[GreyFuss]

If anyone is interested, Relics: Dark Hours has released at Big Fish

Relics: Dark Hours is a point & click horror adventure with FMV, a collaboration between developers Bryan Wiegele (of the acclaimed Delaware St. John series) and Subdued Games.

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/15041/relics/index.html?channel=affiliates&identifier=afcd95e67 a66&afcode=afcd95e67a66

[zobraks]

for the info, GF!

[Monolith]

Oh cool. Thanks!

[Oscar]

This game looks pretty good. It reminds me of the Carol Reed games. Good to see more developers bringing out these kind of games.

[Luther10]

Technically, I think this is one of best looking/most advanced FMV games we've ever had. The videos are crystal clear and there are no switching between them and regular screens. Now that I got the good part out of the way, here comes the bad: I can't stand the game. I didn't like the story, didn't like the navigation, and absolutely hated the number of locked doors... Played only 30 minutes of the trial demo and decided it's not worth my time, sorry... I'm going back the the good old Book of Unwritten Tales...

[aimless]

We're joined at the hip on this one, Luther10.

[Oscar]

I'm playing the demo and can't figure out what to do after the coffee machine is broken. I've searched everywhere for the spring.

[markerr]

I waited sooo long for this one thinking it would be awesome but sadly, it's horrible. It may be just me, but I'm not a fan of the Carol Reed games..just keep spinning in circles with your face ending up against a wall. This game is like that. Just pure frustration. Such a shame...

[harald]

I wouldn't call this game horrible exactly, I even bought it after the 1-hour trial expired ($2.99). The FMV is very good, in fact it is great most of the time. I was expecting much worse acting, but I can think of only two scenes where it didn't work out. Unfortunately, they both take place near the end where things are supposed to heat up, but instead mostly come across as awkward.

The game-play is, however, very badly designed. The puzzle difficulty range from very, very easy to... well, rather easy. But the way the game is laid out, with tonnes of pixel-hunting and new hot-spots appearing out of the blue, it is still very frustrating.

About halfway through the game I basically gave up and clicked the hint button as soon as I found myself stuck. And on each and every one of those occasions, it was either a) a ridiculously tiny hot-spot that I had missed, b) a new location had opened up in an obscure place (and the door didn't even have its own hotspot before this) or c) I was supposed to return to a very specific location in the school, having no particular reason to do so. I cannot fathom what the designers were thinking - wasn't this game made by a fairly respected indie developer?

And I haven't even mentioned the layout of the school where the game takes place. It's difficult to navigate, although you can probably get used to it during the three-four hours of gameplay that you're offered. Also, there's an in-game map that you can bring up at the click of a button.

If you're like me and just love FMV, then I can cautiously recommend it. But the game doesn't really have any merit beyond the live action video sequences.

Whoa, I only meant to share some of my thoughts on the game, and end up writing a whole, if non-comprehensive, review. The last paragraph pretty much sums everything up, if you don't feel like reading everything.

[Monolith]

I guess its time for me to tackle this and see what everyone is talking about. I'm hoping I disagree.

[Oscar]

Well? What did you think Monolith?

[Monolith]

Oh yes. I had beaten it last week. Okay, I must agree that some of the spots were REALLY annoying. Plus a lot of the angles and the choice to make the field of view so small made the game quite disorienting. Besides that, I was quite happy with the premise and the acting. I would LOVE to see another game. Maybe try using 360 panoramics for general exploration and a lower focal length to grab more of the environment instead of seeing things with tunnel vision.

[Oscar]

I agree. The only parts I got stuck were where I missed a passage, and that was a lot of times. But I thought it was a competent game. I'm not sure if you can do 360 with photos, but either that or a hotkey to light up the exits.

[Monolith]

Yeah, especially one of the security gate to another hallway. Basically the hotspot was a key thingy on the far right edge near the hotspot for turning right. -_-