The Sydney Mystery Review

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The Sydney Mystery

Review by Old RoosterApril 2003

“Wow, It’s Great to Be Home!” —Niece/Narrator

If the Sydney Tourist Board decided to include an adventure game in their promotional/welcoming package, this local, independently produced effort would be the obvious choice. Brendan Reville and his Twilight Software team have presented a game, three years in the making, that is obviously a labor of love—not only for the starving adventure genre, but also for the wonderful community in which they have the pleasure of residing. We’ll come back to this thought a bit later.

The Sydney Mystery presents a kidnapping, of uncle Fred, in a contemporary setting. The faithful niece, and narrator, sets off to find what happened, gathering up clues, discussing her uncle with neighbors and acquaintances, and using acquired inventory items to move her way through a 24-hour period, in four acts. There are 240 scenes, 17 different locations, and 11 characters with whom to interact.

In terms of gameplay mechanics, SM includes only a CD in the delivered package, running directly from that CD (no hard drive space needed, except for saves), and with minimal instructions included by way of a mini-tutorial within the game. It’s a point-and-click, first-person adventure, with you playing the niece/narrator, which couldn’t be simpler to navigate. Indeed, the cursor (left-mouse-button controlled) is rather absurdly large (see accompanying pics), both as to directional arrow and actions that can be performed (open, examine, pick up, chat). Acquired inventory is displayed through a right-click, each item being brought to the screen individually, this being something of a problem, since scrolling through the entire inventory is often necessary. Selected items can be “used” on the desired target by simply placing them on that object or person.

Full-motion video is employed liberally throughout the game, primarily to give scenic overviews of a new area and also to enhance conversations.  Each of the eleven interviewees responds to your questions through the medium of FMV. Static pictures of scenes (240) are used both outside and inside, with movement being very unidirectional and little opportunity for exploration. Indeed, there is no mouse rotation or room examination possible except that which becomes obvious with a highlight from the over-large cursor. Stunning aerial views are employed in a map of the city, which has sections and highlights places to which you can instantly travel. New locations (17 total) become available as you progress through the game, being “locked” until certain preliminary objectives are completed. Loading time is instantaneous, enabling speedy movement from place to place, with a couple of little tricks helping this along. There are 10 save-anywhere slots, though you shouldn’t need more than several.  You can’t die, and there isn’t a nasty “Game-Over” screen!  Finally, the game never crashed or even “hiccuped” once, something of a rarity these days.

“I Can See He Has a Lot More Secrets than I Thought.”  —Niece

One of the trends I really appreciate in current adventure titles is to have puzzles to solve within the context of a mystery to unravel.  Indeed, in a recent interview, Mr. Reville said he had a goal of creating “story-oriented, intuitive puzzles, not contrived, that fit into the game environment.”  His idea is that the resolution of a puzzle “totally makes sense.” In this respect, I think he largely has succeeded.  Mostly, your head-scratching will come from wondering which item(s) of your inventory to apply, with the typical reaction afterwards being: “Well, yes, that’s obviously it!”

As with most adventure games, pick up everything! Of course, our niece must have a very large backpack, given some of the stuff she is lugging around, but we’ll forgive that small lapse of realism, one that is common with inventory-based games.

“I’m Here; Now What Am I Looking For?” —Niece

As indicated, navigation within the game is extremely easy—perhaps too easy. You virtually are drawn to the giant hotspots. Again, side exploration isn’t encouraged—although there are some brief forays possible—so you can’t really get “lost.” In this sense, the game seems quite linear. Even the occasional difficult puzzle typically can be resolved through exploration of the specific area in which it is found. The one at the very end of the game (identity spoiler-protected) comes to mind, with a good deal of hair-pulling on my part (only three are left now), until I simply started wandering the area and found the solution. A new area apparently is not opened (unlocked) for you unless and until you either have what you need from previous locations or can find it at the current location.

“What do you think of the bombings,” is a query voiced by the niece during most of her interviews. It’s clear her uncle was involved in something rather large and unpleasant, and here she thought he was enjoying a quiet semi-retirement! She’s encouraged that she can move more efficiently on her uncle’s disappearance than can the police, and she certainly does get around Sydney very quickly!

Musical themes accompany most of the game, which are fitting in terms of selection but often overly loud, particularly in contrast to the soft-spoken niece/narrator. Unfortunately, there is no option to reduce the music or elevate the spoken word. In that regard, there is also no option for written text, much to the detriment of our hearing-impaired friends. One can manage lip-reading with those being questioned, but we are completely dependent, literally, on hearing what the niece has to say.

Voice acting generally is very good, and better than I had expected, particularly given Mr. Reville’s indication of the amateur status of his cast. Indeed, one of the most appealing is his own 92-year-old Nana, who is a ringer for my English mother-in-law, almost bringing tears to my wife’s eyes. For a production that used relatives and friends, I’m quite impressed by the level of natural thespian talent evident in Australia!

“Now I’ve Got a Sharp Knife; I’d Better Be Careful with That.” —Niece

This utterance typifies a good deal of the often-simplistic script.  It also brings me to the more difficult part of my examination of the game, and I will try to exercise care. In the aforementioned interview, Mr. Reville says of The Sydney Mystery: “It’s a low-budget production, a true independent game; and so I hope everyone manages their expectations accordingly.” Well, now, that perspective, which is valid, does make objective appraisal difficult, particularly when a game enters the competitive marketplace and has a price tag. Nevertheless, let’s look at some of the concerns I have about the title, “indie” or not.

The Sydney Mystery is short. If you’ve played the demo (first of four acts), you’ve played at least one-third of the game.  The last two acts are very brief episodes. Referring to a walkthrough only twice, I was finished within four hours.

Game packaging is rather primitive, with the CD in one of those thinner cases, no manual (even on the CD), and the mailing envelope being a generic padded 83¢ postage affair (from Seattle, not Sydney).

The game is simple. As mentioned, SM is almost linear, pulling you with its giant cursor and hotspot banners scene by scene. You almost can’t go wrong. Conversational trees, sometimes 12 questions long, are often irrelevant until you get to the key, location-unlocking, question and response.

Inventory management sometimes is burdensome, having to bring up every item, rather than having a separate screen where a desired item could be selected. Thank goodness, the last selected item does disappear when moving away from the target area.

The music is too loud. This, accompanied by the soft, flat, rather expressionless rendering from the narrator, becomes a real distraction.

A couple of the puzzles are a bit absurd, in spite of the “realism” goal, but that’s okay. What is a problem is that the story seems to peter out, with an almost anticlimactic ending and a resolution to the “who is doing the bombings” question that’s not completely satisfying. There’s also no logic to some of the requirements to have a conversation or open a new location. This is particularly in evidence during an episode where you are told someone is at lunch and have to perform a number of theoretically time-consuming tasks before you can join him/her.

Production values have some jagged edges. Near the end, a boom microphone is clearly in evidence during an interview. In another, rather critical, ending scene, the actor appears to be glancing down to read his/her lines. There is a windy cliffside scene where the stiff breezes (background noise) clearly interfered with the recording, the kind of thing I might do with my own video camera work.

I said this kind of dissection is hard, especially when it’s not being applied to the product of an abstract and large company, but rather to the work of a nice group of folks who obviously are proud of and care about their game and community. But we do owe it to our readers to be honest and objective.

“Enjoy the New Day in this Wonderful City of Sydney!”  —Last Line of the Game

Having said all that we said in the previous section, The Sydney Mystery still gets a qualified Thumb Up rating from this reviewer.  It’s not fair to compare it with Shadow of Destiny, CSI, Law & Order, and other high-budget titles. If we compare with other independently produced games, it certainly falls in the upper tier. Specifically, in terms of my recent experience, it’s much better than Full Moon in San Francisco but not at the level of Dark Fall (few games are!).

The game engine is most commendable and, with a couple of modifications, could well become the basis for any number of future games using full-motion video. I’d like to see greater opportunity for visual scene exploration (mouse rotation), as well as movement to nonessential locations—particularly when the action takes place somewhere like Sydney!

The settings, not only the standard Sydney tourist spots, but also the homes and grounds, are lovely, and they brought my game-cynical wife to the screen on several occasions. “Just look at those gardens, or furniture!” Further, since there is no stated or obvious violence (in spite of the bombing concern), I certainly can envision children over the age of 10 joining with their parents in solving the mystery of Sydney. Again, it’s quite easy and, with the large cursor and relative linearity, would be a good introduction to adventure gaming for the uninitiated.

We earlier spoke of the Tourist Board including this game in their promotional packet. I’ve never been to Sydney, but this game experience certainly sparked an interest in a trip, especially with one of my wife’s relatives living in New Zealand (isn’t that a suburb of Australia?). The Sydney Mystery, in spite of some first-production warts, is a charming reintroduction of FMV, accompanied by a decent story, with a fine acting crew, and placed in a highly photogenic setting. Although leaning toward simplicity and brevity, Brendan Reville and his stalwart team have shown that they know how to make a game. They have done more right than wrong, and I’m encouraged that they are at work on their next title—The Millennium Adventure. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Twilight Software Publisher: Twilight Software Release Date: April 11, 2003

Available for: Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

Pentium (a high-end 486 may be feasible) 16-bit graphics 16-bit audio DirectX 6 or higher

Where to Find It

Twilight Software $24.95 (includes shipping)

Prices/links current as of 04/20/03Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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