User Reviews (11 - 21 of 71)

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Unfinished Product?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: August 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I think I'm being generous with the 2 stars I gave this product. This game seems unfinished, as if they ran out of time and just slapped it together. The graphics are okay in some places, not great though, and NOTHING like the pictures on the box. Do not be fooled. In fact, the playing window is quite small, which makes it seem as though you're looking through binoculars - very distracting and annoying. Most of the graphics are very bad. Some of the scenes look like unfocused pictures. The shadows are just black areas with no depth. I don't know what else to say - it's bad. The voice actors add nothing to this game. They aren't really characters, they just appear briefly to provide information. To top it off, there is no ending cinematic. The game just ends with a screen that says, "Congratulations!" The puzzles are sometimes entertaining, but that's it.

Not worth the time and the money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Pass on this one. Game is buggy and conflicts with Quick Time. No help from the DreamCatcher web site and you can forget customer support. Even when the game does run, it's not very interesting and some of the places are so dark, you won't even see the puzzles. The company has a well-deserved reputation for shallow, half-baked games. Spend your money elsewhere. There are far better games on the market. Gets one star because system does not allow none.

waste of time

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I was able to get this game at a discount, and still considered it to be a waste of time and money. The graphics are awful - the things you need to see in order to understand the game aren't visible. When you save a game and restore it later, you may find that an entire world experience has been lost. I am not a greatly experienced game player, but if this was the only game I had ever tried, I wouldn't try another.

Don't buy this game. Just play Myst again. . .

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 30, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First of all, shame on Dreamcatcher for putting out a game withmajor bugs ... . Secondly, the plot is dull and too predictable. The only good thing I can say about this game is that the graphics are nice; but even that was just an annoying reminder of what a great game this could have been. The authors shouldn't have bragged that this game was five years in the making. That just made it all the more disappointing. Crystal Key is not worth the money, time or frustration. It's items like this that makes me wish Amazon had a rating level of "no stars".

I want my money back!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

We were excited to find a game like Myst and Riven. Boy did we have a rude awakening. The movement was good as you went through the game, but you couldn't go anywhere you didn't have to go. There was no investigating. The game was almost impossible to go through with out some hints. The green screens about drove us nuts and the graphics were substandard.

If you liked Myst and Riven, chances are you won't like this.

Waste of good money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The graphics were mediocre, the storyline quite lame, and the clues very frustrating. Could not advance without a game book, but am not willing to spend more money on this game.

Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought this when I was in my "Adventure" mode. Several other games earned my dollar, such as Lightbringer, Gabriel Knight 3, Kings Quest 8, etc. This one, however, was not really with the $19.95 I spent.

The visuals are beautiful. The gameplay is too linear however. You have to "do this" before you can "do that." There is no way to accomplish your goals in multiple ways. Whereas this concept was astonishing 3 years ago, it no longer appeals to the gamer.

Another gripe: WAY TOO SHORT. If Al Gore had played and beaten this game, he would have demanded a recount and a re-recount. (LOL...oh, the political humor!)

Buy this game only if you truly are a fan of mindless puzzles and rail gameplay. If you want a little more freedom in a game with a little more depth, story, character development and replay value, look elsewhere.

Profound waste of money.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

All right, so it's going to be a while before we find something equal to Myst and Riven. I can accept that. In fact, I was expecting that. However, even without those two comparisons, The Crystal Key falls flat. The graphics, while beautiful, are confusing and overdone. It seems like if they spend countless hours designing these environments, you should have more freedom to explore them. No such luck. If it's nonessential you can't go anywhere near it, and if it's essential, it's too dark to see even with my monitor's brightness turned all the way up. The puzzles have a faint logic to them, sure, but it's convoluted logic at best. I had to resort to a walkthrough site at the beginning of the second world, and for almost every puzzle after that. The recorded messages make sense only in the context of someone there to tell you what's going on. All in all, it's either too set up or not set up enough, and not worth playing even at the low price.

Boring!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The Crystal Key was over before it began! Not only were there few actual puzzles to solve, but they were boring puzzles at that. With no character interaction besides a Martian that you have to hide from, this game proved to be the biggest waste of my money.

The second-worst Myst ripoff ever!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Okay, maybe not. But it's the second-worst I've ever played, Entombed (a $3 game so awful that Amazon doesn't even have it) having worse graphics and even more nonsensical puzzles.

STORY: WEAK
Who is Ozgar? Who are the Arkonians? Why do they hate each other? Why does Ozgar hate you? Is Ozgar really Darth Vader or does he just act like it?
These questions, alas, shall go unanswered. I don't think I'm willing to buy the second game to see if there're any new revelations.

Graphics: Mediocre
Am I unique in not liking when when the resolution is better during movement cutscenes than when you're standing still? I don't think so. "Wave that picture around, I need to get a good look at it."

PUZZLES: What?
Much too simple and uninventive. What is all this stuff and what's it for? If I can figure out a code simply by trying random combinations, it's too simple.

ENDING:
You get one screenshot. It doesn't even move. That's your reward for slogging through this awful game.

REPLAY VALUE: Why?
If you're really bored- and I mean REALLY bored - maybe you might see how fast you can run through it or something. But only if your friends are all sick, your internet connection is down and you've played all the Minesweeper you can stand.

VERDICT: STAY AWAY. STAY FAR AWAY. Play Myst. It's better.

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