic artwork brought
into the realm of interactive media…and aren’t too picky when it comes to
really strange vocal cadences…then by all means…enjoy.
…inferno
Grade C
Minimum Requirements:
OS: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
CPU: 850
MHz Pentium 3 Processor or Equivalent
RAM: 256
Video: 32 MB
Direct X 9.0c Compatible
CD/DVD-ROM: 16x
Sound:
16-bit Direct X Compatible
Disk
Space: 700MB
Input:
Mouse, Keyboard and Speakers
Recommended Requirements
OS:
Windows XP
CPU: 1.8 GHz Pentium 4 Processor or
Equivalent
RAM: 512MB or
higher
Video: 64 MB direct X 9.0c Compatible or
Higher
CD/DVD-ROM: 32x
Sound:
Sound Blaster X-Fi Series
Disk
Space: 1.0 GB
Input: Mouse, Keyboard and Speakers
6-2006
design copyright ©
2006
GameBoomers
Group
