I had been looking forward to receiving this game especially after reading all the glowing reports about it, and when it arrived this morning I eagerly installed it which went without a hitch, so a good start. I selected a new game and watched the intro, nothing special there it seemed to me, standard chiller fare with standard graphics, not really that spooky or special. Then I started the scene in Fuller's basement and once the sound effects had kicked in had to go and adjust a lot of the sfx settings. The music was deafening, the sound effects were also too loud and at times they completely drowned out the voices which were often too quiet. I tinkered with the settings quite a few times but it's still not great, the women in the souvenir shop for instance are supposed to be talking in the background but still manage to be louder than Darren's voice describing things.

It was also a boring start to a game, exploring a dull basement and looking at rusty buckets and leaking hosepipes being described for an interminably long time by a whiney voiced, bored sounding kid. I didn't think the first task of the game was very much fun either, finding a box of fuses and changing a blown fuse, which didn't even make that much difference to anything it seems, how dreary.

The voice acting and accents in general have been a major source of irritation so far. Darren has a kind of nasal whiney voice that got on my nerves after the first few words I'm sorry to say, so I very quickly started clicking through his long-winded droning descriptions, probably missing some vital information in the process, but I just couldn't stand to keep listening to it! Also the women in the souvenir shop are very boring, and the accents in general seem forced and over the top not in a good way. The girl on the pier also has a very whingey voice, I think at this early stage the dialogues go on for too long about most things and for me this doesn't add to the atmosphere, it simply becomes boring and grates.

I really hope I start to find more to enjoy about this game as it's starting to irritate me very quickly. I wouldn't give this game a high score right now, middling if anything ...

Vegpot -- I haven't played this one yet, but from reading the comments of those who have -- the game's atmosphere changes when you get to England -- you might want to hang in there long enough to see if the change in location makes a difference for you!

Hi Becky
Thanks for the encouragement
I will be persevering as I only just got the game and don't want to give up on it, I was just a bit uninspired from the early impression of it. Maybe my expectations are high, but some games seem to start off so well, and this one for me has been falling flat! I know a lot of people were very impressed so I think I must be missing something here and need to play more of it.

Vegpot, you are not alone. I have Black Mirror 2 installed and haven't gotten out of Maine yet. There just wasn't anything that compelled me to continue. But, being aware of what Becky pointed out, at some point I will carry on with the game.

Well I've played a bit more of it now and some other things have happened. I'm trying not to let the voices get to me and with subtitles on I can click past a lot of it without having to listen! It's not too bad now, slowly getting going with it, hopefully I'll make a decent amount of progress and feel like I'm getting somewhere with it!

Well, I ended up buying this game twice because the disc version just wouldn't work because something on my PC just didn't like the copy protection, I really wanted to play it so I bought the download version! Was it worth paying twice - YES!!!!

I really enjoyed the first part of the game because of the sense of normality but keep going vegpot! Is there no way that you can adjust the sound settings?

Thanks for the moral support everyone!! The sound isn't too bad now, I think I've adjusted things, either that or my eardrums have acclimatised themselves

I'm glad people have found the game worthwhile, I am carrying on with it and have no intention of giving up just yet!

I purchased the game but have not played it yet so I am glad to hear that the game gets better. I loved the first Black Mirror game.

I think part of people's disappointment stems from high expectations established by the first game. Starting in Maine is not what people expected and yes it is quite slow as the purpose is to develop character and define where Darren comes from. That town in Maine is a real place and I have been there.

My experience with the game found the rendition of the town appeared convincing enough that one could believe that section depicted really existed. As for the accent it was quite accurate.

I was not a big fan of Black Mirror 1. Though I agreed it was a good game, I found it dark and not well fleshed out. It was difficult to be sympathetic to the main character and I found it hard to care what happened to him. His voice acting left much to be desired. For instance his complete lack of emotion when talking with other characters. He ended every conversation with the same ridiculous statement that sounded as if it came from a Partridge Family song. It almost caused me to toss the disc out the window.

With Darren you actually get to understand who he is through the better fleshed out background. With apprehension I played Black Mirror 2 expecting another character who you could not like and had to stretch to care what happen to him.

I agree the Maine section is slow but it is essential to character development. My take is this game did a far better job than the first which failed on that account. This game is far less dark and does not have the same fatalistic theme though like the first the ending leave a lot to be desired.

Thanks for that, oldmariner. I agree with you, not only about Darren (accent and all) but about Samuel who was so wooden it was impossible for me to care much what happened to him.

I seem to differ with almost everyone in having enjoyed the Biddeford section and not finding it slow at all. Whatever you think of it, one thing it did do; aside from fleshing out Darren's character, it gave him his first brush with evil. And that evil came at him from not one place but several and had only a peripheral relation to any curse. I honestly wouldn't have minded if the curse had been debunked and Samuel, as well as Darren's fear of insanity had a lot to feed on in that bunch in Willow Creek. IMO, it could have been a grand, dark story without the descent into fantasy. But I know that it would probably have disappointed most of those who are following the Gordon saga if it had been written that way.

Gil.

Please be careful to stay on the original topic and not go further so that it doesn't become a storyline discussion with too many spoilers. THere are other discussion threads for those that finished.

Vegpot, your description and sentiments mirror mine exactly. (No pun intended) I had trouble with the sound also, some of the female voices were impossible to hear. I fiddled with controls and never got it set just like I wanted. The music was either too loud or too soft. I liked the sound effects, but sometimes they seemed to drown out the voices.

Then I found the subtitles option. I turned those on so that I could read what was said when I couldn't hear it. When the voices got to annoying me too much, I could read fast and click through the dialogue.

It does get better once you leave Maine for England. Seems that Maine part took forever--not that I didn't enjoy visiting Maine, it just seemed to drag along. I was having trouble putting it together with the story from BM1. But it does fit and is good background as you will understand later.

The story and the game play seemed to "pick up" for me after arriving in England.

Just finished this a couple of days ago and didn't want it to end. I'm really looking forward to #3.

As I have progressed through the game I am enjoying it a lot more now, I think I have simply got used to the voices and can ignore the irritating qualities of some of them! Also I have been enjoying the general adventure challenges of the game a lot, and the plot and storyline has definitely improved and grown on me. I am well into the England phase now and finding it a better game than I did early on.

That's great Vegpot!

I agree with the fact that the Biddeford
part was too long. I was all ready for
The "Black mirror experience" once again,
but had to do a kind of hurdle race first
(The Biddeford part) and when I,finally,
got to Willow Creek, my "emotional engine"
had lost it's steam.

It took me a while to get
me really interested again.
About the Character voices:
I think the voices are fine, but I
agree with another Boomer that Darren
talks to much.

Also I had the same problems with
the sound quality,(the voices
are a bit blurry sometimes) and
I could not get this adjusted.

I am almost at the end now,and
the Willow Creek part was really nice,
but I am missing the original feeling
of part one.


All the best, rob

Im actually replaying the game at the moment. There are some problems with the sound levels but they are soon sorted. Thoroughly enjoyed it the first time round and am enjoying it again. The second best games of last year imo.
The voice of the main character reminds me of Matthew Broderick from Wargames.