The Mystery of the Mummy Review

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The Mystery of the Mummy

Review by Skinny MinnieJanuary 2003

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are camping overnight in a secluded forest area. Watson, nestled snugly in his sleeping bag, stares up at the darkened sky and waxes poetic.

“Sherlock,” he asks, “What are you thinking about as you gaze at the moon and stars? Are you naming off the ancient constellations? Are you thinking of all the men that have made their way by the same moon and stars throughout the ages?”

Sherlock pauses for a moment, then answers:

“I am actually thinking, Watson, that someone stole our tent.”

Well, somebody apparently steals Watson, too, at least for the bulk of your journey through Frogwares’ first excursion into PC gaming, the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Mystery of the Mummy.  However, despite the fact that my review’s introduction featured more of Watson than you will see during the whole game, Mummy still offers a good, old-fashioned, point and click, first-person adventure gaming time. (By the way, aren’t you surprised that I would work some sort of camping theme into my adventure game review?)

It appears that Elisabeth Montcalfe, daughter of famed and wealthy archeologist Lord Montcalfe, is soon to marry Sherlock’s cousin.  She is also quite perturbed by local police, who have recently pronounced her missing father dead via self-immolation. Elisabeth, unconvinced by this announcement since Lord Montcalfe’s remains have yet to be recovered, writes to Sherlock and implores him to search her father’s mansion for proof that he still lives.  As the opening cutscenes finish off, Sherlock alights from his horse and carriage, commenting about the ease of keeping this family matter private as Watson is away on vacation (perhaps Watson likes camping as much as I do or is even more prone to getting lost in forests).

From the moment you first enter Lord Montcalfe’s mansion (which is, incidentally, where Mummy’s demo deposits you as well), basic puzzles abound. Although starting out simply enough and mostly resulting in key collecting to get into other of the mansion’s 35 explorable rooms, even the beginning puzzles tie in with the back story and the written clues left about. It appears that Lord Montcalfe, quite the Egyptian artifact collector, was getting paranoid and perhaps a tad senile before his disappearance. He also seems to have become inveigled by some rather unsavory characters belonging to an ancient cult, but you will encounter more about him as the story deepens and the puzzle difficulty ramps up toward game’s end.

As the dozens of puzzles and escalating story cohesively and collectively progress, the lines between right and wrong begin to blur. However, one thing becomes certain: Sherlock is not alone in the mansion. I am a people person. I like character interaction in games. However, every stinking time I started to get lonely in Mummy, some dastardly character came along and made me live to regret it. On a side note, you can save your game anywhere, in any of the six save game slots. Consider yourself warned.

I haven’t played a game with this many puzzles in it since Pandora’s Box. The Mystery of the Mummy makes Post Mortem and Syberia seem like interactive movies by comparison, although Mummy doesn’t match up to their graphical glory. However, with respect to basic conundrums around every corner, there are tons of locked secret cubbies, rooms and areas, all made admissible for entry through streamlined puzzle-solving. Finding hidden seals and installing them in coded order on doors and walls, using sometimes tiny (and hard to spot) but realistic household items in unusual ways to get behind pictures, woodworking and the like, and doing your fair share of outright breaking into things are but a few of the ways to gain admittance to new areas.

There have also been measures taken within the mansion to ensure that invaders will not gain access to hidden treasures or the real story of Lord Montcalfe’s dealings. These take the form of water-and-bottle weight puzzles, a numeric tile coloring puzzle, clock, chess, and mechanical puzzles, tricks with mirrors, code breakers, anagrams, cryptograms, and a room that rotates every time you click in a direction to take a step!

Yes, there are some timed puzzles and two sliders as well, but save your game as you come upon new challenges and don’t sweat it too much; enough time usually is allotted to finish, unless you’re getting interrupted by real-world demands, in which case you can pause the game without penalty. You will also defuse traps and bombs and make your way back down through the mansion’s five expansive levels after an explosion, avoiding dangerous assailants all the while.

Although Sherlock can die at various points, I am not the most coordinated gamer on the planet and he managed to stay alive throughout most of the game for me (and I’m a save freak anyway so it didn’t matter). On the plus side, never shall you encounter a dreaded maze, if that makes you feel any better …

Hey! You can come out from under your desk now! I’m done describing all of the deadly puzzles! Yoo-hoo!

There are also tons of clickable hotspots, most not there only for show; many give clues for puzzles later. Moreover, mummies and statues in this game have a way of moving with your clickable help or even without it! Remember where you see things that aren’t clickable at first, as you may need and be granted access to them in a hurry later. You also will collect items for inventory puzzles, and items will disappear once used if they are no longer needed.

The inventory screen is very basic and easy to use, with all items showing at once. It is accessible from Sherlock’s brown leather bag at the bottom left of the game screen. The green notebook beside the bag is for perusing Sherlock’s previous comments plus written correspondences and clues collected throughout the game, and it houses load, save and exit game options as well.

Voiceovers, although not nearly as prolific in number as they would be in a more populated, conversation-oriented game, are excellent nonetheless. Burgeoning actor John Bell, who also voices end-of-story party crasher Dr. Watson as well as some other characters, pulls off Sherlock’s proper British accent and occasional dry humor with enthusiastic aplomb. Even if you might want to yell, “For God’s sake, Sherlock, enough with the calm facade; run from that freaking mummy already, will you?” at least you won’t be mistaking Sherlock for Faust from Jazz and Faust.

Sound effects are quite sparse, but the elegantly layered, new-age musical orchestrations offer harps, horns, flutes, and pianos and vary with each of the five levels of the mansion. The music is quite relaxing overall, not that you’d need that in this adventure game, mind you.

Graphics can be blurry at times, although they are colorful and richly detailed nonetheless. Although not a game of cutting-edge visuals, it is apparent by the level of detail and amount of accessories in any given scene that much care went into the creation of every backdrop, and character models themselves look quite good.

Probably the worst aspect of this game is its Byzantine: The Betrayal-esque, 360-degree panning interface, which is as vertigo-inducing here as it ever was in Istanbul. Unfortunately, The Mystery of the Mummy’s packaging, in its Wanadoo DVD-style case incarnation anyway, harbors little room for optional extras like Dramamine, so you will have to bear with the woozy up-down-whip-around motion unless you care to make a separate trip to the drugstore.  In Mummy’s defense, it does make better use of ceiling-to-floor sweeps than other recent 360-degree games like Zelehngorm and Post Mortem have, as far as placing clickable items goes, even if it is not nearly as gentle with its motion.

Despite being plunged once again into the dizzying swirl of an interface-whipping adventure game, I enjoyed my sometimes-perilous trip through Lord Montcalfe’s mansion. Although the puzzles are organic to the storyline and not too farfetched for the most part, they are on the easy side for a seasoned adventurer. It is only the ending puzzles that present a greater challenge.

However, the story is stronger than in most first-person puzzle games and has brief cutscenes showing Sherlock at various stages during the game, both of which help to hold interest. This game also ran flawlessly under Windows XP, with very quick load times and smooth scene transitions.

I hereby award The Mystery of the Mummy a Thumb Up, even though the closest thing to a campfire in this story actually is the supposed self-immolation of Lord Montcalfe! The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Frogwares Ltd. Publisher: Wanadoo Release Date: December 2002

Available for: Windows

Four Fat Chicks Links

Interview with Wael AmrPlayer Feedback

Screenshots

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System Requirements

Pentium or AMD 350 MHz 64 MB RAM 130 MB free hard disk space CD-ROM drive Sound card 8 MB video card

Where to Find It

Links 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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17 Responses to First Impressions: Heavy Rain

  • Toger

    I hate QTEs, but Heavy Rain is sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to push the button. I don’t even own a PS3, but I plan on buying the game anyway. I do have a good friend who’ll let me play at his house. Of course, I’ll have to drive 100 miles, one way, through the snow to get to his house. His chat-happy birds will cheerfully chirp thereby completely disrupting any atmosphere, but I can play.

  • David

    What!?  Heavy Rain is full of QTEs?  I totally did not see that coming.

    The whole dad experience thing sounds intriguing.  I’m already getting odd looks from my girlfriend for exclaiming over cute kids on the bus or at the mall, something like what you described might send my biological clock over the edge.

  • Lewis B

    My sentiments exactly David!

    Mat has been playing the Heavy Rain demo for a while now, and although he admits he is intrigued by the story, he does constantly complain about the control method.

    R2 + Analogue stick to run? *scoff*

  • Gregg B

    @Lew: DEMO?! PS3 DEMO?! *runs off to PS3*

    That sounds like the Batman: Arkham Asylum controls – Crazy Bonkers Design. The sort of design that puts pull handles on push doors.

    @Steerpike: “I despise children. They are disgusting and annoying. They knock things over. They interfere with everything. They’re not useful until they’re at least 13, when you can get them to mow the lawn and stuff. But you can pay a service to do that for just a few hundred bucks a year and the service won’t vomit on you, shit in its diapers, grow up to resent you, or otherwise suck. Don’t flame me and don’t post comments to the contrary: kids are repulsive. Why anyone would want them is beyond my feeble imaginings.”

    HAHAhahaha- I er, – hahahaha – you’re as outspoken as me about demon spawn children.

  • Lewis B

    Yeah its been on the internet for weeks and weeks Greggi.  I think you have to do a couple of online puzzles etc to get the appropriate code or something.

    Search on Kotaku, they first ran with it IIRC.

  • Mat

    The puzzle code was for early access before it hit the PSN Store. It’s been available to all since last week.

    Regarding the demo, it took me around 3 or 4 attempts at it to appreciate it. First time around I couldn’t have been more dissapointed by it, but after the 3rd or 4th I decided I wanted to stick with it. I don’t think the demo is a particularly great example of what the game supposedly does best either – choice. I also HATE the control scheme and some of the voice acting is so wooden. Creating an immersive, realistic game is fine but having characters stumbling into tables and fridges because of the ham fisted controls, and listening to French voice actors impersonate Americans does remove that realism a little!

    Still, I rushed out to buy it this morning and will rush home from work to play it in about an hour!

  • xtal

    @ Toger: I don’t own a PS3 either, and it’s not like Heavy Rain seems to be “that” game which makes you run out and buy one– like Bioshock made me run out and get a 360– and it’s also not like this game looks groundbreaking in any way, because it really doesn’t. It’s just got me curious…and people tend to do crazy things the week after they get their yearly bonus. Soooooo yeah, who knows; maybe I’ll own a PS3 soon, but like hell I would admit that it was for Heavy Rain. Psh. I’d tell people it was because I wanted to watch BSG on blu-ray; though anyone who knows me would see right through that lie since I am an avid non-format-upgrader: I’ll switch my BSG collection from DVD to blu-ray the day I upgrade my copy of Jurassic Park from VHS to DVD. (Hint: never)

  • Toger

    @xtal: I’m in no hurry to upgrade my meagre DVD collection to blu-ray either, but I have to say the movies I’ve watched on my friend’s PS3 are absolutely stunning. Blade Runner was simply breath-taking in blu-ray and it made me want a PS3. I don’t think Heavy Rain will be a system seller for me, but I’m betting the game from the Ico team will.

  • xtal

    A game from the Ico team, you say? Hmmm. I’ve been making rounds on Kijiji and Craigslist looking for a copy of Ico (eBay prices are so shudder-inducing) for a few days now. I really need to play that game after my experience with the indescribable Shadow of the Colossus.

    It’s good to know they haven’t died some Interplay-esque death in the meantime.

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Nope, they’re a small team that works within Sony. Fumito Ueda is the lead and he’s got like ten or so people who’ve worked with him on all his games. Sony pretty much lets them do what they want.

    The Last Guardian is the game that’s coming up from them. It looks more like Ico and less like Shadow of the Colossus to me, which is to say it appears to be focused on platform elements. If I didn’t already have a PS3, it’d be the game that sells it.

  • Gregg B

    @Toger: Ooh, Blade Runner on Blu-ray, gorgeous in all its gorgeosity. In 5.1 it sounds incredible too.

    I bought my PS3 for Team Ico’s unnamed-at-the-time game, Heavy Rain (back when it was just a teaser), LittleBig Planet (yes, yes, I know), Dead Space and Motor Storm: Pacific Rift which sort of pushed me off the fence.

  • Toger

    Gregg, oh yes. The surround sound was spectacular. Did I mention my friend’s HDTV is 72″ (obscene, isn’t it)? It’s like being at a high-class theatre: better food, pauses for bathroom breaks and no one talking through the movie.

    Is Trine up on PSN, yet? If so, that might be my tipping point: Last Guardian, Heavy Rain and Trine.

  • Gregg B

    *spits tea out, despite not drinking any*

    O_O

    72″?! I’m speechless. I can only imagine how awesome that is. Size does matter.

    Not so sure about Trine… hang on. I think it is.

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    I think it is too, Toger. I’ll check.

    To be honest, though, I doubt you’d be disappointed with the purchase even if Trine’s not there yet. I’ve been way happier with my PS3 than with my 360. Demon’s Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted, Folklore, even little games like Flower – I’ve had more concentrated fun with the PS3 than with Microsoft’s console, which tends to gather dust for months between game releases.

    72″???? I thought size didn’t matter!

  • Toger

    Size doesn’t matter. 😀

    In my friend’s defense, it was a great deal: opened box, itty-bitty scratch on the case, not a dead pixel to be seen and it was less $$ than the 60″ he originally wanted.

    Thanks for checking guys. I’ve played a tiny bit of Uncharted, but I’m horrible at the combat. Flower intrigues me. As does Demon’s Souls, but I know that game will crush my soul.

  • Gregg B

    There were certain moments in Flower where it just totally succeeded in conveying a feeling that I can’t say I’ve had in many other games, usually when rushing across a field through the grass or through a canyon or just skimming a pond, but it was never anything to do with collecting bloody petals or fulfilling some rudimentary puzzle. I think my problem with it was that it felt like it was trying to be this deeply emotional piece but in the end there seemed to be too many concessions to being a game rather than just running with the emotive side of the experience. One thing I am sure about though, is the trophies. Don’t get me started on the fucking trophies…

    One of my favourite little games on the PS3 is Everyday Shooter. It’s got a brilliant soundtrack that suits its raw visual style and I love how each level requires a certain tactic or strategy to survive it. It’s a very satisfying game in small bursts.

  • Hanover

    Unfortunately Cage mucked up the ending yet again.  The problem is that the mechanic of the game forced them to have to cheat in order to prevent spoiling the mystery of the game.

    There is also a red herring that makes no sense and is obviously put there to misdirect the player.

    90% of the game is awesome, the last 10% while not as bad as the indigo prophecy, is still sloppy.

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