Here's a link to The Clockwork Man: The Clockwork Man
7.9 excellent
The day I saw the movie Phenomena was also the day I first read the short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." That's just one of life's little coincidences.
ERS G-Studio brings Edgar Allan Poe's famous story to life with all the skill of a Frankenstein in Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is popularly regarded as the world's first detective story, even before the word "detective" existed. You play a private constable who has just drawn the short straw and been assigned to work with eccentric detective C. Auguste Dupin, a knight in the Légion d'honneur who likes to test new assistants by setting them upon puzzles in his home. Soon the two of you are off, investigating the murder of Camille L'Espanaye in a house in the Rue Morgue. (That's a street, not a morgue.)
Murders in the Rue Morgue is a hidden object adventure game, meaning that your character possesses an inventory of useful items collected during your adventure, items which are used to solve puzzles and progress the story. As in games like Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, mousing over portions of the screen changes the always-animated mouse pointer to let you know items can be examined, or picked up, or that exits can be used to move to another location.
Hidden object scenes are forecast by sparkles. In each of these you have a list of objects at the bottom of the screen that you must scan for and click on in the cluttered scene before you. As you find them, objects are crossed off the list and removed from the scene - one or more of these will be added to your character's inventory. Unlimited hints are available, but it takes the hint button about a minute to recharge between uses. If like me you're a fan of random clicking, prepare to be somewhat disappointed as after too many false clicks the mouse pointer will swirl about the screen out of your control for a few seconds. Luckily this is a rather unintrusive annoyance at worst and there are certainly more offensive penalties in other hidden object games.
The artwork in the hidden object scenes is impressive indeed, with few (if any) objects looking as if they've been copied from a clipart collection and pasted onto a 19th century background. Most objects are the correct color, size, and the game rarely stoops to dirty tricks like making objects 75% transparent. Many hidden object scenes contain drawers or cabinets to open, or objects to slide aside. Make sure you find all these as chances are one or more of the hidden objects on your list are out of sight as you begin your search.
Between hidden object scenes are a wide variety of puzzle locks and minigames to break up the tedium of Dupin's investigation. These include logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and many, many examples of using a code obtained from location A to manipulate the lock on a door in location B. Not all are satisfying, but all are at least skippable. So if you really get stuck you can vault over tricky puzzles - you just have to wait a minute for the "skip" button to activate.
Unfortunately, the adventure game aspects of Murders in the Rue Morgue get silly faster than a giant pink car shaped like a rabbit. Your investigator (and C. Auguste Dupin) collect the most useless of trivial items from locations - for no possible discernable reason, mocking providence - and then astoundingly (Editor: falls off chair) find these trinkets useful to solve puzzles miles away, later in the game. From the beginning of the investigation, suspension of disbelief is stretched so far that it snaps and I believe the force of the fracture has somehow broken my Windows XP Japanese language bar. If I ever want to type in Japanese again I'm going to have to get a restore CD or bring up one of my backups or something... curses!
Download Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue