Black Mirror

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Black Mirror Description:

British nobleman, Samuel Gordon, has just returned to his homeland after a self-imposed twelve year absence. Reluctantly returning to his magnificent home, Black Mirror Manor, he is desperate to prove that the untimely death of his ancestor, William Gordon, was not just an ‘unfortunate incident’.

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #11657 in Video Games
  • Brand: Dreamcatcher
  • Model: 625904409508
  • Released on: 2003-10-17
  • ESRB Rating: Mature
  • Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP
  • Format: CD-ROM
  • Number of items: 1
  • Dimensions: .45 pounds

Features

  • PC Products
  • ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
  • Adventure

Customer Reviews:

Good, Bad, Indifferent3
In _Black Mirror_ you play Samuel Gordon, the last scion of the aristocratic Gordon family of Somewhere-in-Britain. He has returned to the family castle after an absence of twelve years to attend the funeral of his grandfather, William, dead under mysterious circumstances. As Samuel investigates William’s death he begins to uncover hidden family history. It’s up to him to find the truth and break the curse that has burdened his family for generations.

_Black Mirror_ is a mix of the good, bad, and indifferent of Adventure games. First the good: The graphics and sound are lovely, particularly the atmospheric effects. The storm sequences were so realistic that I at one point refused to let my cat out because of the weather, eventhough it was dry outside. The leaves on the trees are articulate, moths flutter around lanterns at night, water moves realistically. This was a lovely game to look at, which added to the experience.

And that’s a good thing, because the gameplay itself was part of the indifferent. There was nothing really special, no puzzle that was realy challenging or event that was a stunning twist. The story progressed about as one would expect. There were a lot of questions left unanswered and a lot of places where I hoped for more, or for something unusual, that I never got.

The puzzles were mainly a mixture of inventory, conversation and mechanical. None was particularly hard, especially since there was a great deal of repetition. I lost count of the number of keys you had to find, and at least 3 separate puzzles had the exact same solution. Sometimes there was a bit of pixel hunting involved. Also, _Black MIrror_ was fairly linear, meaning that you had to keep revisting places to see what had changed after you’d had certain conversations. Sometimes this was taken to extremes: you’d know what to do but if there was one person you hadn’t talked to about it you still couldn’t do it. There was also a lot of random waiting: people would tell you “yes, I can help you but come back later.” And I swear there was nothing you actually had to do before “later” arrived but wander around and keep asking over and over.

Which brings us to the bad. The ending of this game was truly awful, I think about the worst ending in game history. It didn’t make any sense and there were so many loose ends that didn’t get tied up that I felt like I’d missed about half the game. It was as if the game developers just got tired and quit. Or maybe they took a break meaning to come back to it later and just forgot. It put an incredibly bad taste in my mouth.

I also did not find the game as advertised as far as the psychological exloration and thrill factor. It was quite plodding at times and many things were neither as frightening nor as challenging as they could have been. Aside from some gore, this title does not merit a horror rating.

_Back Mirror_ was quite long, about 35 hours. There were a few stumpers, mostly due to pixel hunting–nothing that needed a walkthrough or hint, if you were willing to be patient. If the ending had been better, I would have considered this a great game and a good value. However, I was left very disappointed. Get this one used.

An entertaining diversion4
I’d have to say that I really enjoyed playing this game despite some flaws. The graphics are really well done even though it is raining through the entire second half of the game. It took me about four days to play this game (maybe four to six hours at a time) so you don’t feel let down that the game is too short. It’s pretty morbid with lots of dead bodies, a decapitation and a suicide. I’d have to say it’s the first time I’ve seen a character vomit (well you don’t actually SEE it) in a computer game. There are numerous locales, characters to interrogate and secret passageways to explore. Your character spends a lot of time in cemeteries and a morgue. There are also (unfortunately) plenty of situations where the main character can be killed off – SAVE OFTEN.

Here’s what I didn’t like – the dialogue is somewhat stilted. It seems to take a lot of time for the characters to say their spiel and there is quite a bit of dialogue (but nothing on the scale of the Longest Journey). Even though the graphics are really well done, the actual characters are always seen from a distance so you never see their faces. This makes them seem a little wooden. Another problem is that you sometimes have to wait around to get a character to give you information that you asked for. Your character has to wander around and return at least two or three times before the other character has the info available. This seems quite a waste of time. The other problem is that some items need to be left-clicked on and others need to be right-clicked on. There’s no rhyme or reason to this.

There are probably a dozen or so puzzles and some of them really had me going for a while. Hate to say it but there’s a slider puzzle and a maze but neither are too bad. All the puzzles are part of the storyline and not just tacked on as an afterthought. I would definitely recommend this game (after you get done playing Syberia II!)

take your antidepressant3
Now, don’t get me wrong, I liked this game because it gives you many hours of play, has pretty good graphics and terrific thunderstorms. However, it could use some comic relief.
Everybody in the main character’s family has been cursed for centuries and it is up to him to stop the curse. Insanity runs rampant in the family which leads to some gruesome events. The mood gets darker as the game progresses and the ending is, to say the least, depressing. I do recommend it, although you may want to wait for a lower price.

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