Missing

by DreamCatcher Games

Product Features

• Innovative gameplay - Receive actual e-mail from virtual characters and The Phoenix himself
• Use these email and other evidence as clues, to put together the pieces of the puzzle
• Visit all kinds of Websites within the game to collect information and solve the case

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000271MCG
• Item Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 30, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,353 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Try and find the whereabouts of the missing reporterand his assistantProduct InformationJournalist Jack Lorski and his companion Karen Gijman disappear whileinvestigating a string of gruesome murders. Soon after their disappearanceJack’s agency receives a disturbing CD-ROM containing footage he capturedduring his investigation. More than just a CD this disc is in-fact thebeginning of a terrifying game with a maniacal killer known only as “ThePhoenix.”  You will analyze video excerpts photos and sound tracks andpiece together evidence to find Jack and Karen!  An investigation on thefringe of reality!Product HighlightsOn November 2nd of last year Jack Lorski informed SKLNetwork executive directors Arnaud Ivan Stephane Karlsberg and Marie Liloux ofhis intention to follow up on an investigation that could lead to a prime-timeexclusive. He was given the administrative go-ahead and allocated a credit line.On December 7th following the in-house procedure Jack gaveMarie Liloux a detailed verbal account. He was evidently trying to uncover linksbetween a number of murders and/or suicides committed in at least 5 differentcountries (France Greece Czech Republic Britain and Italy). In his reportJack spoke of an amateur super-8 film which he had come across by chance andwhich had sparked off the whole investigation.On February 4th Jack sent in his expenses along with thoseof Karen Gijman. The letter containing the receipts was posted in Venice.Since then contrary to the procedure which requires updatesat least once a month we have had no contact with either Jack or Karen.On March 12th the police officers in charge of theinvestigation searched Jack's barge moored on the Seine by the Ile Saint-Denis.There they discovered a super-8 film which might be at the origin of hisinvestigations. They have authorized us to make it public. On 1 October Arnaud Ivan received an apparently recent photoof Karen Gijman at

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great idea -- ! but with a fatal flaw, July 4, 2004

By 

Lynn S. Hendricks "Wordmama" (Carson City, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Missing (CD-ROM)

A smart and gripping story, inventive, well written, and well acted. A total delight! except it does seem to require you to be online almost the whole time you're playing. This has two serious shortcomings:
-- If you have dial-up, you'll be online for hours.
-- If the website dies, you're dead in the water.

That last problem is a fatal one, I'm afraid. The game is not playable past the introduction without the websites and emails maintained by the publisher, who seems to be, um, not bothering anymore. Very shortsighted of them -- but I guess they thought they'd be around forever.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The DaVinci Code meets Myst, July 22, 2004

By 

D. J O'Neill (Oak Park, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Missing (CD-ROM)

If you like games where you have to solve puzzles, and you are proficient at surfing the web for information, you should like this game.

The premise is as follows (don't worry, no spoilers): A journalist stumbled upon an old video recording of a murder in 1970's Europe. The video also showed the camera man being murdered for having witnessed the crime. He began investigating, and tracked down the daughter of the camera man. Together, they became embroiled in an investigation of a set of serial murders that took them across the continent - one which eventually ended in January with their disappearance. The company the jounalist worked for later recieved a CD-Rom claiming to be from the mysterious "Phoenix" who claims to have captured the couple as part of his "Great Work". Apparently the CD need only be "decoded" in order to reveal the location where the pair are being held. The company has decided to go public with the CD (giving in to a demand by the Phoenix). They have put on the shelves in hopes someone will be able decode it and lead them to the missing jounalist and his female companion.

That's where you come in. The "decoding" of the black CD involves solving 36 puzzles. Once you install the program and pop in the black CD from the Phoenix, you set up an account at the company's website, including your email address so they can contact you. You are assigned (fictional) team members, from whom you receive emails updating you on their progress in their investigations.

The puzzles are of generally two styles. First, there is the good old Myst style puzzles. Second, there are the puzzles which involve searching the web for information. The Phoenix references a lot of old arcane religious figures which I found VERY interesting. If you like Dan Brown novels (The DaVinci Code) then you will love this part of the game. That was my favorite thing about the game. I much preferred the puzzles that made you research to the mouse-games. You really get the feeling like you are hunting this criminal yourself. During the three days we played it, my wife and I found ourselves scouring over web pages about medieval and reniassance esoteric symbolism together, developing our own theories about what the Phoenix was up to. It was very, very cool.

I have a few recommendations. First, create an email address dedicated to this game. You will often have to go back through emails to look for information, and this just makes it easier. Check your email often while playing the game; I'd recommend checking it every time you start a new puzzle. Some puzzles cannot be solved without clues provided by your team members. If for whatever reason you plan to use a laptop, make sure you have a regular mouse. Some of the games involving the mouse were extremely difficult on my laptop touch pad. My next recommendation for playing the game is simple: research research research. Every time you get a new reference to a person, event, or a phrase that seems meaningful, whether it is from the Phoenix, from the videos, or from your email, do a search on Google. Every time. If you do this, the puzzles will in many cases be easy to solve since you will have recognized the name or place from your prior research. One other recommendation is if you get stuck on a puzzle, go to another one. Very often in this game the clue you get after solving one puzzle will give you the breakthrough you need to solve the one you were stuck on. Finally - take notes. Lots of notes. You don't really need to take notes during the video clues - you can replay those at any time. However, take notes during your research and SAVE all the links you find helpful. You will often have to return to the same websites for different puzzles. Make sure you take notes of the text messages that appear from the Phoenix. You can't get those back once they are off your screen, and some are very important.

Some of the puzzles (especially those involving moving things around with your mouse just so) can be very, very annoying. That's why I took my rating down a notch. More than once I found myself cursing about how silly it was that a serial killer would hinge his devious plans on whether or not I was very adept with a mousepad. I was also a little disappointed in the ending. Yes, they left room for a sequal, but even so, the end still left you sitting there looking at your screen like "Oh. Well, I guess the game's over then". You do get some follow up emails, but that's about it. I wish the end had been better. My final complaint was that often when doing web searches for clues in the game, my results included several "walkthrough" sites that give you all the answers. If you don't want to risk accidentally clicking on one of these and spoiling the game, or you'd just like to eliminate the temptation, I'd recommend tacking on a "-walkthrough" to the end of all your searches.

Overall I'd rate this game as follows: Premise: A+, Plot: A+, Acting: A, Gameplay: A+ for the mystery puzzles, D for the mouse games, Ending: C-. If you happen to be a fan of both Myst and The DaVinci code, however, this game was made for you.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'll play the sequel, August 14, 2004

By 

V. Holliday (Baton Rouge, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Missing (CD-ROM)

Missing: Since January is a cleverly conceived game. The designer, Lexis Numerique, has figured out a way to immerse players with story, in a way that other adventure games simply do not. The conceit is that the abducted couple's employer, SKL Network, has widely dispersed a CD-ROM from the abductor in an effort to hasten their return. Gameplay begins, then, when you insert the CD into your drive. It's up to you, of course, whether you will submit to this narrative device-but for its part, the game makes it very easy to do so. The CD itself is nested inside the story. Missing nests its full motion video within the story as well. Using video in an adventure game is a dicey matter. But here, the video is itself being provided to you, the player, by the killer himself. The video of Jack and Karen is multiply coded: it starts out as their documentary record of an investigation, the audience of which they think will be ordinary viewers back home. The video then passes to the hands of the killer who then presents it to you as a way of teasing you. Because of the killer's presence, the video takes on an eerie quality that would simply be lost without this multiple embedding. At the same time, Jack and Karen's documentary presentation, as they intended it to be, is oddly comforting.

About a month or so before Missing was released, The Adventure Company sent out an email (to folks signed up to receive them) that was in truth a promotion for the game, but presented itself as an announcement of the couple's abduction. The Adventure Company was attempting, in other words, to begin the immersion early, as a way of drumming up excitement and interest in the game. The subject line was "Missing," and the text of the email described Jack Lorski and Karen Gijman's capture, as well as asking for people's help. I don't know if the email garnered interest-I myself was vaguely impressed-but I do know that about 3 days later I got another email from The Adventure Company apologizing for the confusion and explaining clearly that the previous email was merely a promotion for the new game. Interest or not, more than just a few people apparently believed the email was real. This unfortunate incident is a testament to the game's immersive quality.

As many adventure gamers know, acting can absolutely make or break a game. In most adventure games, voice acting is the only component, but in Missing acting is especially critical, because you both see and hear the abducted couple. I suppose I have played enough games where even the voice acting was virtually intolerable; consequently, I imagine I have low expectations. But I am suitably impressed with the acting in Missing, whereas many reviewers have remarked that the acting is mostly just adequate if at moments hokey. What few reviewers have failed to mention is the back story of Jack and Karen's evolving love affair. What may appear hokey is in fact an attempt to develop the emotionality of this storyline. I for one liked it, and I did not feel that it was overdone. And the actors do a fine job of playing to the camera. After all, at any given time, the camera is looking at the person for whom the camera operator is growing to care. This camera work, with one notable exception (Karen and Jack appear together in one scene, so who is shooting the film?), is expertly conceived and directed. Actress Caroline Charléty establishes her relationship to the camera (which is in effect Jack's eye, always looking at her) very well. Actor Olivier Chenevat is a serious, focused Jack Lorski, and while he smiles only once through the whole game, I found his Jack to be remarkably sympathetic. When Karen (the camera) looks at him, he is quietly self-conscious. I enjoyed the romantic development; it gave depth to the embedded terror inherent in the killer's presentation of the video and consequently raised the tension a notch. If you like complicated stories in your games, Missing will work for you.

However, if you like consistently meaningful and well conceived puzzles, you may be a little disappointed. Other reviewers have rightly and adequately pointed to the problems with the puzzles in this game. The game pays homage to Pac Man and Space Invaders, and while I was alive and old enough to play both those games to death when they first came out, I didn't think much of their presentation here. The Space Invaders game is so annoying and meaninglessly difficult that I had a notion to send somebody an ugly email at The Adventure Company. The idea, it seems, with these puzzles is that they are generated by the mind of a psychotic, sinister, sadistic killer, and so the more tedious and meaningless they can at times be the better. This device just doesn't work. If you're a purist-you don't do walkthroughs-you will, even if you are an adroit puzzle solver, pixel hunter, and mouse maneuverer, be incredibly aggravated. I for one am not too proud to seek answers in such a cowardly way, and consequently I saved myself an enormous amount of frustration.

I just finished the game a short while ago, and as I write I am still receiving emails about the story development. No doubt, Missing invites a sequel, and I am fine with that. In spite of the astonishingly annoying puzzles and the admittedly anemic ending, I am completely occupied with the multiple storylines in this game. Very little narrative tension is resolved here, but that in itself is interesting and engaging. What works so amazingly well are the lessons learned from the reality and documentary genres. If the interactive element at times fails, and it does, the story nonetheless retains its integrity. I give Missing 4 stars for its creative concept, film/video production values, and its remarkable narrative. I can give it no more than 4 stars for its at times silly puzzles and unnecessary and ill-placed frustrations.