Journey to the Center of the Earth

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Live Up to its Promise
Review: In Journey to the Center of the Earth--a game only loosely based onm the Jules Verne Novel--you play Ariane, a freelance photo journalist on a trip to Iceland. While there, an accident separates her from her helicopter and pilot. Trying to find a way out of her plight, she falls, like Alice, down a hole and discovers a whole new world. While trying to find a way back to the surface, she explores this world and uncovers a mystery.

As others have stated, JTTCOE is a third person game much in the tradition of The Longest Journey or Syberia, with a strong female protagonist on a quest that isolates her from everything familiar. As such, JTTCOE could have been a really good game. I expected it to be a really good game. There were some good things about it, even some parts that were quite enjoyable. But as a whole, it didn't please the way its predecessors did. There were too many glitches that made me think it had been rushed into release without being tested thoroughly.

I wish I could say that where JTTCOE is good it's really good, but that's not the case (except in the opening and closing animations, where the helicopter flying over the ocean is indistiguishable from film). Mostly, things were...okay. The graphics were pretty but not stunning. The animations were adequate. The voice acting and story were all right. So there wasn't much greatness to make up for the fact that a lot of this game is kind of boring. The one savng grace is that there are no timed puzzles and you can't die.

The puzzles range from the incredibly simple-minded to the abysmally incoherent. Most are typical third-person inventory puzzles--give so-and-so this item so that he gives you something you need to give to someone else. These were the easy ones, although it was difficult not to become irritated at all these characters just sitting around letting Ariane do their chores for them. Except for a few, the NPC's were without personality, so it was a little hard to feel sympathy for them.

Conversational puzzles were more difficult, usually because the alleged conversational clues didn't actually contribute anything, or were actually misleading. There were several places where you were given deliberately wrong information, which I find unforgiveable. But that wasn't so bad as the several mechanical puzzles. I usually can get through anything without a hint or walkthrough, but the puzzles in JTTCOE were so abstract and incoherent that even WITH a WT they didn't make sense. Plus, often solving a puzzle meant running around through the entire gameworld--which was huge--looking for some unlikely inventory item in some unlikely place. The world was so big and the navigation was so bad and time-consuming, that it was easier just to get the answer and not waste your time.

Did I say navigation was bad? It's about the worst thing about this game. There is no warp function and there are lots and lots of screens to move through, some of which don't have much other purpose. Sometimes your movement cursor doesn't appear, so you have to kind of randomly search for it. Sometimes you simply can't get there from here and have to go around, and sometimes Ariane evinces a kind of virtual Tourette's syndrome, where she twitches and shuffles around in place for no apparent reason. This was really irritating, the more so because it could have been corrected with a little attention.

JTTCOE has two endings. This in itself is not unusual, but one of them occurs substantially earlier than the other (I suppose in case the player just can't take any more) and provides quite a different outcome. You're given plenty of warning what's coming, so it's easy to save in the right place and go back and view the other ending later. If you choose the extended ending, the game actually picks up and the puzzles make a little more sense--or maybe it's just that by that point you know what to expect, I'm not sure.

It took me about 25 hours to get through JTTCOE and that was with several WT consultations when I couldn't take it any more. I didn't find it absorbing; in fact there were times when I got through a puzzle and thought, "I don't want to do this any more." I ended up being pretty disappointed in it. I think I would have done better to wait for the jewel case release, or trade someone for this game; it just didn't live up to its promise.

Rating:
Summary: Among the best
Review: Our heroine,Arian,who is a photojournalist,falls through the crack in a volcano while out covering a story.She stumbles upon a hidden world in the center of the earth,and becomes a hostage to her new environment.Eager to return to the surface once again,she meets many interesting characters along the way.It seems everybody wants a favor from her,before she can proceed on to the next area.There are dinosaurs,giants,floating islands,submarines,blimps,suspended bridges,jungles,diamond mines,and the list goes on.The graphics are breathtaking-reminiscent of "The Longest Journey" and "Syberia",two of my all time favorite games.I'd have to put this one among those very few,rare games,that will not let you down.Though there is only one CD,don't let that fool you.It's quite a lengthy game,and Arian travels a very long way.I would have liked to have had a location icon in the inventory...it would have lessened the tedious distances.Also,the hotspots were hard to find at times,especially when she went from room to room,or progressed onto the next screen.It was tricky sometimes,I had to click in the farthest corners to find them.There are just enough puzzles in this game to keep it interesting,although a few were so difficult,that I needed a walkthrough.
The storyline is rich and engaging,and the laptop computer that Araian uses is priceless.There are two different endings to this game.You can choose to end the game about 3/4 of the way through,or play it to the end.The cut-scenes are wonderful,the sounds of birds chirping,the seagulls,the water rippling,all add to the beauty.Although I would have preferred the musical score to be played more often,it serves it's purpose and is quite satisfying.I was very pleased with "Journey To The Center Of The Earth".For true adventure gamers....it is a must have.

Rating:
Summary: What fun!
Review: Sure, okay there were a few things in the game that made it a little hard to play. But over all it is a great game! and it's one that you can play with friends or family. My sister and I played it all weekend long, we just couldn't get enough of it. buy this game, or rent it. either way, you should really play it. :)

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time... or money
Review: There were a few things I liked about this game. But honestly, there were SO MANY things that I didn't like, it really overshadowed them.

It seems obvious that the manufacturer was rushed to production, because I've never seen such a glitch-filled, bug-ridden game in my life. Here are a few examples:

1. The main character often stands in front of vital items with which you are expected to interact, and moving her away from them (once you've cheated and found out from some walkthrough that they even *exist*), is nearly impossible.

2. Going along with that, navigation was haphazard at best, and at some points nearly impossible. The main character was constantly getting into some position that should could not get out of!! Several times I had to quit my game and reload an older saved game and just avoid the place where I'd become trapped. The hints system I used tried to give advice for these situations, but often had weird instructions like, "...quickly click at the end of the tables straight ahead and quickly again between the tables and wait."

3. Stupid dialogue. Instead of just having the conversation and allowing you to replay anything you wanted to hear again, the game forced you to manually start each topic point, even though it was necessary to go through each topic. I became very irritated by this after a while.

4. "Hot spots," or cursor indicators which show you where the character can walk, or what she can interact with, were often missing or wrong. I became completely stuck at one point because there were NO hot spots on the screen at all. I just had to methodically click my way around the screen until I found a direction she could go in. Other times, there was a "hot spot" cursor, but when I clicked on it, she went walking off in some other direction! Also, "hot spots" that were used earlier in the game would not go away, and I was often unsure whether there was something else I needed to do.

5. System crashes. Often times, when trying to do something out of order, the game just gave up and shut itself down.

The game had potential, but even forgiving the numerous glitches and bugs, it was difficult, confusing, and sometimes completely nonsensical. I didn't like the third-person approach, but that may be just a personal preference. All games I've played up to now have been first-person, and lately, they all have 360 degree panning. Being tied down to a "movie" type format with a character to direct felt clumsy to me, and probably accounted for some of my navigational problems.

But that wasn't the only problem. At one point, after trying for hours to work out a puzzle, I went to a hint web site, only to be told, "Ignore the clues. The don't make sense. Just do it this way."

I would NOT recommend this game for anyone. Even at bargain prices, it's no bargain, just a hassle.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time... or money
Review: There were a few things I liked about this game. But honestly, there were SO MANY things that I didn't like, it really overshadowed them.

It seems obvious that the manufacturer was rushed to production, because I've never seen such a glitch-filled, bug-ridden game in my life. Here are a few examples:

1. The main character often stands in front of vital items with which you are expected to interact, and moving her away from them (once you've cheated and found out from some walkthrough that they even *exist*), is nearly impossible.

2. Going along with that, navigation was haphazard at best, and at some points nearly impossible. The main character was constantly getting into some position that should could not get out of!! Several times I had to quit my game and reload an older saved game and just avoid the place where I'd become trapped. The hints system I used tried to give advice for these situations, but often had weird instructions like, "...quickly click at the end of the tables straight ahead and quickly again between the tables and wait."

3. Stupid dialogue. Instead of just having the conversation and allowing you to replay anything you wanted to hear again, the game forced you to manually start each topic point, even though it was necessary to go through each topic. I became very irritated by this after a while.

4. "Hot spots," or cursor indicators which show you where the character can walk, or what she can interact with, were often missing or wrong. I became completely stuck at one point because there were NO hot spots on the screen at all. I just had to methodically click my way around the screen until I found a direction she could go in. Other times, there was a "hot spot" cursor, but when I clicked on it, she went walking off in some other direction! Also, "hot spots" that were used earlier in the game would not go away, and I was often unsure whether there was something else I needed to do.

5. System crashes. Often times, when trying to do something out of order, the game just gave up and shut itself down.

The game had potential, but even forgiving the numerous glitches and bugs, it was difficult, confusing, and sometimes completely nonsensical. I didn't like the third-person approach, but that may be just a personal preference. All games I've played up to now have been first-person, and lately, they all have 360 degree panning. Being tied down to a "movie" type format with a character to direct felt clumsy to me, and probably accounted for some of my navigational problems.

But that wasn't the only problem. At one point, after trying for hours to work out a puzzle, I went to a hint web site, only to be told, "Ignore the clues. The don't make sense. Just do it this way."

I would NOT recommend this game for anyone. Even at bargain prices, it's no bargain, just a hassle.

Rating:
Summary: better the adverege...
Review: This has to be on of the better adventure games I've played. The graphics are very beautiful amd immersive. I highly recomend this game for adventure fans.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, my head
Review: This is a flawed game that could have been a great one if only the developer had put more effort into it. Instead, it's so buggy that the first time I played it, I could scarcely believe it had been Beta tested. I was tempted to keep a can of Raid handy as I doggedly pursued the game's conclusion (or conclusions, actually -- there are two of them).

Where to start? It would be way too time-consuming for me to list all of the glitches I encountered, so I'll just mention some of the highlights:

~Choppy cut scenes

~So many crashes I felt as though I might be playing Demolition Racer by mistake

~A difficult-to-control protagonist (Ariane). For example, I'd click on a hot spot and she'd head in the opposite direction; she'd run into/walk through solid objects (posts, walls, furniture, other characters, etc.), get stuck behind things, disappear and reappear, spin around like a whirling dervish rather than move in a forward direction, walk on water, go sailing completely off the screen while continuing to recite dialog; overshoot her mark and, for instance, end up behind and facing away from characters with whom she was speaking (ultimately becoming frozen there); she'd also open doors and/or pick up objects that were behind her, and obscure my view of items needing attention by standing precisely in my line of sight.

~Erratic display of icons indicating items to be picked up, interacted with, and/or signifying directions in which Ariane is able to move. Icons would appear where there were no hot spots, and not appear where hot spots were present. Also, some hot spots are downright microscopic and easy to miss.

~Inconsistency of a type I've never seen before in a computer game. For example, a character who's supposed to give a specific item to Ariane might give it to her over and over, but this doesn't always happen with the same item at the same point in the game. I was also able to get Ariane to do something she wasn't supposed to be able to do (I realize this is vague, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers)

~Out-of-synch events; for example, a thing that's supposed to happen only after something else has occurred will take place *before* the prerequisite event (again, I'm being intentionally vague)

~An inventory system that, if left open, can obscure items that are essential to advancing the game

~Extremely difficult puzzles, some of which made little sense to me

~Problems both installing and uninstalling the software, including error messages that weren't accurate or legitimate

~Negative impact on the performance of some of my other games

The computer on which all of the above occurred exceeds the minimum system requirements for this game, as provided by the developer.

To be fair, I actually did like a few things about the game. The music, ambient sounds and quality of graphics are simply outstanding. Also, being a hard-core gamer, I've played the thing more than a few times and it's grown on me. Once I'd become accustomed to the game's shortcomings and knew what to expect, I enjoyed it a lot more.

I realize, however, that some folks are probably reluctant to work as hard as I did just to appreciate a computer game. Further, I wouldn't recommend this game to an adventure gaming novice, as it could drive such a person away from the genre altogether. That would be a shame, considering the excellent adventure games that have been released in the past few years.

In my opinion, Journey to the Center of the Earth has a lot of potential. Rather than creating a "budget" game at the expense of quality, I'd have preferred it if the developers had spent more time and effort trying to get things right. Performance-wise, this is the worst game I've ever played. I would have gladly paid twice the price for a glitch-free (or at least glitch-minimal) version.

If you decide to try this game, I suggest that you bring lots of patience as well as any anti-frustration devices you might have. A good walkthrough wouldn't hurt, either.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, my head
Review: This is a game that you'll either love to hate or hate to love. For my wife and I, we waffled between the two so much that I'm not sure what our final verdict really is. This is not a particularly "polished" game, but then it cost us less than half of what we paid for 'Uru - Ages Beyond Myst', which also inflicted its own share of ambiguity.

What 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'(JCE) is, is basically a 'Syberia' clone; a 3rd-person, story-driven adventure game with a head-strong female protagonist who must decide between her modern-day profession, with all of its pressures, and her developing morals and ethics. "Will she do the right thing?" This genre was pioneered by the classic game 'The Longest Journey' and then driven to the forefront by Benoit Sokal's 'Syberia'.

The success of 'Syberia' was due to several key factors: an excellent storyline, a variety of well designed and integrated puzzles to solve, extremely lush and atmospheric graphics and music, and just the right amount of interaction with the secondary characters of the story ('The Longest Journey' took this last point to the irritating extreme).

JCE tries to emulate this winning formula in so many ways that it ultimately fails with a "been-there-done-that" feel. It also consistently comes up a rung or two short in just about every category of comparison. The story is actually pretty good with its "revisitation" of the classic Jules Verne story.

The modern protagonist Ariene, though, is just a whinier version of Kate Walker of 'Syberia' fame. You meet and interact with several other characters along the way and, while they all are very well conceived and voiced, they all come across as lazy and selfish. "I'm not going to do anything for you until you do something for me". This is a typical way of building puzzle solving into the progression of the story, but it damages any sympathy with these characters that the designers hope to build along the way. Plus, all of them just stand (or sit) in one place until you interact with them. Don't they have anything else to do? One nice touch, though, was the animals that were inserted throughout the story (mostly just for eye-candy, but really well done).

The graphics are very colorful and well rendered but, again, they seemed to lack any "atmosphere". Everything was bright and sunny (strange how its always that consistently bright underground). There's definitely a hint of menace built into the story, but you never feel any of it in the surroundings. The music score, also very well done at times, echoes this lack of depth or atmosphere.

Finally, we address the puzzles. We are big fans of puzzles in adventure games, but we have two strict rules to follow. They must be both logical and fair. If they are well integrated into the story of the game, then all the better. Unfortunately, a lot of the puzzles in this game fail the fair and logical tests. Fairness was compromised by the fact that we were forced to pixel hunt for a LOT of the critical inventory items. Plus, you are required to cover vast distances within this game over and over again without the aid of a zip icon. We timed it and it took Ariene over 30 seconds to run from one end of a particular scene to the other side. That's not a good way to build complexity into your puzzles. For an example of how they fail in the logic category, just go out to their website and try the demo game. The main puzzle of the demo happens to be the worst offender of this rule in the entire game. If you are a lateral thinker and have no problems with this puzzle then this is the game for you!

The bottom line is, its not too bad of a game considering the price. Hopefully, they can work on ironing out these other irritants while working on their next game, which is rumored to be 'Around the World in 80 Days'.

Rating:
Summary: If you keep everything in perspective...
Review: This is a game that you'll either love to hate or hate to love. For my wife and I, we waffled between the two so much that I'm not sure what our final verdict really is. This is not a particularly "polished" game, but then it cost us less than half of what we paid for 'Uru - Ages Beyond Myst', which also inflicted its own share of ambiguity.

What 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'(JCE) is, is basically a 'Syberia' clone; a 3rd-person, story-driven adventure game with a head-strong female protagonist who must decide between her modern-day profession, with all of its pressures, and her developing morals and ethics. "Will she do the right thing?" This genre was pioneered by the classic game 'The Longest Journey' and then driven to the forefront by Benoit Sokal's 'Syberia'.

The success of 'Syberia' was due to several key factors: an excellent storyline, a variety of well designed and integrated puzzles to solve, extremely lush and atmospheric graphics and music, and just the right amount of interaction with the secondary characters of the story ('The Longest Journey' took this last point to the irritating extreme).

JCE tries to emulate this winning formula in so many ways that it ultimately fails with a "been-there-done-that" feel. It also consistently comes up a rung or two short in just about every category of comparison. The story is actually pretty good with its "revisitation" of the classic Jules Verne story.

The modern protagonist Ariene, though, is just a whinier version of Kate Walker of 'Syberia' fame. You meet and interact with several other characters along the way and, while they all are very well conceived and voiced, they all come across as lazy and selfish. "I'm not going to do anything for you until you do something for me". This is a typical way of building puzzle solving into the progression of the story, but it damages any sympathy with these characters that the designers hope to build along the way. Plus, all of them just stand (or sit) in one place until you interact with them. Don't they have anything else to do? One nice touch, though, was the animals that were inserted throughout the story (mostly just for eye-candy, but really well done).

The graphics are very colorful and well rendered but, again, they seemed to lack any "atmosphere". Everything was bright and sunny (strange how its always that consistently bright underground). There's definitely a hint of menace built into the story, but you never feel any of it in the surroundings. The music score, also very well done at times, echoes this lack of depth or atmosphere.

Finally, we address the puzzles. We are big fans of puzzles in adventure games, but we have two strict rules to follow. They must be both logical and fair. If they are well integrated into the story of the game, then all the better. Unfortunately, a lot of the puzzles in this game fail the fair and logical tests. Fairness was compromised by the fact that we were forced to pixel hunt for a LOT of the critical inventory items. Plus, you are required to cover vast distances within this game over and over again without the aid of a zip icon. We timed it and it took Ariene over 30 seconds to run from one end of a particular scene to the other side. That's not a good way to build complexity into your puzzles. For an example of how they fail in the logic category, just go out to their website and try the demo game. The main puzzle of the demo happens to be the worst offender of this rule in the entire game. If you are a lateral thinker and have no problems with this puzzle then this is the game for you!

The bottom line is, its not too bad of a game considering the price. Hopefully, they can work on ironing out these other irritants while working on their next game, which is rumored to be 'Around the World in 80 Days'.