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Whatever happened to point and click?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 82 / 83
Date: July 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

WARNING: You cannot use your mouse (or a joystick) in this game at all. The game's navigation is strictly keyboard-driven, and it can be really awkward. If you play adventure games because you dislike action/arcade games where the emphasis is on finger dexterity, then you may want to avoid this one.

My biggest disappointment with this game was that I spent more time correcting my own navigational errors than I did solving puzzles or figuring out next steps. It was especially irritating when the scene contained many objects, like barrels or crates or lampposts, because they would stop me dead in my tracks if I was too close to them. I can't tell you how annoying it was to have to turn 90 degrees, move forward past the object, then turn again just so I could start moving in the direction I really wanted to go.

The game defaults to pressing "W" to move forward, "A" to move left, etc., but at least you can change these settings if you're not comfortable navigating with your left hand. I ended up setting mine to use the number pad, since I couldn't use the up/down/left/right cursor arrows. The cursor arrows are reserved for manipulating objects, accessing the inventory, and talking to other characters. (Not allowing your keyboard's designated movement keys actually to be used for the purpose of movement -- yet another frustrating and senseless bit of game design.)

Another aggravation was that the game had default perspectives that it would jump to after I stopped moving. It would swing around dizzyingly, in order to reset my view of the scene. What was annoying about this was that, all too often, the view was reset to a perspective that had me looking down at the back of my own character's head, blocking out everything else so I couldn't immediately see where I wanted to move next. Eventually, I sort of got the hang of it and was able to move more quickly, but it was always awkward and inefficient.

Unfortunately, the problems with the keyboard interface weren't only related to navigation. Whenever I had to interact with objects, I couldn't do it unless my body was in exactly the right spot and turned in exactly the right direction. Some of the hot spots were so sensitive that if I even twitched in the wrong direction, I was unable to interact with the object in question. For this reason, I had to use the game's search function almost continually. The search function allowed me to see all of the objects I could interact with in an area. Without it, I would have missed many objects because, even though I stopped right next to them, I still didn't manage to trigger the hot spots. The problem with using a search function, though, is that it takes away some of the challenge of the game. Much of the fun of adventure games comes from observing the scene and trying to figure out what's useful and meaningful. Using the search function pretty much hand-feeds you the clues.

As far as game play was concerned, there were only a few puzzles and they were pretty simple. More emphasis was placed on figuring out where to go, whom to talk to, and how to use the inventory. The conversations with other characters were usually short and relevant, and when I did have to speak to someone again, it wasn't too bad, because there was an interactive map that allowed me to jump between locations quickly. The graphics weren't impressive -- not even close to games like Syberia, Aura, Longest Journey, Still Life, etc. -- and the music would swell into a clashing, horror-movie score at the oddest, most inappropriate times. The story itself was engaging enough...an 18th-century murder mystery with supernatural elements (ghosts, witches, demons) and a bit of alchemy thrown in. Near the end, the game was affected by the choices I made (e.g., the game continued for a much longer time depending on whom I declared to be the murderer). It was very easy to die in this game, and there was no recovery, so it was necessary to save often. Also, the ending was heavily affected by how the final puzzle pieces were placed.

A final comment regarding the game's difficulty: One thing that surprised me was how much hand-holding there was. For example, I would go into a new area, look around, find some clues or useful objects, and then decide to go elsewhere. But when I tried to leave by the same door/path, my character would say to himself, "I should stay here and investigate more...perhaps I missed something." The door wouldn't open again until I had seen all possible clues in that area. Frankly, I thought this made the game too easy. However, you might appreciate it if you generally find adventure games too difficult or if you rely heavily on walkthroughs.

Controls

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: July 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love adventure games and when I saw this game I had to have it!! There are few adventure games out there and you look forward to any new releases,but this game disappointed me. The overall game play was fine but the keyboard controls ruined this game for me. I have been unable to finish it because of this reason. I have spent more time trying to move my character around then actual game play. You try so hard to maneuver correctly that you lose out on the joy of playing! The set up for the key control does not even make sense. The camera angles that are used do not help either. Why they chose keyboard controls I will never know. If they could fix that the game would be great. So if you are use to a mouse this game is not for you.

They need to play test this one a bit

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Got this for Christmas....even then I think I paid too much. The graphics are very nice and the music fits the game very well as do the incidental sounds. Thta's about all that is good in this one.

The keyboard controls are okay. You can set them to your own settings if you want, but no mouse control in this one. People in Russia must not use mice. Being an older gamer, I still remember games like this, and I just set the controls to my Doom settings and it was no problem. Others not familiar with this type of movement will take a little while to get used to it, but it isnt that bad.

The real problem with the movement is the camera angles. There are many places in the game where the perspective given makes it almost impossible to find what you are looking for. Sometimes you can move the character around and get a better perspective and sometimes you can't. This gets very annoying.

There are also the usual problems where I found myself walking on the bottom of the ocean, and walking down a hallway and suddenly finding myself on a lower of higher floor. This is pretty normal for computer games, but there seem to be a lot of these.

The game play also has some problems. The team that wrote the game are Russian, and i am guessing they had a couple problems with the translation. One puzzle tells you to make a table "stronger" when in fact you really just want to make it "heavier". The solution to the final puzzle also makes no sense. If you do what the clues tell you to do, you do not get the right answer. Maybe I missed something there, but following the clues in this game usually leads to a desired result, but not in this case.

Overall, the game is relatively easy to understand and follow along with. There were only 3 places in the game where I was left with no idea what to do to solve a puzzle. The graphics are beautiful. The sound is nice. But, it is all the intangibles that make this one a mess. No mouse control. Terrible camera angles combined with awkward keyboard controls. Sloppy programming where clues do not fit puzzles and verbal clues are just misleading.

Great Game Once You Learn the Controls...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I must admit that when I first began playing "Dead Reefs" I was really frustrated with the set-up of the controls, as I am used to the general "point & click" type game & this is definitely not that! However once I re-set the controls to something a bit easier for me to remember & spent time getting used to them, I became instantly engrossed in the story line and had a great time solving the mystery of Dead Reefs.

In this game you play Sir Amadey Finvinero, an investigator who was sent to Dead Reefs to determine the true cause of death for the Baron's son - was it really an accident or was it murder? And if this young man was murdered, who was behind it and why? Could it be related to the curse - a curse the locals believe was put on Dead Reefs due to its' past, when pirates would lure passing ships onto the reefs and loot their cargo as the ships & their inhabitants would sink to their deaths?

In order to solve this mystery you'll find yourself exploring mansions, underground passageways, crypts, grave-yards, old ships and more.

Overall, I thought the story-line & graphics were great and, other than the frustration with the controls, I found this to be a really fun and engrossing game to play. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery/adventure games - once you get used to the controls, it is definitely a worthwhile game to play.

dead reefs review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: July 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Dead Reefs takes you back to the early 19th century and you are involved in mystery piracy and intrigue, the story starts with you arriving on a island for the govener to investigate a death, here the people believe in a curse set on them by a monk whoms ship they lured into a trap and crashed it on the rocks and sacked it,

this is where the story gets interesting, see the island used to be home to pirates, ( or is it still???)

certinly though you do not believe in Ghost and curses do you, well in dead reefs all that is about to change and all you believe in is about to change,

turn the lights down low and enjoy a true ghost story and the mystery of a life time and in the end be prepaired for you are about to meet the curse in person, ( can you handle it,)
not recommended for the week at heart

sundance58

Dead Reefs

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: September 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Although it appeared to be rather frightening, it really isn't. The characters are very stilted and it's slow moving.

Okay... I liked it.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: August 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I rather enjoyed this game. Personally, I am rather partial to ghosts and pirates and so I guess this game was made for me. While it could be more challenging puzzlewise, the story is more engaging than that of the typical adventure game and actually caused me to play through the night despite the fact that I had to go to work the next morning! The plot must have been based in part on Jamaica Inn, and indeed, the entire game had that Daphne Damaurier feel to it. The graphics are beautiful, especially enjoyable if you like atmospheric navigational themes.

I did think that the controls were a bit awkward. The first thing that I did was to reassign the keyboard. I used to arrow keys to define movement (with the down arrow set to cause the character to move 180 degrees clockwise) and the "end" key used to toggle between running and walking. I then assigned the other functions to the keypad, e.g. 4= look, 8= speak, 6= use, 2= inventory, 5= search, 7= map, 9= documents, 1= journal, 0= interact with puzzle. I found that this arrangement worked far better than the defaults and was also easier to remember. Using this configuration, I quickly got used to the movement of the character.

I also caution game buyers to check their systems before purchasing this game. My computer met only the minimum requirments. While my gforce chip is obsolete, I do not think that this posed a problem. However, I do believe that 512 mgs of memory was perhaps too slow to use the software effectively. While the game ran fine when it was booted up and had no glitches or slowness, I could only boot up the game by reinstalling the software (the saved games were maintained). No big deal if you play it through, but a bit of a problem otherwise.

Great Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed this game. Once I figured out how to play it. I didn't have a problem with the graphics or anything else. If you like being a detective then this is the game for you.

Too painful to play, Big disappointment.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The programming on this game is SO bad that I couldn't even continue playing it. As others have said, the navigation was terrible. I also don't like being killed and having to start all over again. The music was very oddly placed and annoying. The graphics were pretty basic and the characters say the same lines over and over. Too many problems. I can't believe The Adventure Company bought this one. The authors must have used some canned game engine and it shows. They should try to fix it, and then re-release it. Too bad, I was waiting for this with great anticipation.

Huge Disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is poorly made. I love most adventure puzzle games, but not this one. I agree with the other reviewers who say this was a big disappointment. The people who developed this game have not heard of something called a mouse. The game is 1st person 3D, but you have to move with the keyboard--and not even with the arrow keys, with A, S, D and W. Trying to move through the scenes was an exercise in frustration--I was constantly running around in circles, bumping into walls, and sometimes ending up in random places as if I fell through the floor. According to a walk-through I consulted, I had made it about half-way through the game before I gave up and decided to move on to something less painful. Another thing is that the graphics demands for such a simplistic game are insane. Unless you have a fairly new computer, you will have problems with the graphics in this game. I have a 128MB video card, and while the game was playable, the graphics were constantly freaking out and the panning was unbearably sluggish. It's really too bad because I think I would have enjoyed finishing the story, but I simply cannot stand to subject myself to this poorly-constructed game.

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