Microids: Sinking Island | Sinking Island

Microids: Sinking Island | So close, Sokal

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Microids: Sinking ...

	Microids: Sinking Island Windows \| Encore Software, 2008 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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Walter Jones, a billionaire, is found dead at the bottom of a huge Art Deco tower that he had built on a tropical island. The hotel that he had hoped to turn into a holiday resort for the international jet set turned out to be his last resting place. You play the role of inspector Jack Norm. While a storm is raging, you have three days to find out the truth behind this mysterious death. Is it an accident or a premeditated murder? Which of the ten people on the island at the time of the death might have reason to want Walter Jones dead?

A race against time - as a storm rages, the tower is progressively sinking into the water. You only have 3 days to clear up this affair before all clues and the guilty party disappears forever 2 game modes - in expert mode, it's a race against time and you won't have a second to lose! In adventure mode, you can go through each place at your own pace, enjoying the wonderful décors Windows Vista / XP

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Sinking Island

A wonderful game. The graphics have you immersed in the story and mood immediately. This game developer is known for the very best and this is delivered in this game.

So close, Sokal

This could have been another Syberia.

Let's start with the good points.

The game gets off to an impressive start with an action-packed cinematic-quality, opening scene. Within the first few minutes, we are drawn into a totally immersive and stunningly beautiful environment,enhanced by atmospheric, yet unobtrusive music, convincing animation (the palm trees waving in the storm were superb) and totally wonderful visuals - possibly the best Sokal has produced since Syberia.

The Art-Deco interiors represent a cohesive, and very inviting, artistic vision. Sokal is a master of mise-en-scene: his lighting and camera angles contrive to immerse us in the action, even though the viewpoint is third-person throughout. I've always felt that one of the marks of a good Adventure game is the feeling that one would like to actually be there. I would love to have stayed at the Jones Tower.

For the most part, the game is non-linear (though this leads to continuity problems at times).

The puzzles are logical, with plenty of red herrings to confuse the amateur sleuth, but solvable, with a bit of care. I reverted to a walkthrough for one of them, and then felt very sheepish that I hadn't been able to work it out for myself.

The User Interface is enhanced by a Personal Assistant, to help with such routine tasks as fingerprint matching, and breaking the game down into sub-tasks. This seems to be a feature of quite a few games these days. Not a bad idea, since the Adventure model is moving away from strictly Inventory-based puzzles. There are still some
key/screwdriver/blowtorch puzzles for the diehards, though.

The characters are nicely figured, with the usual set of stereotypes one expects in a detective story. Unlike some of Sokal's other work, none of them are caricatures (with the possible exception of the Deceased). Another mark of a good game is the ability to empathise with at least one of the characters, and this is definitely achieved.

However.....

The character animation was a tad eccentric. There was no attempt to animate the lips; the characters attempted to get the message across by a combination of sempahore and grimaces. In long shots, this didn't matter, but all those face-to-face interviews had a surreal quality, reminiscent of Marcel Marceau playing Charades.

The English translation leaves a bit to be desired. In particular, Detective Norm's boss seems to have taken dialog lessons from the great Ed Wood. Add this to the tendency for the characters to insert random stock phrases before and after conversations, and the effect can be unintentionally hilarious.

There are serious continuity problems at times. As with many modern adventure games, conversations are based on clicking thumbnails to discuss topics or items of evidence. There were many occasions where the poor detective, having got a perfectly satisfactory answer to a question from one character, was forced to ask every other character the same question (or even ask the same person the same question, in a slightly different context). This can be tiresome.

The game ends with another impressive cutscene. It's only then that one realises that there have been no others - just two cutscenes in the whole game. Given that the action involves the cataclysmic forces of a typhoon and earthquake, this is somewhat disappointing. I suspect the dead hand of accountancy.

All in all, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this game, and would definitely recommend it.

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Benoit Sokal comes back with another winner!

Benoit Sokal has to be one of the most brilliant minds of the computer game industry. The "Sinking Island" while being a murder mystery was fun to play. You get to hear "Oscar's voice" again (from Syberia 1 & 2).
I still rate Syberia 1 & 2 as tops for me but if you like murder mysteries this one's for you.
Bravo to the team of White Birds Production!

Sinking Island sinks right into shallow water with it's story:

I love adventure games because they make you think and usually have great stories that you can follow along with. In the case with Sinking Island it has a great atmosphere based on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean.

There is a hurricane (cyclone) as they call them in this part of the world brewing nearby which adds to the atmosphere of the game but then comes the story that sinks right into shallow water from the start. I found that the story was strait forward in that you collect clues and question suspects on the island but there was no suspense to be found.

In recent games I have played for example New Life and Darkness Within there is a layer of suspense where you want to find out the next chapter in the story and can't stop playing but this is not the case with Sinking Island. Yes, there is a who done it feel to the story but by the time you reach that conclusion you are bored out of your mind with mindless questioning and clue combinations in your PDA that you really don't care. Actually it's not real hard to figure this out before hand if you pay close attention earlier in the game.

The graphics are good with nice details here and there like swaying palm trees in the wind, crabs on the beach, lightning in the sky, etc. but once you get inside the tower and move aimlessly from floor to floor the game bogs down. Don't get me wrong Sinking Island is a good quality game but it takes more than a good reputation from a well known author who created the well known Siberia series to impress me.

If you like murder mysteries and don't mind many hours of questioning people and clue searching then Sinking Island will be a good choice but if your like me and want more suspense and edge of your seat type of story look else where.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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