[Martin Gantefoehr]

Kirk,

I've printed this review, and put it in a cake to send to my grandma (she's in prison). She'll be proud of us.

[LauraMac]

put it in a cake to send to my grandma

What a good grandson you are! I felt a bit ashamed of my own neglectful behavior and printed a copy of the review and sent it on to my Grandma too.

She said to tell you your Grandma needs a better file, the two of them are close to getting through the back wall.

Any positive comments are well earned, Martin. You guys gotta be proud of this game!

[fov]

A very entertaining review. I really can't wait to play this.

Even as you read this review online, someone may be keeping tabs on what you read, what you write, what you download, and what you say in internet chat rooms, or even in the Adventure Gamers forum.

We're watching you....

emily

[TigerShard]

I try to fool them. I play some MoS, and then go play some WoW... and then go back to MoS, and then back to WoW.... so that way they can't track me... yeah...

I am so torn between two games right now... I'll have to try to finish MoS before WoW hits retail, so I won't have this problem

[AGA]

Just ordered MoS today. Given I'm one of those people who really enjoyed Mystery of the Druids, I'm sure I'll love this if it's as greatly improved as Kirk says it is.

[oerhört]

"The subject of this week's coverage may be the best adventure game of 2004."
Hm, it's really better than Myst IV, you say? Even though that game received 4.5/5?

The game looks very interesting, though. I hope for the nerve of The Black Mirror, without the tedium of useless puzzles.

[fov]

"The subject of this week's coverage may be the best adventure game of 2004."
Hm, it's really better than Myst IV, you say? Even though that game received 4.5/5?

Y'know, I am struggling with this right now as I try to decide how many stars to give on the L&O3 review I'm working on. Someone else wrote the reviews for the last two games and I know people are going to compare my review to those and say "Well the old game got X stars and the new one got Y, so it must be better/worse."

I think it's more helpful to look at what the stars mean than to try to compare one game to another based on the number of stars those games got, particularly when the reviews are written by two different people. Maybe Kirk wouldn't have given Myst IV as many stars... Or maybe he would have, who knows. (That's not to say that the ranking system doesn't work, just that what the stars *mean* is a common denominator, while the authors of the reviews is not.)

-emily

[Kirk]

Hello, all!

I contemplated the same issue with Evan Dickens, our wonderful Editor-in-Chief. I said that according to our previous rankings, four stars may appear too low, espcially since far less suprerior games (in my eyes) are also marked with 4s, including Faust and Atlantis II.

Yet, my review was NOT an expression of flawless gaming. And having already laid the groundwork that I do NOT give stars away like candy, I wanted to maintain my own personal expectations for games. The star system for Adventure Gamers is like a grade received in a class, subjective and in dire need of some kind of explanation in order to best understand it.

Myst IV is a game I also enjoy. However, I did not enjoy it as much as TMOS. This is made clear in my personal description of the game. Thus, since a finite scoring is obviously slightly misleading when comparing ACROSS REVIEWERS, it is best to look at my words; those best explain my perceptions.

You may also take a look at all the other games I reviewed for AG. This is my highest score, well-deserved and the only four I would have given out.

Hope this clarifies the review and scoring situation.

Thanks.

Kirk

[fov]

The star system for Adventure Gamers is like a grade received in a class, subjective and in dire need of some kind of explanation in order to best understand it.

Spoken like a true teacher.

[Stinger]

Originally Posted by oerhört

"The subject of this week's coverage may be the best adventure game of 2004."
Hm, it's really better than Myst IV, you say? Even though that game received 4.5/5?

It may be.

[Terabin]

Originally Posted by Stinger

It may be.

The tension in this thread is just unbearable!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Good work, Kirk. I'll definitely look into this title (still need to download demo - must get over this Starforce crap). Your review didn't delve into such issues as much as I was hoping they would (given your 'teasing' references), but I couldn't help thinking about how very tangible, ubiquitous, and pervasive personal intrusion via technology is today, more so than ever. Real world conspiracies, like the JFK assassination and 9/11, carry a substantial dollop of creepiness and dangling paranoia based more on what we don't know but that a mysterious 1% do.

That said, I'm wondering how far this game pushes the envelope (if at all) in addressing the issue of subterfuge, invasion, and dehumanization through political and societal manipulation, through a 'barcode' tracking system. It would be incredible for an adventure game (or any game, really, but perhaps especially an adventure) to explore this far more deeply and intelligently, and provocatively to the point where the firewall between entertainment and political reality is blurred.

[RLacey]

Nice work! As soon as I can politely start ordering games again in my post-birthday zone, I'm grabbing a copy of this. Congratulations to all of the guys at House of Tales, and I look forward to finally banishing the scarring memory of The Mystery of the Druids from my mind .

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

Your review didn't delve into such issues as much as I was hoping they would

Hello, Trep!

To be honest, the review did go into some extreme detail in my original drafts, but it was magnanimous! The review would have been huge and a trimming was needed in order to keep it appealing to the readers.

Yet, I am interactive. Anyone who wants more information, more perspective or more anything regarding my reviews can contact me. I'm a cuddly teddy bear when it comes to AG and its inquisitive companions.



Kirk

[oerhört]

Oh, I didn't mean that scores are directly comparable, I just felt puzzled about that statement, since I found Myst IV to be a remarkably high quality, feature rich and well-constructed game.

The The Moment of Silence demo definitely teases me and gives me hope for the genre, but it is more conservative in most aspects than Myst IV, applying a Syberia-esque interface, and not letting you, say, exit a screen without waiting for Wright to run off of it. At least I haven't seen it. And the animation and character models seem to be partly mediocre. Therefore, it's good to hear such competent voice work and see such nice writing, and hear such good audio.

Kirk, I really appreciate your attitude towards the scoring, but I, for one, felt that Myst IV got a very fair judgement with 4.5/5. Nevertheless, it's good to hear that the game has been critically dissected, and found to be worthy of a 4/5. I take it it's really good, then

[rio]

Very good review, congratulations. I want to get this game, I really do, but I think I may be paranoid enough as it is. Oh well, I guess a few more tin hats won't hurt me Now I just need to decide whether to import it or wait for the US version.

[Moron Lite]

Great review, Kirk. I am going to get this game about as soon as I possibly can.