Lemony Snicket's -- A Series of Unifortunate Events
Before I reviewed this game, I had to go to the library and check out the first
couple of Lemony Snicket's books just to see how the game compares with the
book. The settings and graphics are perfect. The sound, perfect with Jim Carrey
in his film role as the evil Count Olaf. The game takes liberally from the first
three books. So you have all the rats and bats and snakes and spiders and goo
and piranhas to take care of. The familiar villains are all there, ubiquitous
Count Olaf, the Hook-Handed man always throwing barrels, the Ball Headed man
always in the way of what you need and the White Faced Ladies dancing and
spraying their poisonous perfume. The good guys aren't much help either, Justice
Strauss, Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine, but they do provide settings for the
action to take place. Many parts have been slightly shifted, for instance the
game ends with the wedding scene, and the terror in the book lessened but I don't
even think the purists would object.
Most of the game involves searching for things -- health, puzzle pieces and
objects to make the contraptions to fight off the bad guys. Each of the
Baudelaire children have different skills. Violet is the one who invents things;
Klaus the one who uses them and Sunny chews her way through the story.
It's a fun game albeit somewhat repetitive. Lots of looking for items, and the
Boss fights have to be repeated many times until finally you win, and often the
bad guys undo all the work you have done and you have to redo it. The only thing
I found lacking is the pervading sense of doom and danger that I felt reading
the book, but that might have been deliberately done.
Reviewed by: Editor - 12/04
Ages: Everyone