Black Mirror I

Black Mirror I, developed by Future Games in collaboration with Unknown Identity and published by THQ Nordic, is a traditional point-and-click adventure that fully embraces gothic horror in both tone and structure. Set in the early 1980s, the game follows Samuel Gordon as he returns to his family’s ancestral estate after the sudden and suspicious death of his grandfather. What begins as a personal inquiry gradually spirals into something far more unsettling, pulling Samuel into a web of family secrets, superstition, and psychological unease. The game wastes little time establishing its identity, leaning heavily into a somber, melancholic atmosphere that defines the entire experience. One of the most striking elements of Black Mirror I is its setting. The titular manor and its surrounding environments are richly realized, offering a wide range of locations that extend beyond the estate itself into nearby villages, ruins, and other ominous sites. Each area is carefully designed to reinforce the game’s mood, with dark interiors, overcast landscapes, and subtle environmental details that hint at a troubled past. Exploration is slow and deliberate, encouraging players to examine objects closely and engage with the world at a measured pace. This approach enhances immersion, but it also contributes to the game’s overall sluggish tempo, which may not appeal to players looking for a more dynamic experience. The narrative is the game’s central focus, and it draws heavily from classic gothic literature, blending elements of mystery, horror, and family drama. As Samuel investigates, he encounters a cast of characters connected to the Gordon lineage, each offering pieces of information that gradually reveal the larger picture. The story thrives on ambiguity, often blurring the line between rational explanations and supernatural possibilities. While the premise is compelling and the themes are well-suited to the setting, the pacing of the narrative can be uneven. Some sections feel drawn out, with lengthy conversations that do little to advance the plot, while other moments rush through key developments without fully exploring their implications. Gameplay follows the conventions of early 2000s point-and-click design, with an emphasis on item collection, puzzle-solving, and dialogue interactions. Players must combine objects, use them in specific contexts, and carefully track clues to progress. While the interface is relatively accessible, the underlying design can feel rigid and occasionally unintuitive. Certain puzzles rely on obscure logic or require precise sequences of actions that are not always clearly communicated, which can lead to frustration. The linear structure further reinforces this, as there is often only one correct path forward, limiting experimentation and player agency. The presentation of Black Mirror I is a mix of strengths and weaknesses. Visually, the game excels in creating detailed, atmospheric backgrounds that capture the essence of its gothic setting. The environments feel cohesive and immersive, contributing significantly to the overall mood. The soundtrack complements this well, using subtle, haunting compositions to maintain a sense of tension and unease. However, the voice acting is a notable drawback. Performances are inconsistent, and dialogue delivery often feels unnatural, which can undermine the emotional impact of key scenes. Given how much of the game relies on spoken interaction, this issue becomes more pronounced over time. Another aspect worth noting is the game’s length. Black Mirror I offers a substantial amount of content, with numerous locations to explore and a story that unfolds over many hours. This extended runtime allows for a deeper exploration of its themes, but it also magnifies its pacing issues. The slow progression, combined with occasional backtracking and dialogue-heavy sequences, can make the experience feel longer than it needs to be. Replayability is limited, as the game follows a single, linear narrative without branching paths or alternative outcomes. Despite its shortcomings, Black Mirror I holds a certain appeal, particularly for fans of classic adventure games. It represents a style of design that prioritizes atmosphere and storytelling over mechanical complexity, offering an experience that feels more like an interactive novel than a traditional game. Its commitment to its gothic tone and its willingness to embrace slower, more deliberate pacing give it a distinct identity, even if that identity comes with trade-offs. In the end, Black Mirror I is a flawed but memorable entry in the point-and-click genre. It succeeds in creating a compelling atmosphere and an intriguing mystery, but it is held back by dated mechanics, uneven pacing, and inconsistent voice acting. For players who appreciate classic adventure design and are willing to overlook its rough edges, it offers a rewarding journey into a dark and atmospheric world. For others, its limitations may prove too significant to ignore. Rating: 7/10

A classic old school point-and-click game, but a dark horror one. IMPORTANT: Make several save files in case you mess up - otherwise you'll get stuck and will have to restart the game. I also recommend using a guide since older games, like this one, aren't always straight forward in what to do/go next. I highly recommend using TheRICH's guide :)

This game felt out of place even for me a bit 20 years ago when i finished it. Its like a antique book on a shelf, to which people can no longer understand or know how to relate to this days. This was as well my first point and click adventure game.

Slow paced and clunky, but I had an excellent time with this one. The English accent of the main character is hilarious, but generally this was a fun and intriguing spooky investigation time. I'm definitely going to play the sequels next, I have no idea how this game passed me by for so long. If you have patience for slow paced older games, I definitely recommend this.

Stará česká hororová adventura, která vyniká především atmosférou. Temné prostředí, vynikající český dabing a postupně se rozplétající příběh s nečekaným zvratem. Rozhodně stojí za to si ji zahrát i dnes.

Таинственная и мрачная атмосфера, прохожу эту игру снова и снова. Что то в ней есть притягательное. История очень захватывающая.

A reluctant recommendation for a good if flawed classic point and click adventure game, sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst. --- The Black Mirror is set in gorgeously pre-rendered backgrounds representing the Gordon estate and the surrounding countryside and rural town in Suffolk. The modeling and texture work on the environment is superb, and thanks to technology like upscaling on Steam Deck, these backgrounds have aged like fine wine. You play as not as gorgeously modeled, even if honestly animated for its time, Samuel Gordon, grandchild of the recently deceased head of the Gordon family, William. And because nobody seems to find the circumstances of his dimise suspect (falling through a window and impalling himselft on the fence), Samuel, even though he is estranged from his family, takes care of the investigation himself. All of this is entirely voice acted, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not: Samuel is somewhat very whiny in his delivery of every single phrase - buddy, I know the water of that fountain is not super translucent because the gardener has other things to do; you do not need to be this emotional about it. Although at no point did it take away from the atmosphere...then again I am a sucker for voice acting of that period, so take that with a grain of salt. To cap the basic esthetic assessment, the music is strangely bombastic at times, and mostly quiet most of the time. Saving your game feels like the most dramatic thing for example. Overall good soundtrack, just...doing a lot even when not particularly relevant to the situation. And sometimes not starting when you figured it should be dressing up the atmosphere. --- Gameplay wise, you've probably played a p&c in your life. If you're considering buying this. This one is more on the narrative side of the genre, starting relatively low in terms of puzzle density. Overall the game is more about being in the right place, sometimes with the right item, to talk to a specific NPC to have the plot move forward. The writing tends to stick the landing, both in terms of pure plot, but also in how it guide the player to the next objective. BUT... The Black Mirror has two major annoyances that tend to grind my gears. First of, the game doesn't have a journal system. You have a bar on the bottom of the screen that contains all your items, and that is pretty much it. That can be a bit of an issue when some parts of the game require talking to every NPC before accessing some new item; and you end up "running" back and forth between NPCs to get the proper arrangement of dialogues to proceed. Also, though they are rare, there are some occasions where the game poorly signals what the player is supposed to be doing. One early example of these moments is at the very beginning of the game, unfortunately: you are task with finding your grandfather's belongings that were brought to a morgue, and are then asked to be at the main gate at 7pm to retrieve the belongings...except, no, you just have to continue investigating, and point&click, and at some point later in the scenario you are teleported to the main gate "at 7pm". The second source of confusion is the use of the right click. When left clicking on interactable objects and portions of the environment, Samuel will comment on what you clicked on or pick up an item or open something. Most of the time, right clicking won't do anything...and some amount of the time, right clicking will have Samuel perform a specific action. This contextual usage of secondary actions is thankfully examplified relatively early. The problem is, that often combines with very inconsistent interactions, that can quickly transform the game in a pixel hunting fest. The game has general rooms where the cursor becomes red when something is interactable. But there are also, like in most p&c games, zoomed in areas that allow for more details on little objects. Well sometimes, an object is not interactable in the zoomed in version where you can clearly see it, but is in the general view at a distance, or vice versa. Like zooming in on a desk, you can clearly see a drawer...it’s unclickable. This might lead you to believe that it cannot be opened; well it can! If you leave the zoom and go back to the general view of the room, you can actually prompt Samuel to open the drawer. And it gets worse... In that precise case, and unfortunately in at least another one way later, the drawer can be left click to look inside it and search for items in a zoomed in screen. But you can also right click on it to get an hidden object from it...absolutely baffling! --- The game somewhat mitigates that by forcing the player to stay in a specific room if they are still required to do or find something. This is a bit of a cop out, as it would have been a better idea to make it clearer what you can and cannot interact with and not duplicate interactions on already interacted objects. But at the very least, you'll rarely find yourself completely lost as to how proceed. --- TL;DR The Black Mirror ends up being a cool atmospheric game, with a wealth of interesting dialogues and a solid esoteric thriller story. You just have to accept that the unreliable interactions will sometimes halt the progression artificially.

Первый раз я поиграл в Black Mirror где-то в конце нулевых; естественно, на пиратке, так как в те годы я, как и многие другие СНГ-геймеры, ходил под чёрным флагом и знать не знал, что такое Стим. И тогда я её сразу прошёл до конца, и это удивительно, как ±13-летнего паренька смогла настолько зацепить point and click игра, уже даже тогда выглядевшая устаревшей. И вот, спустя почти 20 лет, имея за спиной огромное количество пройденных игр да и в целом некий накопленный жизненный опыт (и аккаунт в Стиме) я решил вновь прикоснуться к этому легендарному творению чешского геймдева. Что хорошо в играх подобного жанра - они не устаревают. Вернее, устаревают, конечно, но устаревают приятно. По сути, point and click это интерактивные книги с очень минималистичными в сравнении с теми же action-играми или RPG визуалом и игровыми механиками. Это действительно жанр, который практически не развивается, и это совершенно не мешает даже старым его представителям не скатываться в некую архаику; наоборот, они продолжают также радовать своих поклонников. Такова и Black Mirror: пользуясь методологией жанра, она цепляет атмосферными локациями со статичными задниками, проработанным для того времени сюжетом, колоритными персонажами и конечно же головоломками. Если рассматривать только канонические стороны игры, то там всё сделано на очень достойном уровне: мрачные локации, выполненные в готическом стиле с элементами нео-нуара, соответствуют жуткой мистической истории, которая на них разворачивается; сам сценарий, по современным меркам геймдева, звёзд с неба не хватает, но он точно способен нагнести гнетущего саспенса (о минусах повествовательной части см. ниже); персонажи простые, но у каждого свой характер и убедительные мотивы, в соответствии с которыми они говорят и поступают; головоломки не извращают привычную логику и в меру сложные (можно пройти без помощи интернета). Это удивительно, но прохождение занимает больше 15 часов (у меня ушло 17). [b] Теперь перейдём к минусам. [/b] Как я уже писал выше, с каноническими для квестов механиками в Black Mirror проблем нет, всё выверенно и работает как отлаженный механизм. Но игра хромает в тех местах, где разработчики решили внести отличительных изюминок. К примеру, ваш персонаж может умереть. Умереть внезапно, в нескольких моментах сюжета. Автосохранений в игре нет, поэтому я очень рекомендую сохраняться самостоятельно почаще - и в разные ячейки! А то у вас может случиться софт-лок, как это произошло со мной, когда я [spoiler] истратил все патроны револьвера на слом замка и в итоге не смог защититься от волка [/spoiler]. Последнее время перед этим я пользовался лишь одним файлом сохранения, поэтому передо мной встал выбор: либо откатываться на час назад, либо искать спасительный файл сохранения в интернете. Я выбрал второе; благо, что в сети можно найти сейвы для данной критической ситуации и ряда подобных. Второй негативный момент также вытекает из желания разработчиков внести изюминку, и заключается он в том, что несколько раз за игру в ключевых этапах персонажи будут предлагать главному герою придти попозже (им нужно то что-то приготовить, то самим подготовиться). Несколько странная механика для игры, в которой нет побочных активностей от слова "совсем". То есть игроку буквально предлагается просто бродить по локациям, пока не отработает некий внутренний таймер. Думаю, это связано со стремлением то ли разработчиков, то ли издателя (и что-то мне подсказывает, что именно второе) таким вот нелепым методом увеличить продолжительность игры. Мне и повествование в последних главах показалось несколько намеренно затянутым. Но блин, зачем было растягивать квест 2003 года до 15+ часов? Это мне не понятно. Мне не понравилась русская озвучка. Видно, что актёры читают тексты без должной подготовки и без учёта контекста, поэтому очень часто не попадают в настроение или интонации. Но, тем не менее, мне неожиданно зашла озвучка психбольного в санатории. Это золото, без шуток. Ну и баги. Во-первых, осталась эта странная херь с капюшоном ГГ, который самопроизвольно то надевался, то снимался, в зависимости от позы модели. В своё первое прохождение я думал, что это такая особенность пиратской версии, но нет, и в лицензии этот довольно неприятно воздействующий на атмосферу баг присутствует. Во-вторых, ближе к концу игры у меня пропал звук в видеороликах. Пришлось доигрывать так. Ах да, играл я на Деке, управление с тачпада терпимое. Критических проблем несовместимости не обнаружил, только неудобно сохраняться - нужно открывать багующую в этой игре экранную клавиатуру. Вот, в общем-то, и всё, что я хотел рассказать об этой игре. Любителям квестов и готики (стиля) - рекомендую! Даже современному игроку и даже в первое прохождение зайдёт, так как опять же игры жанра point and click имеют свойство устаревать приятно. Только не забывайте пользоваться правой кнопкой мыши :D