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A nice atmospheric game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 46 / 48
Date: December 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, Amerzone is no masterpiece, but it's well worth the money! (I doesn't coast much anyway). Graphics are smooth and clear, and the interface is easy to use. Granted, this game has borrowed a lot from Riven (Myst2), but overall it makes for a nice game. Amerzone is very simple, so it's not for those who are on the lookout for mindboggling puzzles. You won't find them in Amerzone. The storyline is simple also (follow in the footsteps of an explorer, and make good his wrongdoings). I liked it, but I could imagine that Myst-players miss the deeper layers. The atmosphere of the games, to wich the sounds contribute a lot, is great. From misty France to tropical Amerzone, it's quite beautiful and enjoyable. It has plenty of humour too, wich is lacking in some other adventuregames. The game is very short though, even with four cd's, you could play it in a day or less. But if you're tired of rewandering the difficult routes as in Riven and Exile, this makes for a nice, easy change. It's a good buy.

Short, easy, pretty

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 40 / 40
Date: December 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I actually enjoyed this game quite a bit and I'm not entirely sure why. It shared a number of traits that I have found quite annoying in other games, but for some unknown reason they did not annoy me here.

Except for the initial "chapter," Amerzone is very, very linear. There is only one way you can go and one thing you can do at any given time. The linearity becomes more and more pronounced as the game progresses. This is partly due to the plotline, in which you have to travel up a river, making stops along the way.

Every puzzle in the game except for one was either inventory based or a simple matter of flipping a switch. So gameplay was essentially a matter of looking around and seeing what you could pick up. Solving the puzzles was VERY easy, especially since you could simply keep trying various inventory items until one worked, but this was never really necessary. There were one or two puzzles that I solved without knowing what I did or why. I think I would have liked it if there had been just a little more information about certain things.

The first thing that struck me about Amerzone was the beauty of the graphics, particularly the watercolours in Alexandre's journal. This is a very restful game to the eyes. The human characters are very cartoony -- almost resembling Terry Gilliam animations. This is not surprising as designer Benoit S. is a French cartoonist. Weirdly, though, the cartoony-ness of the characters didn't stand out horribly as it does in some other games.

The ending is abrupt and a little lame. I think this might be a good game for a younger person who hasn't played an adventure game before and wants to see what it's all about. I personally played Amerzone at a stressful time in my life, and found it soothing; I liked looking at the pretty pictures and the puzzles were merely a way to see more pretty pictures so I was kind of glad they were easy. If you want a challenge, though, this isn't the game you want.

Mixed review:

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 38 / 39
Date: February 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm on a new game kick right now, so you might notice my page has many game reviews crunched together. I am trying to find that "just right" game. If you have a 12 yr. old, or are an adventure game "beginner" ...this game is sure to delight. It's literally a junior version of "Myst". It is riddled with beautiful graphics, rich color, and has a great mystical story line. Unfortunately, for all of us average gamers (who did solved the fantiscally frustrating Myst a while ago) this is not for us. The game's puzzles are too simple, many times, unrelated to the plot, and frankly, I just can't see it holding an advanced gamer's attention for more than an hour. It's just too easy. I give it 3 stars for a junior player, but 1 for young/average adults. Don't waste your money. Since I am "test-driving" a few others after this, please feel free to check my page here at Amazon for the others I try out (you know, for that perfect "game fit"):)

Amerzone review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 28
Date: November 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Amerzone is a time consuming, medium difficulty, point-and-click adventure. If you enjoyed the point-and-click classics, Myst and Riven, you are sure to love Amerzone. My favorite part is that you are whisked away from France to the fantasy land of Amerzone; and the graphics are even better than Myst and Riven combined. Recommended to all.

Feast for the Eyes

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: September 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you like Myst and Riven, and are waiting for a nifty treat to get you through until the next Cyan game is available, consider Amerzone. It is a gorgeous game! The plot is fun: you need to return a sacred egg to a jungle volcano, to redeem a bad deed done years before when the egg was stolen. Amerzone's puzzles are not very hard, so the game won't take long to finish. But if you like "rides" in games, you'll love the Hydrafloat! Also the game has a subtle sense of humor which is fun. But most of all, it's beautiful. And it doesn't cost much! I recommend it.

Myst in a Lost World

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: February 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The storyline: sixty years ago, three young men went adventuring through the Amerzone, each one representing an aspect of Civilization (science, religion, politics) in first contact with this primitive, romantic land. The game begins as the adventurers, now old men, look back on an experience that started with good intentions, but ended with each betraying and exploiting what once was a land of enchantment. Valembois, the scientist of the group, realizes that an artifact he removed years ago -- a giant egg -- is, miraculously, still alive. He charges you with the quest of returning to the Amerzone with the egg, thereby restoring vitality, myth, and mystery to the land.

Pros:

1. Fabulous, unusual, lifelike 3D graphics; fantastical, yet believable places to explore. The rain forest scenes contain exquisite traceries of leaf, branch and shadow.

2. In no other game has the world felt so alive with indigenous species -- the frequent flights of birds, the movement and sound of insects -- plus fascinating portrayals of unknown, exotic creatures: the Pechosaur, the Suckerer, the Porcopotamus.

3. Unlike most other computer games, the ending to Amerzone is superb: from the moment you encounter the web-footed giraffes, through a misty ascent on a delicate rope bridge where water and sky merge, through a flight over bubbling volcanoes, to the final spectacular cut-scene.

Cons:

1. The mouse responsiveness in this game was erratic. The 360-degree panning was smooth, but sometimes when I clicked on a hotspot, I had to try over and over to get the hotspot to function. At times, I felt as though I was slogging through waist-high water, upstream, against a fierce headwind. If you have a similar experience, try double-clicking on everything, which pretty much solves the problem.

2. I would have enjoyed seeing some colorful, exotic flowering plants in the rain forest scenes. Those would have provided a more spectacular contrast to the gray, wind-swept French countryside at the beginning of the game.

3. I didn't really appreciate the game's storyline until I played through it a second time. I suspect that games like Amerzone occupy the mind and senses so thoroughly with new sights, sounds, and mysteries to solve, that it is easy for subtle story nuances to go unnoticed. In a way this adds to replayability; however, if Amerzone's designers wanted the player to "get" the storyline the first time through, they needed to make it a lot more obvious.

Bottom Line: If you loved the intrigue, pace and style of Myst and/or Riven, you will have a very pleasant time with Amerzone.

Only for true adventure game beginners.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 18 / 18
Date: December 27, 1999
Author: Amazon User

While this game is visually very good and fun to play, it is as indicated quite easy. I play almost every adventure game I can get my hands on, Myst, Riven, Shivers, Amber, Lighthouse, etc., and rate this game only moderately interesting. Maybe it's because the cursor changes shapes when you place it over something important, or because you can hardly fail to find the solution to the immediate puzzle, but I rate a game on how much help I need in solving puzzles and how long the game takes to play. I expect a good adventure game to keep me stumped for weeks or even a month or two depending on the amount of time spent playing it. I received Amerzone in the mail December 24th, solved it on December 27th and needed help on only 1 puzzle and that was only because I was impatient. (I would have solved it had I only tried it a couple of more times.) Visually it's a great game, but for a real adventure game player it's only a short diversion. Beginner?...buy it...experienced?..you can do better.

AMERZONE: MYSTLIKE

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 21
Date: August 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you loved Myst - you'll love this game! It of course is not AS good as Myst 3 or Riven, but IT COMES VERY CLOSE. The graphics are pretty good although kinda see through in spots, but up close: VERY GOOD. And, it WORKS WITH XP. I was worried about that, but had NO problems at all. The journey was very good and the storyline good - the puzzles weren't too hard but they were a challenge - I was very pleased and had a good time, wish it would have lasted longer and not ended so soon. I am looking forward to more games from Microids.

An imaginative exploration of the Amerzone

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: January 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

A dying French explorer tells you to take a mysterious white egg back to its rightful tribe in the Amerzone. So begins your fascinating journey across continents and time. Amerzone is a short game, but full of unique creatures, modes of transportation and an original storyline based on Benoit Sokal's comic books. The graphics are simply gorgeous. The Amerzone journal contains pen and ink sketches of the flora and fauna of the Amerzone, watercolours of important scenes, etc. It is like an interactive gallery, but there are clues hidden in the notebook as well.

Music is scarce. Sound effects are brilliant, especially nature sounds: birdcalls, hoots and groans from unknown species of the Amerzone. Voice acting is so-so, although like Myst you do not meet many people (somewhere around four or five). There are some awkward translations from French to English.

You start your journey in the windswept, rocky, drab grey region of Brittany (the Celtic region of France). The game will whisk you away to a South American country (obviously modelled on Brazil) oppressed by a dictator. The natives have been exploited, and their white egg was stolen by the aforementioned explorer. Your mission is to return it to them. Along the way you will discover that the explorer/inventor left behind many interesting gadgets and modes of transportation. Yes, there are some flaws of logic: floppy discs in the 1920s? But this is a beautiful, unique adventure game that always feels real. You have the chance to explore a lighthouse, a sleepy Hispanic village, a native village, an abandoned airplane hangar and bar (complete with poster of Casablanca on the wall), a jungle and a volcano.

If you are a fan of Myst and exploration games, this is for you. This is a slow-paced beginners' game that is different from the rest, both in visual style and in content. Amerzone is worth the trip, believe me.

Elegantly programmed beginner's game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: November 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

(I would actually give 2-1/2 stars to this item, but it's not allowed.)

Amerzone is an adventure game from Dreamcatcher in which you must return an egg to the white birds of the imaginary country Amerzone.

Like most Dreamcatcher games, the graphics are very inspiring and eye appealing. Amerzone is a graphically beautiful, typical point-and-click, Mystlike adventure game. Much went into the programming, as it is a very stable game, with few crashes. My only complaint about the programming is that you're not allowed to skip the opening credit sequence, even after you've gone through it once. Every time you start up the game you have to see the Dreamcatcher logo/multimedia sequence.

The developers obviously took pains to make a more elegant interface, but this proved to be a double-edged sword. The inventory management system, for instance, automatically deletes items which are of no use anymore after you end a chapter in the game. When combined with a cursor that changes when you need to use an inventory item, however, the game becomes too easy. With so few items in inventory, all you had to do was experiment with each item until something happened. If the cursor said that I needed something to complete a puzzle, but I had tried all of my inventory, then obviously I had to go looking for other items in order to solve the puzzle.

There are a couple of appropriate reasons why you should get this game:

1. You really like adventure games or games with great graphics.
2. It's for someone young, probably around junior high school, or someone completely new to computers/adventure games.

Otherwise, I'd recommend a pass. Definitely don't buy if you don't like adventure games. Amerzone will not change your opinion. If you still want it, try looking around for a used or discounted copy.

Tip for those who do decide to buy: Pay close attention to the animation sequences when they come on. Many times you're not allowed a way to replay them, so you have to either go back to a saved spot or catch what they say the first time.

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