User Reviews (21 - 31 of 87)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Loved that Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

When I first started the game I was amazed to witness several wierd and unusual hauntings like I saw a bloody knife floating in midair in the kitchen and it then floated up the stairs I thought it was neat how you could set up the equiment and go to different portals in time and trying to help the spirit find out hw it died I hope that I can find more games like it and I think that it is a long interesting game with good grapics and a plot that keeps you hooked for hours. I highly recomend this game to anyone who enjoys the supernatural or just plain likes computer games and mystery.:)

A Challenging Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: February 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I love ghost stories, especially those with a mystery. This game did not disappoint me in that area. The graphics are good, the story somewhat perplexing. I would've liked to know more about Brice. Margaret and Edwin's stories were tragic, but Brice's was downright creepy. The two heartstopping (the knife bobbing in the air and the spirit flying up the stairs) episodes involved him. The techno stuff, I found pretty interesting, too. Let's have a sequel, please?

Journey Beyond!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Amber: Journeys Beyond was a pretty decent game for the price, if your looking for nice graphics and a fun evening player or even a game that two can sit and figure out the puzzles together this should be your game. This game was very suspencefull in the beginning from the old house to the odd occurances and strange aperitions. I felt that as the game progressed it lost a lot of its (goosebump) stages and became more of a "figure this out to move on" kind of thing. But, as the end drew near I found myself just as the other reviews stated "wanting more" still, the game came to an end after about eight or ten hours of gameplay (depending on the player) it had a decent ending kinda like an interactive movie.

Decent graphics, easy to moderate puzzles, good storylines and a low price tag gets this game five stars. Remember its ten dollars, think of that and you wont be let down.

My 'Journey Beyond' Stunk

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I really can't believe that this game has received four stars from Amazon reviewers.I had high expectations of this game because of the many positive reviews and the cheap price. The expectations where totally deflated when I realized how small the actually screen display was while playing the game. I've never had to deal with such an annoying small display ever in my PC gaming experience. Along with the poor dialogue and story, the opening was even worse. Every time you restart the game after quitting, you are taken to the beginning screen, when you should be taken to the load/save option. I admit this is a small detail to dislike, but none the less, it is unacceptable for an adventure game.
Some puzzles were very difficult to solve. I had to replay the 1940's scene many times just to get my idiotic character to say one particular line just so I could move the radio dial to enter a room, which would enable me to finally finish the scenario in one minute.
The somewhat creepy sounds and music, and the fact that it deals with the paranormal are the only reasons why I rate this game with two stars...

Investigating a haunted house

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

System on which this was tried out: Pentium III 733 MHz, nVidia TNT 2 Pro, 128 MB RAM, Win98, with a monitor with 1024 x 768 resolution. Designed for Win95.

When AMBER: Journeys Beyond is run, it automatically runs its opening credits and start-new-game routine; if you want to reload a saved game, you'll have to invoke the menu yourself. (You can also save different states of the same game, though you really don't need to - you'll never get stuck in any unwinnable positions.)

The effect establishes the atmosphere nicely for a new game, though - the opening shot is of a friend's email message to your character, complete with modem sound effects, with voiceover to keep you from thinking the game actually *did* dial out. A mutual friend, Roxy (Dr. Roxanne Westbridge) runs a small company, Bio-Psi Technologies, that's developing a technology for 'tracking paranormal activity'. While Joe hasn't been able to say much about their 'new product line, let's just say that the latest stuff goes beyond tracking. Way beyond.' Roxy has always intended to run tests herself, and she bought an old, supposedly haunted house in the Carolinas that can double as a lab - although it's pretty isolated, has a subpar electrical system, and she only has early prototypes out there. (Nice touch; naturally, Roxy is also reviewing draft documentation for the prototypes, and keeps records of her own work, although you'll have to search for it.)

Joe's message dissolves into your viewpoint, driving through a rainy afternoon through evening to Roxy's house - only to have a 1-car accident, dumping the car into the lake in front of her house when a sparkling apparition suddenly drifts into the road. You take over and begin the game by getting to your feet on the dilapidated dock just downhill from Roxy's place.

This first person adventure's movement system is Myst-like, with the addition of an inventory. The viewpoint doesn't take up your entire screen - the inventory is visible, because as you search the property for clues to Roxy's whereabouts and what's going on, you'll have the opportunity to pick up some of Roxy's prototypes, which will give you more information. For instance, Roxy's got video surveillance through the house, tied into a system that detects paranormal activity - if you've got the right gadget, it'll basically page you when any of the cameras pick up something, and you'll see the video output on its display. You need to move around a lot, searching for clues, and this ensures that you won't miss any interesting poltergeist activity while you're in another room.

The bad electrical system at Roxy's place forms an integral part of the atmosphere and plot - it tends to blackout whenever any interesting experiments requiring a lot of power are being run, something very suggestive given that it's blacked out when you first arrive. Roxy, unfortunately, rashly ran an experiment with the AMBER prototype without waiting to install a new part that might have made the experiment safer, although any gadget that basically puts a living person's mind into a ghost's world isn't exactly 'safe' to begin with.

The player essentially has 4 scenarios to work through. First, the main problem of finding Roxy and rescuing her from an experiment gone wrong. Second through fourth, though, is that you must help the ghosts with *their* issues before you can really help Roxy - they're stuck in their own subjective little worlds because of unfinished business. They don't really realize that they're dead - they're suffering from a kind of amnesia, and when you reach each ghost, you need to locate the clues that'll help them remember what happened so they can move on. Their problems can be tackled in any order.

The present-day real world is more creepy than most of the ghosts' perspective - plenty of sound effects, but no music. (The game has music, but mostly tied up with the ghosts' apparitions and their perspective.) Imagine searching a haunted house and grounds at night, where the lights might go out at the drop of a hat, where the only sounds you hear are your own footsteps, humming electrical equipment, creaking doors, and the ghosts' activities.

There's some blood - two of the ghosts committed suicide, although they don't recognize their own dead bodies - but little gore, although their situations are tragic - the third ghost was a child who drowned in an accident. Seeing the world from their subjective points of view excuses the peculiar nature of some of the puzzles. One ghost hanged himself - you have to find out why - and he had some odd beliefs, including a superstition about bees, so from his perspective a stirred-up beehive's noises sound like words. (Another ghost, a woman who shot herself during WWII, is voice-acted by one of the co-creators of the game. Very nice atmosphere for the WWII sequences, complete with radio broadcasts, posters, rationing, and so on.)

Most of the replayability value would be in looking for details you missed in an earlier session; there aren't any random factors (combination locks never change their codes, for instance). However, the basic premise could've been used to create a whole series around Bio-Psi Technologies - plenty of material there.

NOTE: The installer allows you to pick the game's directory on disk, but not the menu into which the icons will be added. The game requires QuickTime, and comes with version 2.1.2.59, but will give you the option of not installing it if you'd prefer to experiment with another version. The jewel case includes a leaflet with troubleshooting suggestions; the only problem I've run into is that in a couple of sequences where another character is speaking, the audio got out of sync with the video.

What a surprise!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I picked this game up in the bargain bin at our local software store. What a surprise! The plot was intriguing, the graphics and scenery great, the music was wonderful. I agree the only thing wrong with it was it's length. We were sincerely depressed when it ended! This game is seriously underrated. I am amazed (for it's quality) that it is not more popular. Just enough challenge, and creepy enough to draw you in! You'll love it.

great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for 12 dollars and it was worth it. You are a ghost hunter and you go into the lives of three different spirits and help them figure out how they got to be dead. The graphics are good, the storyline is developed. The forties ghost especially was well drawn.

A great adventure game for the novice gamer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: October 26, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Amber: Journey's Beyond is exactly that, you journey to different places and times. The graphics and music are very appropriate and keep your interest. Even though the puzzles aren't too difficult even an advanced gamer will be intrigued by the story line. Some scenes are graphic but for the person who likes horror or suspense will greatly enjoy this game.

Does not work with Windows XP

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I agree, total waste of money.

Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for free years ago and am dissappointed that I cannot locate it now to revisit it. This game was REALLY good. It was very eerie and the atmosphere was great in the whole ghost-story kind of way. I agree with the reviewer who liked that the "puzzles" were integrated with the storyline. I felt like a detective trying to put the pieces together to solve a mystery unlike in Myst where it was more like codebreaking. I will admit there were a few times I was actually afraid to open a door. I played this game at night, alone and with the lights out. I definitely got the full effect that I'm sure the developers were striving for. I will say that it did end a bit too quickly - I wanted more as soon as it ended. But that may just be the mark of a great game.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next 

Actions