amuel Gordon has come home. Unfortunately, it isn't a happy reunion of friends and family. Gordon is home for his grandfather's funeral, a funeral brought about because the old man pitched himself headfirst from the upper room in his castle's tower. Or did someone else—or perhaps even something else—pitch him from that tower? And why does the castle never change, attempted repairs fall apart, and the family that calls it home seem so, well ... strange? Those are the questions that draw gamers into The Adventure Company's latest game, The Black Mirror.
It's a dark game. In the opening video, Gordon's grandfather writes his grandson about the great evil that lurks in the Black Mirror Castle as an unseen something scales the sheer walls of the castle tower. A cold wind blows open the window to the grandfather's room and the horror enters. Moments later, the camera switches to a shot of the room's window, and grandfather bursts out, falling to his death.
Gamers control Gordon's character from a third-person point of view as he searches the castle for clues to his grandfather's death and the mystery behind the creepy castle. It's typical adventure-game gruel. You'll talk with roomfuls of characters, hunt keys and other tough-to-find necessities, and solve puzzles. There's no combat, no multiplayer and no online component. It's not that kind of game.
Solid puzzles, but too much talk
There's a lot to like in Black Mirror. The setting—an ancient castle with a dark secret—is classically creepy. The music is genuinely eerie, a great combination of new-age sparse with orchestral fullness. And the voice acting ranges from fair (the actor portraying Samuel Gordon) to darn good (everyone else). Of course, those are just the orbital components of a good adventure game. The game must compel gamers to open the next door, provide a fascinating tale that the player can't resist, and incorporate puzzles that fit the story, while challenging the man or woman at the keyboard.
The Black Mirror does all that stuff too—well ... more or less. The story isn't bad, but it is fragmented. For example, right off the bat gamers learn that Gordon's wife burned to death in the Black Mirror Castle, but that fact never strongly connects to the story. Or perhaps it did, but I dozed off during that part. You see, the characters have a tendency to talk a bit too much. In fact, they talk so much you want to jump in the monitor and gag them. Nevertheless, once you're past the deadening dialogue, The Black Mirror spins a solid tale.
Also solid are the game's puzzles. Never intrusive, but still challenging, the puzzles are great fun. So are the visuals. The castle's rooms, the light that oozes through them, and the things that inhabit them are a remarkable sight. And thank goodness the character animation—while not a challenge to Unreal Tournament—is good enough not to detract from the scenes through which the characters pass.
There are worse games on the shelves, but then again, there are also better. The Black Mirror mixes a bucket of ambiance, solid voice acting and challenging puzzles to deliver a game that isn't bad but lacks the strong story needed to be truly good. If you like adventure games, you may like The Black Mirror. If you are new to the genre, don't start here.
Too slow to be good. A brisker pace would have done wonders for the game.
— Mark
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