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Crummy game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: January 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's one thing to have timed puzzles, it's another thing to have entire sequences timed. The thing I like about adventure games is being able to explore locations and items in a deliberate manner. I don't want to have to race around clicking on every item or using all my inventory items randomly in hopes that I can get a sequence done before time runs out and Holmes is killed off. The game doesn't even let you know how much time you're being alloted to finish before time runs out. Add all that to the poor graphics and lousy interface.

Mystery of the Purchase

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: March 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This may be an interesting game, but the screens are so dark that detail is impossible to see. I have run this on 2 XP machines, one with a flat-panel display and one with a CRT. Both screens are much too dark at even the correspponding maximum brightness settings. That, coupled with a very hyperactive mouse speed [also not controllable] render the game virtually [really] unplayable. I recommend "SAVE YOUR MONEY!"

Awful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: May 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game was terrible - really bad. The graphics were decent and the puzzles had interesting concepts behind them, but the way that you had to solve them made no sense. There were many objects that you had to find to proceed in the game that you literally could not see; the only way to find them was to run the cursor along every square inch of every screen in the area and look to see if the cursor changed to pick-up mode in order to find what you need. This game was much more frustrating than fun... a big disappointment.

Wonderful Potential - Terrible Reality

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: September 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

As a lover of the classic, inventory-based adventure games (such as the King's Quest series), I jumped at MotM, simply for its puzzle-based qualities. 99% of the games on the shelves these days are fighting, racing, or war strategy-based games, and I hoped MotM would be a return to the old days. However, I found that it definitely lacked in originality and plot, and dismally failed in ease of play and interface. Namely, I felt I completely wasted my money.

PLOT:
Without giving anything anyway (for those of you who may still want to buy it), the plot is driven primarily by Sherlock Holmes finding letters, photos, and newspaper clippings. The mystery is solved at the end with Sherlock giving a lengthy monologue in which all the pieces come together. However, the solution is contrived at best, and feels very disconnected from the game play.

INTERFACE:
This aspect is definitely where the game really fails. I can handle a mediocre plot and flat characters for the love of some tasty puzzles, but it's a bit difficult when you feel frustrated enough to toss your monitor out the window. Here's why:
1) The inventory items are IMPOSSIBLE to find! Not all grant you, but you basically have to run your cursor over every inch of your 360-degree view in EVERY SINGLE SCREEN. Even then, I often missed things.
2)The neutral cursor is a hand with a Holmes-like pipe, which changes to a pointer hand if you can move forward, or if there is something of interest, OR if there is a puzzle. The hand changes to a grabbing hand to pick up an inventory item, which is only marginally different from the pointer (i.e. you move when you think you are about to pick up something). Furthermore, game play is picky and difficult to get it the correct cursor to cooperate.
3) There is no way to put an item back into the inventory, making it very time-consuming to experiment with different items.
4) Puzzles are poorly designed - even if you figure out the solution, the hassle of entering the answer negates the fun completely. Examples: a text-based puzzle in which you click on a letter, click on the square, click on the letter, click on the square, etc.

All-in-all, disappointing and a waste of money.

Very disappointed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: April 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Dreamcatcher usually puts out very cool games, but this one looks like it was made in 1992 (and that's being nice). The graphics were poor compared to other adventure games, and a lot of the puzzles had nothing to do with the game. I could not tackle a puzzle sometimes because the clues had really nothing to do with the game, so it was hard to know what to look for. And one puzzle near the end required the player to LITERALLY find a pin in a completely destroyed room (like a needle in a haystack!). There was NO WAY of being able to see this piece, let alone find it, unless you carefully followed the directions of a walkthrough. I think they could have done better. Thank goodness I sold it and got some money back....

Dont buy this game!![.]

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: April 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When i bought this game, i ignored the reviews, thinking that it would turn out to be a good game. I was horribly wrong. This was one of the worst games ever made.
For example, about 5 minuites into the game, you have to solve a puzzle before you can do anything else. I dont like puzzles a lot. Well, this game was full of them. Half of the things you were required to do turned out to have no point later in the game. To make my day of gaming even worse, I have come across 2 slider puzzles in the game so far, and i havent finished it yet. {im not anywhere near to finsihing it yet.}
The cursor in the game is very confusing. I just kept clicking around the screen because i didnt understand any of the cursor symbuls. I have counted throughtout my half gaming experience, and noticed the cursor changes 6 times!

If you are going to buy this game, get a walkthrough first, because i couldnt do half the stuff on my own without one.

Don't bother

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid adventure gamer--this one stinks. I got very tired of hunting for clues pixel by pixel for tools needed, trying to solve puzzles with no clear clues, and the puzzles are mindless. Save you money and go play Grim Fandago again.

Turn Back Now, Before It's Too Late!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game was not fun at all. It was so complicated that I could not finish it without using on-line help. Clues were not given at all. And many solutions were illogical and didn't follow the game plot. Even an avid strategy-game player, like myself, would be unable to solve the mystery alone. The game wasn't even fun because you needed help every step of the way. Don't waste your time or money on this game. It's not worth it.

One of the dumbest games ever...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game about six months ago. I haven't finished it yet, mostly because it is so boring that I don't care to play it. I printed out a walkthrough, but they doesn't help much since there are so many sliders, and things that walkthroughs can't help with. There isn't one character to interact with during the whole game, and the music is really annoying!!!

thouroughly dissapointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

this game was horrible. often times you can't see items and there is nothing to indicate that something can be done with say a wall or a paiting unless you happen to try an object on it. You don't interact with charecters really at all. the only times you even see other charecters is once when a man comes in babbling nonesense, or at the end where the story still didn't make sense. things dissapear from your invetory and don't like to reappear. i had to start the game over three times. The puzzles are illogical and HARD. I was constantly looking for cheats. my opinion: this game is not worth two cents!

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