Murder in the Abbey

by Dreamcatcher

Product Features

• Innovative cinematic presentation through a new method of combining 2D and 3D graphics
• A faithful reproduction of a medieval abbey, its architecture, works of art, secret passageways and treasures
• Music, effects, top-quality voiceovers and over 70 minutes of orchestral soundtrack recorded by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, all in Dolby Surround Sound
• 1000 scenes in 60 locations promise 40 hours of gameplay
• Unique setting and presentation offers a fresh approach for adventure gamers

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001BFRPVK
• Item Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: August 12, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,158 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

The Abbey takes players to the gloomy world of the Middle Ages. An old abbey is the scene of a series of mysterious murders, and only one man can put a stop to the slaughter. In the role of the Grand Inquisitor Leonardo and his assistant Bruno, the player's task is to shed light on the mystery.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Abbey, September 22, 2008

By 

D. C. Petty "deepori" (Stockport, Cheshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Murder in the Abbey (CD-ROM)

The Abbey

This is a traditional point-and-click adventure set within the confines of a monastery. You play as Leonardo, delivering the king's son, Bruno, to the abbey.

Installation is long, roughly 30 minutes, and initially without indication that anything is happening. Once installed there is no requirement to have the game disk (DVD) in the drive while playing.

The game detects your video setup and sets up accordingly. Unfortunately, in my case, it chose an incorrect resolution and it took some time before I realised that the graphics were not severely dark. After correction the graphics were much lighter and this made a big difference to gameplay. The whole is in cartoon form, including the characters. Cut scenes were good.

The story is basically a who-done-it. Your object is to uncover evidence and work out who the killer is. Investigations take the form of conversations and object collection to solve puzzles. The game is fairly conversation heavy. Puzzles are mainly object based. The main character was fine, Bruno childishly annoying, other characters suitably suspicious.

Occasionally the conversation sound was absent (fortunately the subtitles worked perfectly, so nothing was missed). This could have been a fault of my system, but bear this in mind if you purchase this game and experience the same fault.

With perhaps one exception, the puzzles were fair and progress was steady. There was no pixel hunting as all usable objects were well sign posted.

Expect about 40 hours of play. Despite there being an inbuilt map to zoom around quickly, the character movement was very slow.

Voice acting was good. The lip-synch was poor but at least there was some attempt made. Ambient music was well suited to the subject and did not annoy.

Expect to visit and re-visit all the available venues as characters move around and objects become available that were previously inactive.

There are 5 chapters to play through, with the story maintaining interest throughout.
I didn't guess the killer, so the suspense carried right to the end.

The game is only loosely based on "The name of the Rose". Do not expect the same plot or characters or you will be disappointed.

Overall I enjoyed the game. It's not a stellar experience, but worth playing.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars People do not actually review based on what they experience, but rather based on what they assume., October 9, 2008

By 

Michail Chourdakis (Greece) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Murder in the Abbey (CD-ROM)

This game is good. Although it has its flaws, I am very much disappointed from the bad reviews I constantly see here.

Pros:

- Good graphics. No the game is not slow, unless you have some quite old
- Great sound. Played from the Czech Philharmonic, they enhance the games atmosphere.
- Great atmosphere. A monastery full of strange facts gives you exactly what you must get: Peace and Evil in one mix.
- The riddles are good, and although mostly inventory- or chat-based, they are easy.

Cons:

- The close up of the characters is rather weird. But you will get used to it.
- Somewhat short( but there are WAY shorter ones like Nikopol).

Resume:

You should have a nice mystery game in your library. Worth the money.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Game is ok but..., September 21, 2008

By 

Adventurer - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Murder in the Abbey (CD-ROM)

This game is ok but certainly not great. First of all, when inserting the disc, expect it to take several minutes before it starts installation. This made me wonder if something was wrong.

The story is interesting but the conversations can be very long, however, you can right-click to cut it short. Even if you like to hear all the dialogue, you will still end up not knowing where to go at times since it is not always clear. Some things didn't make any sense. Not a well written story to follow.

Be careful to check all rooms since some items will not be seen unless you move your character away from standing in front of it. Or, there might be a candle you must check thoroughly to get something from it. You will also notice when any characters speak, the voice acting is decent but will not be timed well at all. It was way off.

I completed half of the game and could not finish it. In the crypt within the Church, there is a bas relief you are to check with a parchment...the 2nd time to the crypt at night with Bruno only. One of the figures is suppose to open a secret door. It did not work. After reviewing a walkthrough, I had done everything correctly, tried a few more attempts, also from a save point (before entering the crypt), but it still would not work. Apparently there is a problem which requires a patch.

This game is not good enough to bother with especially when they don't make a working product.