Crime Stories from the Files of Martin Mystère
Ages: Teen

The lantern jaw, pompadour hairstyle and blocky shoulders are a dead giveaway to the game's comic book origin. The game's developer, Artematica, has successfully transported Martin Mystère, who has been solving crimes for the past 20 years, into an adventure game -- giving you the chance to be the detective extraordinaire .

I am a pushover for adventure games. It's a small genre, compared to FPS, and there are never enough for me. What drives an adventure game, for me, is the opportunity to solve puzzles in exotic and lavishly detailed locations. Crime Stories does exceptionally well in this area as you visit Martin's expansive city apartment, the victims lavish mansion, a jazz club, and if that weren't enough, Aztec ruins. Sometimes the décor is lacking in taste but taste is not a requirement. Then there is the story and characters. The story is engaging enough with interesting twists at the end. An famous scientist is found murdered in his mansion. The implication is that he was onto some world-shaking discovery and so Martin is called in to discover the secret. Msps are supplied with locations that you get to by clicking. New maps are provided as you travel to new locations. As for the characters, I like the idea of bringing in Mrs. Mystère -- a little like Nick and Nora Charles. Martin's houseboy and assistent is ... well,you'll find out.

The others aspects of the game, which are not as necessary for my requirements for an adventure game but, were jarring enough to cause distress was the poor animation. By now there is no excuse for characters to be doing the slippy, slidey walk or have a hand not touch a doorknob.

I sometimes felt that the situations presented were camp, humorous or just bad translations. I refer to the ongoing comments about almost everything you click on and "green fingers" for green thumb. As for character -- what kind of hotshot detective parades around the house in his dressing gown because his wife has locked his closet? It was just bad storytelling and game play to have to get detoured from rushing to the crime scene because the character misplaced the phone number for the garage and had to unlock a closet to get his clothes -- hey -- this isn't the Pink Panther -- or is it?

Would I recommend the game to adventure players -- Of course -- remember, exotic and lavishly detailed, plus the puzzles were in context with the story and not impossible to do..

Reviewed by: Editor - 04/06