god of destiny Moderator
Number of posts : 2133 Age : 32 Job/hobbies : sending souls to hell Favorite word : Go to Hell Awards : Currenty playing : Dirge of Cerberus Registration date : 2007-12-15
| Subject: The Experiment Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:49 am | |
| Metachronos overall score = 7.7 / 10 Positive - Surprisely good - Brilliantly realized surreal setting - Unique control system immerses you in the strange gameworld - Innovative design that emphasizes natural situations instead of staged puzzles Negative - Poor translation and techinal issues Since being stuck in a strange place with no idea who you are is such an ancient gaming cliché that it should be drawing social security, it's tough to warm up to The Experiment (also known as Experience 112). But developer Lexis Numerique manages to put together such a unique take on the "Who am I?" story gimmick that this tale feels awfully original. A secondhand control system that essentially breaks the fourth wall, an innovative interface, and loads of spooky scenery and sound land you in an alternate reality that is as strange as it is believable. The biggest difference between The Experiment and more conventional adventure games is the perspective. Instead of controlling an alter ego as in the usual point-and-click puzzler, here you pretty much play as yourself. You play the role of an anonymous person locked in the operations room of a ruined ship grounded on a tropical beach. Aside from the ability to control cameras mounted throughout the vessel's interior, you have no ability to communicate with anyone to determine who you are, how you wound up in this place, or how you can escape. A few design problems interfere with this illusion. The biggest is an awkward translation from the original French. Some of Lea's instructions are odd and can lead you in the wrong direction, especially when you're trying to find the location of a particular code and aren't sure if you should be looking around with cameras or reading through computer documents. Controls are generally quite good, although the frustration factor can be high at times. Some puzzles have you manipulating finicky robot vehicles through tight quarters, and it's a bit jarring to have to take over manually when you've been directing the action from a distance all along. The pace is a little too slow. Lea strolls through the ship pretty leisurely, taking a few seconds to respond to every light cue. She also sometimes takes a little too long to say something after reaching a quest location. If you're not extra-patient in these situations and careful to pull up a camera angle showing exactly what she's doing, you might wrongly assume that there isn't anything of importance in the vicinity and lead her elsewhere. The visuals and sound effects are a little rough and ready. The graphics are dated, with blocky character models and dark backdrops that are sometimes too gloomy to make out much detail. This can be frustrating when you get stuck, because the murky settings, the limited turning radius of each camera, and the general lack of control inherent in a game where you're directing somebody else's actions all combine to make it seem like you're playing the game with one eye covered and an arm in a sling. Regular hitches in the frame rate are also annoying. The sound effects are sparse and of about the same old-time quality as the scenery. The voice acting is subpar to the point of being irritating, since the actress voicing Lea speaks with all of the emotional gravitas of an operator transferring you to customer service. The music, however, works on a lot of levels. Most of the soundtrack kind of sneaks into your ears, creeping you out with something of an X-Files vibe before you fully realize the effect that the tunes are having. While The Experiment isn't the sort of adventure that everyone will be able to appreciate, its hands-off design gives it an understated, intellectual realism. If nothing else, it offers a great change of pace from more conventional adventure games. Sorry didn't find one pictures | |
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Tymon Admin
Number of posts : 2411 Age : 30 Job/hobbies : Organizer of where people go when they enter hell Favorite word : WTF! Awards : None Currenty playing : Urban terror Registration date : 2007-12-09
| Subject: Re: The Experiment Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:13 pm | |
| sorry isn't good enough!
we wana pics! | |
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god of destiny Moderator
Number of posts : 2133 Age : 32 Job/hobbies : sending souls to hell Favorite word : Go to Hell Awards : Currenty playing : Dirge of Cerberus Registration date : 2007-12-15
| Subject: Re: The Experiment Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:10 pm | |
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Tymon Admin
Number of posts : 2411 Age : 30 Job/hobbies : Organizer of where people go when they enter hell Favorite word : WTF! Awards : None Currenty playing : Urban terror Registration date : 2007-12-09
| Subject: Re: The Experiment Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:01 am | |
| guess its not that popular | |
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god of destiny Moderator
Number of posts : 2133 Age : 32 Job/hobbies : sending souls to hell Favorite word : Go to Hell Awards : Currenty playing : Dirge of Cerberus Registration date : 2007-12-15
| Subject: Re: The Experiment Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:42 am | |
| not really, but i write the new releases | |
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Tymon Admin
Number of posts : 2411 Age : 30 Job/hobbies : Organizer of where people go when they enter hell Favorite word : WTF! Awards : None Currenty playing : Urban terror Registration date : 2007-12-09
| Subject: Re: The Experiment Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:15 am | |
| - god of destiny wrote:
- not really, but i write the new releases
oh cool! | |
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| Subject: Re: The Experiment | |
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