Customer Reviews

The Da Vinci Code

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

The majority of this game involves solving word puzzles of every variety so take the advertisments telling you it's an "Action"/Adventure title with a grain of salt. There's anagrams and actual cryptography, as well as tile puzzles and research puzzles. If you don't like to read and you hate learning, you probably won't like this game. If you're a hardcore Christian who believe every word of the bible must be true word for word, you're going to be upset by some of the very subversive stuff you'll find in this game.

For you puzzle lovers. This is your game. Even the combat is a form of twitch puzzle gaming, where you have to hit the buttons in the right sequence to defeat your opponent. I'm not the greatest at the combat, but it does have a very cinematic feel to it in the way they handle the camera and as long as your reflexes are fairly quick, it won't stop you from progressing. In most cases you can avoid combat by using stealth and hiding in shadows. If you're particularly sneaky, you can even knock out the guards without them having a chance to attack (sneak behind them and back attack). That's actually pretty fun.

The artistry is simply amazing. If you've never been to Westminster Abbey or St.Sulpice, this is probably the closest you'll ever get without actually going there. The renditions of the locations are nothing less than superb.

If you're a big fan of literature and history, you'll also enjoy this game. It's filled with small paragraphs about everything from the Canterbury Tales to the lost books of the bible (all located in your Visual Database). Of course, you have to earn that information by solving puzzles, avoiding combat and occasionally defeating opponents.

I bought this game and tried to install on my Dell notebook (which I play many full-graphic games with) but I couldn't even play. While the first mission's loading, the game shut down and I've got the message...

EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION
(Slayer) Exception address e86aa20
[5, Map_PostInit, 0xFFFFFFFF]
IMAGE HELP STACK:
ITriggerVisualDatabase::GetSingleton+9930
MAP FILE STALKWALK:

...I uninstalled and reinstalled but the same message kept coming. I tried to install on my desktop and still the same. I thought maybe it's the error of the DVD so I went back to the shop and claim to get a new one. After I tried installing, always the same problem so I gave up and claim my money back from the shop. However, I wrote to the support to ask about the problem, no reply. Now I think I won't buy this game anymore, it doesn't worth my time and money, just got me mad. I hope the others won't be unlucky like I was.

I have to add my voice to all of those who say that I couldn't install this game on either one of my "new in 2006" Windows XP Computers. What a joke! I was really looking forward to playing a good puzzle/adventure game. I called the tech support guys and was told "too bad... it's your problem." The stores won't take back opened software, so I'm stuck with a useless brand new game. If you're looking for a fun game that will run on a newer but not "latest video card" computer, try "Barrow Hill." It was just spooky enough, with lots of things to solve.

Be careful to check the system requirements before you waste your money. I have a fairly new computer and this software will not even install. The NVidia GeForce 3 and 4 cards are not supported. The company tech support said "too bad".

..so I don't know how duplicative the puzzles in this game are to the story. Superb graphics and a smooth 3-d environment. Storyline is intriguing and atmosphere is visually immersive. Game suffers from a retarded save-game interface: only a few select "checkpoints" per mission are offered at which you can save your game, meaning that if you die (or if the game crashes, which it occasionally does) you can only restore your game to the nearest "checkpoint" and must stupidly repeat ALL puzzle solutions again (tedious and time-consuming since you've already solved them) before reaching your previous point. This is frustratingly retarded. The designers should have considered this and coded a save-game design that lets players save their game (position, inventory, etc) at ANY point (trust me, I'm not a programmer but this CAN'T be hard in this day and age). The check-point rationale makes no sense for a game like this.
Pros, this game is captivating and has me addicted despite its flaws (which include occasional crashes). I thought the fighting interface was retarded too until I figured out how it works (you click your mouse in a specified sequence to successfully attack/defend your opponent). I haven't read the book, but the game certainly presents some illuminating/controversial revelations of biblical history. I read the Gnostic Gospels in college so much of this info isn't new. Another flaw: from the beginning, one can identify holes in the game's logic. A body murdered, discovered in a pose mimicking christ's crucifixion with text scribbled in blood on the floor next to him. The characters immediately presume the DYING VICTIM did this himself (I'm hardly a criminologist, but am I the only one who recognizes the "duh" aspect in this?). Also, the issue regarding The Last Supper painting arises in the game, at which point the girl retardedly declares the character John the Baptist is a girl just because of his feminine features. Another "duh" aspect -- have you seen Da Vinci's last painting? Hint: it's titled John the Baptist. Google it and view it. Male portraits that emphasize effeminite qualities were pop culture of the day. Check out how Da Vinci depicts John the Baptist in his last painting, John the Baptist. I am about midway through the game. One other thing: some puzzles require finding obscure little "hot spots" amidst a huge 3-d environment: tedious. All in all, this game is intriguing but frustrating (in a non-intellectual way).

I was unable to play this game because it required a special sound card which I did not have and was unwilling to purchase (cost $50-$100). I found this peculiar since no other game that I've purchased in the last 10 years has required this sound card. Why create a game that requires some obscure kind of hardware??

I agree with the other reviewers. I have spent all afternoon trying to get this game installed and running and all I get is error codes. I am so mad!!! Do not waste your money!!!

OK, I bought this game with great anticipation because I love the concept and I love the genre. Wow, what a huge disappointment when my 1 year old computer couldn't play it due to graphics card issues - it doesn't run on GeForce 4 cards. Not to be beaten, I tried to upgrade my graphics card for another $100. Did you know that you can't upgrade Dell graphics cards? Well, I couldn't. So I waited six months and finally broke down and bought a brand new computer with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card. Well, it's still no good. Now the graphics card is too fast! I tried adjusting it to slow it down, but the sound skips and the graphics are jumpy and the game is completely unplayable. Huge disappointment. These guys are on my list of games to avoid.

Horrible gameplay with ridiculous "fights" meant to resemble some kind of combo-keypad moves like Mortal Kombat? Fine! If it would work and not be such a distraction from the what should be the real challenges of the game, the puzzles...which were mediocre and buggy. =O(

I have a fairly new Dell computer bulit with gaming in mind, I have many other games that run flawlessly. This game gives me an error of Slayer Exception address 456c410, as yet I have not received any help from the support group, I will update this if I get it to run.