Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A-Haunting We Will Go ..., May 26, 2000
Trapped in the haunted mansion of the mad toymaker, Stauf, with no memory of your past, you must seek out your past ... your purpose ... the fate of the six murdered guests, long ago ... and the seventh guest. To begin with, this is *not* an action title. With this game, you can give your flying fingers a rest. Everything's connected with puzzles, and there are no time limits (though you may wish there were when you hit your twentieth dead end in the Maze and hear Stauf say, "Feeling ... lonely ... ?" again ... ). Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. A profusion and plethora of puzzles in prodigious plentitude. Switch puzzles, slider puzzles, card and coin puzzles ... even the old game of Jump-Away. (Played with knives on a pentagram, mind you ... )And with each puzzle solved (the game can even solve them for you) you learn a little more about what happened on that long-ago night. The puzzles range from, "Okay, this is tricky", to "HELP! ". But with all the walkthroughs out here on the 'Net, plus the hint book in the library, you'll muddle through eventually. Graphics: This game is beautiful. The knives, the cards, the house itself ... everything is in fully-rendered 3-D, with remarkable shading and texture. Mind you, this takes some computer time ... the Minimum Requirements list a Pentium 133MHz. My P100 made it, but the MIDI tended to stall sometimes. Sound: Speaking of MIDI, this game is loaded with it. Eerie, haunting refrains accompany most of your actions, while screams, moans, and eerie footsteps whisper in your ears. I've worked in a professional haunted house ... these guys are GOOD. That said, the voice acting is a hash. Most of the actors are almost laughably bad, playing a gam-ut of emotions that result in an almost campy atmosphere. Note I said "almost". Stauf has the biggest part in the game, and he knows how to work it. The actor really leans on it, but the character is a dyed-in-the-wool villain anyway ... he can take it. The children, on the other hand ... <shudder>. You'll have to hear it for yourself. It's chilling. On the whole, a solid game, with few flaws.
|
|
|
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great when it was released, but now..., August 1, 2000
When The 7th Guest was first released in 1993, it was pretty much just a CD-ROM showcase: "Look what I can do." Further technological advancements, though, haven't proven kind to The 7th Guest, but the game remains as good now as it ever was. It's mostly an series of puzzles and brain teasers with only the barest thread of a story (and not always a clear, sensible one, at that) to connect them. Some of the puzzles, however, are pretty good, and the game has a wonderful, creepy style that infects every puzzle with an energy that definitely sets The 7th Guest apart from most other puzzle games. If you know what you're getting yourself into, there's no reason you can't enjoy The 7th Guest today.
|
|
|
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A creepy classic, May 25, 2000
I really liked this game, it had just the right mixture of subtle creepiness and intrigue to keep me interested. As it's an older game the graphics might not look impressive by today's standards, but the store more than makes up for it.The premise is that Stauf, a former criminal turned rich toymaker has invited people to his mansion and offered whomever can solve his puzzles whatever they desire. It's hinted to you that none of the guests were ever seen from again so not only do you have the mystery of the mansion itself to solve but you also have the mystery of finding out what happened to everybody to figure out as well. The interface is clean and easy to use. You wander around in a very Myst-like first person perspective and your cursor changes whenever you wave it over something you can look closer at, a movie you can watch, or a puzzle to solve... it's nice to have this little detail instead of clicking madly on the screen trying to find the 'magic pixel' that will take you further into the game. The music by The Fat Man is also very well done (In fact you can buy the soundtrack right here on Amazon!)and adds a lot to the game. Overall it has just the right mixture of intrigue as you watch Stauf set the guests against each other and play his little psychological games, and puzzles as you progress your way deeper and deeper into the mansion. For the price, you get a lot. And its worth it.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
