Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine

I seriously cannot recommend this game even for the most avid fan of point and click adventure games. The first few acts are actually good at opening the game and the early puzzles are decent to play. However the game just doesnt do enough to overcome its drab and boring main character and terrible voice acting (although some parts are quite amusing due to the funny foreign accents). The puzzles actually get worse as the game goes on and ultimately end with silly cat and mouse mini games and a tile mosaic game. What opens as an intriguing story ends up being a huge anti-climax. Avoid. Uninspiring - 4/10

"Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine" ist im Kern ein klassisches Point-and-Click Adventure aus dem Jahre 2006 und erinnert an alte Sierra oder Lucasarts-Titel. Wir klicken uns durch Bildschirme, sammeln Gegenstände ein, kombinieren oder benutzen sie und reden mit anderen Charakteren. Alles eingesammelte verstaut sich in einem stets zugänglichen Inventar. Es gilt für das aktuelle Problem die richtige Lösung zu finden. Dabei ist das Spiel in mehrere Kapitel eingeteilt, funktioniert also recht linear, auch wenn wir immer wieder an die gleichen Orte zurückkehren. Der schüttere Mitvierziger und Schwerenöter Al Emmo strandet mit Geldmangel und Kopulationsdrang im Wilden Westen. Eigentlich durch eine Anzeige auf der Suche nach einer Partnerin, kommt wie immer alles anders als er denkt. Protagonist und Haltung sind eindeutig an Larry Laffer angelehnt. Und ist schon das Original kein Ausbund an Intelligenz und Niveau, greift "Al Emmo" nochmal weitaus tiefer in den einlaufbefüllten Kübel. Kein Klischee wird ausgelassen, keine Zote übersprungen, kein Wortwitz ist zu flach, keine Anspielung zu platt. Schafft es das Original noch sich über seine Niveaubefreiung intelligent lustig zu machen, wird hier alles Selbstreferentielle zum Holzhammer. Dabei ist das Adventure aufwändig gemacht, ziemlich lang und umfangreich, komplett vertont, teils durchaus liebevoll gezeichnet. Auch technisch funktioniert es gut. Alles läßt sich mit Maus steuern. Auch die Rätsel sind größtenteils ganz ordentlich gebaut und meist in ihrer Absurdität doch logisch. Und auch einige Ideen sind prinzipiell gar nicht mal schlecht, etwa der Ladenbesitzer, dessen Ziel es ist, ein möglichst geringes Sortiment anzubieten. Was dem Game das Genick bricht, ist seine Stillosigkeit, seine Geschmacksbefreiung, seine hirnlose Pseudokomik. Alles ist derart altbacken, anachronistisch, schlechter Alt-Herren-Humor, für den sich selbst die Fünfziger geschämt hätten. Besonders grottig ist die umfangreiche Vertonung (ich habe die englische gespielt). Ständig diskutiert der Protagonist mit dem Erzähler, beide liefern lupenreines Overacting der ganz peinlichen Schule, setzen sich auf jeden nicht vorhandenen Gag drauf und meinen auch noch, witzig zu sein. [h1]Wertung:[/h1] 4/10 Atmosphäre 3/10 Story 5/10 Grafik 3/10 Sound 7/10 Spielmechanik 6/10 Balancing 4/10 Spielspass [h1]Fazit:[/h1] Umfangreiches und mechanisch gutes Adventure, das man aber nur bei Zoten- und Kalauerresistenz erträgt. [h1][b]5/10 Gesamtwertung

Pros: - Very good dialogue writing, lots of healthy humour - Every possible action on every object is cleverly narrated, it's a joy exploring every new location item by item - Voice acting is next to ideal - Music is next to ideal too Cons: - Solving some acts involves lots of walking King Quest 1 style. Not a problem for an old-school adventurer, but a contemporary player could use a more detailed map with more warp points. - Some characters, like talking groundhogs, do not get in the overall picture well Overall, the game is a good, solid quest leaving very pleasant impressions. Good job Himalaya Studios!

Like many other reviewers, I picked up this game because I enjoyed Himalaya Studios' other adventure games (which are free to download) and wanted to support them. Though I don't like Al Emmo as much as their free games, it's still pretty good quality and is decently long by adventure game standards. The gameplay is what you'd expect from a Sierra-style adventure game. You walk around a large world full of many different areas, collect items, talk to people, and solve puzzles. The game isn't as hard as the early 90s Sierra games (constant death won't be an issue) but some of the puzzles weren't explained quite well enough for me to figure them out. I might just be bad at puzzles, though, and your mileage may vary. The interface left a little to be desired-- to cycle through the different mouse icons, you have to right click, and with the amount of icons there are, this gets annoying quickly. I would've liked the ability to use the scroll wheel to cycle through them, but it's not too bad. I also wish the game better explained its controls-- you can double-click to make Al Emmo run, but I didn't know that until the last few minutes of the game. The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. Character animations are made using pre-rendered 3D models, which don't look too great. On the other hand, the 2D assets are all quite good. The area backgrounds and comic-book style cutscenes in particular stand out as exceedingly beautiful. These were all clearly meticulously crafted and it's really amazing and fun to walk through the game's many areas. It's a little disappointing that they aren't a higher resolution, but with the game's budget, and the fact that it was made with the AGS engine in 2006, I can understand why the decision was made. The writing is also a mixed bag for me. Though the voices are pretty great, the writing is a little spotty. Sometimes the dialogue comes off as awkward or unrealistic; if you've played Himalaya Studios' free King's Quest 2 remake, it's pretty similar to that level of quality. The script is, of course, intended to be mostly comedic with some light story to keep the game moving along. The game's comedy relies a lot on sexual humor, which isn't really my style, but that's a matter of personal taste. A lot of the humor also breaks the fourth wall, which can be funny, but also sometimes gets a bit too heavy handed and ends up being awkward. I've been saying a lot of negative, but there's a lot to love about the game too! Beyond the beautiful graphics, the game is meticulously detailed. Since you can click just about anywhere, everything can be interacted with, and there are some fun (and funny) combinations to find if you try to put your hands (or your items) in unorthodox places. There are a lot of unique animations to find as well! Trying to click on everything is a must in this type of game. Hours of fun can be had seeing all the game has to offer! Overall, Al Emmo is a decent-to-good game. It's not the best when it comes to this style of adventure game, but it's certainly worth the price. If you enjoy Himalaya Studios' free games, I'd highly recommend this.

I had to play this in window mode to avoid crashes. If you do not mind just how similar this game, especially the main character, is to Leisure Suit Larry, try this game. It is more subtle, and the wild west environment makes for an exciting effect. The ending might come as a surprise to some, but to me, it felt right! There are few games where the hero undergoes a major character development, and this game is one of them! Would recommend!

It's a cringier version of Leisure Suit Larry.

Good gameplay! Although, I wanna punch Al Emmo in the face. A lot.

Pros: + Humor of the chat dialogs + story writing is excellent + Detailed for its time Cons: - AGS game, pixelated graphics - uncomfortable interface

Непонятная русскому обывателю игра что и как надо делать. Для англоязычных мб и сойдет. Пиксельная графика ну такое в общем. Если абузите карточки то сойдет ...)

I love adventure games, from Sam & Max to The Shivah to Machinarium to Nelly Cootalot. I'm a fan of Leisure Suit Larry, I like Freddy Pharkas well enough, and I willingly suffered through all of Runaway: A Road Adventure, so I'm pretty much the target demographic for Al Emmo. I lasted 9 minutes before uninstalling the game. Offensively stereotypical characters. Tactless and cringey dialogue. An unappealing mishmash of graphical styles. A fixed screen resolution that stretches the game to unsightly proportions on my monitor. A mouse cursor that leaps across the screen with the slightest touch. I have rarely dropped a game so quickly. Normally I try to find *something* positive to say, especially about games from smaller studios, but...I'm sorry. I can't this time.