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Atmospheric, mildly interesting game ruined by terrible ending.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: October 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm not really all that interested in adventure games for the PC, to be honest. I was really into them on the Commodore 64 back in the 80s, which is weird considering how much more visual and dynamic they are these days. The Black Mirror does have some gorgeous graphics and an impressively Gothic atmosphere, but it's ruined by perpetual slowness and many, many scenes of long, long conversations.

Samuel Gordon (the most arrogant man in a video-game ever) is the wayward heir to the Gordon Manor (Black Mirror Castle) who returns to his rural England roots when his grandfather is killed in suspicious circumstances. It's up to you to guide him around the Manor and village, talking to people and investigating.

Typical 'adventure' gameplay mechanics are involved in progressing through the chapters. Which is fine, but when the game makes you wait for other characters to do stuff for you, boy does it make you WAIT. I've had the game running for over 6 hours while other characters waste you're time doing stuff for you (or not doing it rather). And there's nothing else for YOU do to when this is going on. It's infuriating.

The ending to the game is profoundly weak. A lame twist I should have seen coming is capped-off with dull, whogivesadamn cut-scene and then the end credits. When I play a game for so long I expect more than that! It also leaves many questions unanswered. Who EXACTLY killed William Gordon? Where did Uncle Robert really go? What's the deal with Samuel's long-dead lover? How did the Priest not find the secret crypt halfway through the game? Why is it set in 1981?

I was impressed with the game at first but in the last third it got pretty damn tiresome and the end is no real pay-off. For serious adventure gamers ONLY.

Awful!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Based on other reviews I had at least moderate expectations for this game. I was very disappointed. The voice acting was not good. I have played games with worse (but not many). The plot was thin but acceptable. The puzzles were generally acceptable, but often required going back again and again to old places and pixel hunt for objects that had become active since the first time (or second or third...) you were there. The worst part was that the game play CRAWLED. Many times you had to just wonder around waiting for the game to decide that enough time had elapsed for a character to finish a task and allow you to interact with them again.

Some Puzzles Take Away the Fun

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I liked playing this game, until I got to some of the puzzles. I like puzzles in games, but some of the puzzles are a little too much for a couple reasons. First, the game designers assume you have certain knowledge or have books or an internet connection to look things up. I don't want to have to do research while I'm playing a game. Second, some of the puzzle start points are random so it is possible that you end up with one that isn't solvable and you have to restart from a save file. But it's hard to know if something is actually unsolvable or if you just haven't figured out how to solve it yet. It stalls the game completely and is really frustrating.

Not Up to the Usual Adventure Company Standards

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not much I can add that many others haven't said, except that if you listen to all the male voices you can tell they are all done by the same person -- and rather poorly at that. The female voices and that of the young boy were also done by all the same woman actor. They must have had a very limited budget and decided to spend it all on the graphics. The graphics, overall, were fairly nice, however I think they could have spent a little more time on the "awakening from a bad dream" sequence for Samuel. It's not very realistic when compared to the rest of the game. The puzzles were rather easy, however some of the interaction did not make sense. Samuel is dumb enough to touch a live wire and get electrocuted, but has enough smarts not to touch a pipe jetting hot steam? He blows a fuse in the old mine and has a penny in his wallet, yet instead of using the penny to replace the fuse, he has to wander all over the mine looking for another switchbox so he can get a fuse? Huh. It's an "okay" game, but I expected MUCH better from The Adventure Company based on all the other games of theirs that I have played.

played it like an interactive movie

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to like Black Mirror...the gothic atmosphere was great and the story had the potential to be world-class scary. Unfortunately, the "click on everything a few times and come back to it later" setup was so annoying that I finally resorted to playing with a walkthrough so I could just enjoy some parts of the game without the frustration of counterintuitive actions--most of the puzzles weren't terribly difficult, but the walkthrough saved me from pixel hunting and multiple fruitless conversations.

And yes, the ending is as bad as everyone else said it was.

Very dialog heavy.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I wanted to like this game, honestly I did. The graphics were nice and the mechanics of gameplay were easy to use and intuitive. I also liked that as you move through areas there are labels that come up and let you know what you're pointing at or moving towards - nice feature.

However, I was quickly put off by the repetitive "talk to everyone, something happens, talk to everyone, something happens" ad infinitum. There was a whole bunch of chatting, and much of it was pointless until you determine who you are supposed to speak to at a particular time. It would have been nice if you were actually unable to speak to people who had nothing to say to you, rather than clicking on them and waiting for them to tell you to get lost.

The voice acting was reasonable, and as I said earlier, the game looks nice, sounds good, and the puzzles seemed to be well thought out and somewhat innovative... but the game was just way too talky and drawn out for me. Too much marching around trying to figure out who has the info on your next clue or item.

Entertaining enough, but disappointing after all that work.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My daughter and I like to do these sorts of games together. We worked on it for a few days, and the game is lovely. Movement, music, interaction. But when we solved the last puzzle, questioned the last character and made it to the end, we were both sorely disappointed. What a lousy ending, in our opinion. So, in our estimation, this game is just okay.

Tedious and too wordy.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 20
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'll admit right now that I didn't finish this game and that is part of the reason I regard it so poorly. The truth is that I just wasn't interested in the characters or the story. Also I think that the game is poorly designed and one point there was no way to continue. I had to get save from further on from a cheat site. Gloomy sets, morbid characters, no jokes and no female under 60. No thanks.

Alright Now What?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 23
Date: June 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ok,so the curse has been stopped from the Gordon Family. Samuel Kills Himself, And Everyone else. Ha Ha! And everyone left seems too old to Procreate. Especially Victoria! So What was the Point ! ?
At least Samuel would have inherited that Lovely Mansion to Ease the guilt of Killing everyone off in the family. But of course he killed his wife in the fire too. So I guess they had no children. Whats the use of having a "Family Curse", If there is no FAMILY!
It was fun till the last chapter. It would have been more interesting if there was another villian other than Samuel. And if he had come out a hero in the end. Instead of cutting off the last of the Family Line in which he was trying to Preserve.
Alright Now What? I didn't Get It! LOL

Average game, gets weird

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I like adventure/puzzle games. Black Mirror begins well, though the main character is almost irritatingly droll. My biggest complaint about the game is the final sequence, it just goes completely off the wall. I finished because I was determined not to waste the money. But I kept asking myself, "Is THIS what I invested my time for??

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