Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Ages: Everyone

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 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.

The game on the PC is slightly different from those on the consoles. There is more of a reliance on fewer inventions and instead, uses the Smiting Smasher to smash things and people. Simple rotten eggs are useful against almost all villains. Because there are fewer contraptions to construct, there is less scrounging for items for the contraptions and the story seem to move along quicker. There are still puzzle pieces to find, hints and eyes to collect as you are fighting off villains. The game plays well, is less frightening than the book and kids will love it. In fact, some will prefer the directness of the PC version.

Reviewed by: Editor - 12/04