Rating: 
Summary: Quirky fun, if you have the patience
Review: A strange little game, this. There's evidence of a delightfully fun personality behind the writing. I found myself laughing out loud more than once when the Flaming Mask guy suddenly demanded to have his nose scratched in the middle of prophesying the planet's doom.On the other hand, the basic plot is never explained sufficiently for the average player to figure out just what the HECK is going on. The game comes with a step-by-step walkthrough, and that's a good thing, because many of the puzzles are only solved by doing completely unrelated things. I resent this -- there ought to be some sort of internal logic that allows the persistent user to actually *solve* a problem occasionally instead of just tripping over the solution because you threw everything in your inventory at it. It also needs to be said that the game is buggy. The game's forum shows that everyone else had the same problem I did -- inexplicable freezes that require you to reboot to get out of the game. But problems aside, the game's sense of humor makes up for a lot. I played, laughed, got frozen, cursed heartily, rebooted, and went back to playing. But if you have blood pressure problems, perhaps you might want to think this one over carefully.
Rating: 
Summary: It's been too long since it was fun to play . . .
Review: After many years of playing adventure games, I have been getting increasingly reluctant to try new ones because they are getting harder and harder to tell them apart. But Forever Worlds reminds me of the old games that were fun and kind of whacky where you never know what is going to happen next. I love the element of surprise and nonsense where a pair of magic sandals can send a huge boulder off dancing into the jungle. It made me laugh. Other games just seem soooo serious. I also had no problems with loading or running the game which was a break, thankyou. It has an unusual interface where you can turn around and look anywhere even while you are playing or interacting with things. This is really solid for a change. Even when I had launched a puzzle but didn't have the right item to put there, I could go away to find it and then come back and then place it and launch it again and it worked! But the fact that I had a good time is why I wanted to say something. The worlds you visit are very different from other games out there and the video scenes and characters are beautiful too. I especially liked the giant bee. I wish there was more of that one. Actually, I wish there was just more. I guess I will just have to go back and play it again : )
Rating: 
Summary: Don't let the packaging fool you!
Review: An old Ross Perot quote pretty much sums up this game: "You're going to hear a giant sucking noise" as you play this game. Whoo, baby, does this game stink! I thought that 'The Crystal Key II' (another recent Dreamcatcher/Adventure Company game) was pretty awful, but I did not know there was a whole other level of bad below that! Holy cow, how does dreck like this manage to get published with such flashy and professional packaging and marketing? Jeez, where to start? How about with the incredibly bad interface. The game is a standard point-and-click adventure game where you navigate from point to point and then pan around in 360 degree views. Panning requires you to hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse in the direction you want to pan. What is so awful about this interface is that when you have dragged your mouse the entire width of your mousepad, you have only panned about one quarter of way around the view. You then have to lift and reposition your mouse to drag it some more in the direction you are panning! Most games have an option to correct this by letting you set the mouse sensitivity to a speed that you (and your video card) are comfortable with. Is that option available here? NO! Can you pan with your keyboard instead? NO! As a matter of fact there are absolutely NO games options whatsoever! You are stuck with one panning rate, one music volume, one dialog volume (a real shame since the dialog is putrid), and...you get the picture. Getting an item into your inventory is pretty easy (just click on it), but getting it out is absolutely painful. You first have to click on a screen icon to pull up your inventory list, click on an item to see a larger view of it in the middle of your screen, click on that large image to change your cursor into a representation of that item, and then click on the exit button of the inventory screen. Finally you then have to click on the game spot where you think the item might be useful. Unfortunately, you typically have no clue as to what might work at a specific hot spot, so you end up trying EVERYTHING in your inventory to see if something works (and there is a lot of junk in there sometimes)! The puzzles of the game are a joke. As a matter of fact, the very first two puzzles you encounter are pretty much the same thing: try to find the correct sequence of clicks to get all the way through the puzzle; if you guess wrong, start over! They don't get much more imaginative beyond that. My game came with a "limited edition" game strategy guide included free. I'm guessing that all of them will come with this guide because, otherwise, nobody will be able to (nor want to) finish this embarrassment. As a final insult, the developers thought they would try to spice up their incoherent game by adding a lot of humor. Done well, humor can add a very entertaining aspect to an adventure game. The classic Zork games are excellent examples. When done badly, as in this case, it just becomes irritating to the point of distraction. Most of it is just not funny (okay, maybe to a six year old) and does not "fit" in the atmosphere of this game. Jive talking jungle natives? Please. Again, like Crystal Key II, this looks like the work of an independent game developer who has spent years putting together a workable game using "knives and bearskins". If so, I would have admired the work and enjoyed the game for what it was. Unfortunately, this game was, again, developed by what looks to be a large team (Hexagon). Games like these give the game genre, which I love the most, a huge black eye and are probably the reason why so many people get turned off by adventure games. What a shame, because there are some really good ones out there. Unfortunately, you have to dig through a lot of dung like this to find it. Avoid this game.
Rating:
Summary: This one delivers
Review: Anyone who enjoys adventure games with integrated, but unusual game elements (inventory based puzzles) will love this. The videos are like cut scenes so it does not play real time. It is a first person point of view and you can take your time looking around. There are some nice little details built in to amuse you on the side. The story is very unusual which is good. They also had some fun with the dialog and put in some humor. Personally, I would like to see more of that. There is not a lot of music unfortunately, but at least that means you won't get tired of it or annoyed. This has to be one of my favorite games in the last year. I have been very disappointed with others. But this one delivers. Thank you guys.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful
Review: Had a heck of a time trying to run it on XP which only added to the unavoidable realization that this "adventure game" is a complete waste of a person's time and energy. I couldn't tell you much in the way of storyline because my computer would freeze up every 10 sec. I gave up trying to go past the 1st chapter. Who needs this aggravation. Root canal is more pleasant.
Rating:
Summary: not for fools
Review: I don't know what fools are dumping on this. OK, its not for everyone because you have to think about it and its different. So this is wrong? You will like this game unless you are a complainer by nature and want your gaming fed to you on a spoon. I am an old adventure gamer and this plays like a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Explore the details
Review: I finished this game in 2 days, but I couldn't leave it alone. At first I was all over the place doing things out of sequence, but once you catch on and get familiar it is really fun to explore the details. I loved the "backstage" maintenance area. Be sure to read the warnings and things posted by the crew who supposedly operate the "Forever Worlds". This is a really different game from all the other adventure titles out there. I think that's why I like it so much. If you like "different" this is it. The animations are also very beautiful and there are some funny scenes too.
Rating:
Summary: Get Real
Review: I have seen some of the other reviews that talk about the 360 lookaround ability in this game. I have been playing games with this kind of lookaround for years and I love being able to to look and zoom in or zoom out (if you haven't noticed you can do that in FW). The old alternative was the static slide show which I never liked in the first place. As far as FW gameplay goes, I loved this game and it's fresh content. The puzzles were totally new and original. The graphics were first rate and the animations were excellent. All in all, a great game. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because I would have liked more animations and more story details. The story is great and original too, but they don't give you enough. You have to read the guide, which I really didn't want to do. I eventually read it by the time I was getting near the end, but I prefer to not read stuff when it comes to games. I just want to play. If I wanted to read I'd go to the library. FW still is full of unusual visuals and the unexpected though. So that goes a long way.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive
Review: I loved this game. I am not a heavy gamer, but I could get through this and enjoyed reading the Walkthru that came in the box. It made it even more fun. There are some tricky parts where I had a hard time figuring out what I needed, but when you find out sometimes it will make you laugh. You do need some explanation, though. It's a bit hard to figure out on your own. But by the time you get to the end it starts to make sense. By then you want to go back and wish there was more of the game. This game is very addictive. I could keep playing this for a long time and really hope there will be a sequel. The animated scenes are gorgeous. The graphics in these are really great. The inventory items are also beautiful and I liked the inventory system the way it works. I have been very frustrated in the past with inventory that has small, unrecognizable items and systems you can get stuck in. This is one of the best. All in all, I highly recommend this.
Rating:
Summary: Cult thing
Review: I really enjoyed this game from the beginning. It is one of those cult things like Being John Malcovitch where you find this one for yourself. I don't think it is a mainstream game like some of the big ones from the past. But I really, really liked the fresh approach here. If your favorite movies and games are ones that have a different approach then here you go. I loved it.
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