Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy

I had high hopes for this game - outside of the visuals, I don't have much to write in the way of positives. After exploring Puebla Trading Post, the gameplay and storyline drop off as quickly as Chapter 7's tumble into a volcanic crater. Every proceeding level felt more and more like a grinding trek to the slopes of Mount Doom (although the Lord of the Rings references at the game's conclusion made me crack a smile). Even on the more difficult "Adventurer" mode with hints disabled, the puzzles were very simple--the most challenging part was finding all the "clickables." The ending was anticlimactic and felt rushed, if not lazy; it made the hours I'd spent slogging through marshland and jungle outposts feel more useless than the busywork I was assigned in college by professors looking to pad their gradebooks.

So, a remake of a classic point-n-click adventure from Benoit Sokal. The original game perhaps is a bit overshadowed by Syberia series, but is still somewhat popular. Anyway, I haven't played the original so will not make any direct comparison. However it is hard not to notice that Syberia games took a lot from Amerzone, literally walking same way but in the different decorations. The game starts very promisingly. It looks gorgeously and premises are mystic if not cryptic. Curious architecture of the forgotten lighthouse full of solitude and some dark secrets not yet fully revealed. Tone and atmosphere are set just right. First chapter being perhaps most puzzle-stuffed among all helps to hold the impression of a good adventure to come.  However, later things become pretty sour. First of all, following chapters take place in locations that are, however beautiful, pretty generic and secondary. Yes, jungle looks great, but it is still jungle. Actual puzzles become scarce. In general in the game there are maybe no more than four of them. All remaining tasks are collect-and-fetch ones, some repetitive mini-games and A LOT of pixel hunting if you play in harder mode. Exhausting as it is, but not really difficult. Alas, all of it is not really surprising: being second to none when speaking of art and vibes, Sokal was usually rather clueless about how to create an engaging puzzle. The story itself is a nice fairy tale or rather a parable. The main hero makes Kate Walker look a very reasonable person with his decisions, but as for a fairy tale it works. But why in Heaven he is numb?! Ok, the original game probably had its own understandable reasons, but the remake doesn't have the same excuses. How a man can still be totally speechless seeing several others literally dying on his hands, not counting all other ordeal? A mystery as great as one about the white birds indeed.  Aside of obvious gameplay issues, the game suffers from some other decisions apparently carried from the original for some reason. For example, your vehicle is constantly being transformed, but you don't get a glimpse of it aside of some silly animation on an in-cab display. Also you cannot move freely, only teleporting between pre-defined points. Come on, I'd like to take a look at so many thing there! It could have been an interesting experiment as a mockumentary game if produced in a slightly different direction. But honestly there are so many better adventures than Amerzone, so you may miss it and you will miss almost nothing.

Divertissant. Par contre, ne vous attendez pas à faire travailler beaucoup vos méninges afin de résoudre des énigmes ou à trouver le fonctionnement des mécanismes. C'est un jeu d'exploration et d'observation. Vous cherchez puis vous trouvez des objets, et ceux-ci activent les mécanismes. Rien à avoir avec des jeux comme Quern ou la sage Myst. Note: 7,0/10

Very old school, story driven adventure game. These types of games not common these days. You have to read everything and pay attention to every detail. Graphics and sound are very immersive. I'm enjoying this game quite a bit more than expected.

Was für ein tolles Spiel. Wer die Myst- oder Syberia-Spiele liebt, für den ist dieses Spiel genau das Richtige. Ich kenne das Original leider nicht, finde aber dieses Spiel großartig gestaltet. Super Grafik, eine tolle Story und auch die Auswahl des Schwierigkeitsgrades bzw. deren Hilfefunktionen waren für mich perfekt. Allerdings finde ich es schade, dass das Spiel so abrupt endet und für mich viele Fragen offen bleiben. ACHTUNG AB HIER NICHT WEITER LESEN WENN MAN NICHT GESPOILERT WERDEN MÖCHTE: - Wie kommt er nach Hause? oder ist er etwa auch verloren? - Kommt das vertriebene Volk zurück um zukünftig das Ritual für die Vögel wieder durchzuführen? - Wer ist die junge Frau, die ihn rettet? (ich schätze wir denken alle das Selbe :-) ) -Wie nimmt Amerzone die Information auf, dass der Diktator weg ist? Ich hätte es auch wundervoll gefunden, wenn ich (nach Heimreise) als Journalist einen Artikel hätte veröffentlichen können, in dem ich den Ruf von V. wieder hergestellt hätte und als Anerkennung dafür meinen Journalisten-Ausweis bekommen hätte.

Tedious, if good-looking. The first area (at the lighthouse) was by far the most entertaining to me; the next 3/4 of the game mostly felt like a slog.

Un véritable chef d'oeuvre. Musique, ambiance, écriture, gameplay. Tout y est ! Un véritable travail des artistes qui ont rendu ici le plus bel hommage qu'ils pouvaient faire à Benoit Sokal. Habitué des jeux d'aventure et jeux PC tout court depuis environ 30 ans, je peux dire que celui-ci est au Panthéon de mes titres. Quelle surprise ! je l'ai découvert tout à fait par hasard. Je possède la version CD originale, j'avais déjà beaucoup apprécié à l'époque et même en connaissant l'histoire, je reprends ici l'aventure avec énormément de plaisir et de nostalgie. A faire pour tous. Le seul petit défaut à mon avis c'est que l'on se sent parfois trop pris par la main. Mais après tout, les aides dans le jeu sont facultatives.

Hanno migliorato quello che già era un capolavoro, da piccolo amavo questo gioco, ricordo quando lo giocavo con i miei genitori e ne ho sempre portato un bel ricordo. Mi dispiace solo che non sia presente il doppiaggio in italiano, per il resto hanno fatto davvero un ottimo lavoro aggiungendo anche qualche piccola chicca per le vostre esplorazioni.

Great remake of the 1999 original. The graphics are stunning and the developers have a added a lot of additional background content which can be explored during the course of the story.

Бенуа Сокаль створив не просто гру, а справжню інтерактивну картину, де кожен кадр дихає містикою, затишком та легкою ностальгією. Гра занурює у дивовижний, дещо меланхолійний світ, де технології першої половини XX століття вигадливо переплітаються з дикою, незайманою природою Амазонії. Історія про пошук загадкових Білих Птахів та спокуту старих гріхів тримає біля екрана до самого фіналу, викликаючи щирі емоції. Подорож на «Гідрофлоті» — універсальному апараті, що трансформується під різні умови, — дарує унікальне відчуття першовідкривача. Загадки логічно вплетені в сюжет і дослідження світу, вони змушують подумати, але не ламають темп оповіді безглуздою складністю. Це ідеальний старт для тих, хто хоче доторкнутися до витоків культової серії Syberia та відчути чистий дух пригод.