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Chemicus The following report compares gadgets using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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POPULAR HAT - 2006-02-13 11:36:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.hat.net () | sitemap | top |
We just completed "Chemicus" and I can honestly say that this was a MUCH better overall attempt. Nearly all of the puzzles of the game are chemistry-related ranging from the fairly easy and logical to the pretty hard and requiring a hint or two (we peeked into the included walkthrough only a couple of times to get us unstuck).
The greatest improvement over "Physicus", however, was on the game design side. Like "Physicus" the graphics and music are lush and inviting. But, the scope of the game is where "Chemicus" shines over its predecessor. "Physicus" was just a singular environment or location to explore with very few cut-scenes and conveyances to enjoy along the way; both popular elements to a successful adventure game. In "Chemicus", even though the "subway" system was a little on the cheesy and repetitive side, at least it felt like we were transporting between unique locations (thank goodness the space bar forwards you through the animations). Plus, after solving some particularly difficult puzzles, we were rewarded with some nice cut-scenes; the balloon ride over the city being the best one. It wasn't on the same level as the bigger games like Riven and Schizm, but still an improvement.
One thing that "Physicus" did get right and that "Chemicus" fails on, is its link into the "Brain Center", the included chemistry text book. The content of the chemistry text is impressive, although, it looks as if the inclusion of animation and narration of some of the experiments and topics went by the wayside probably due to the added scope of the underlying game. What really annoyed us was the fact that we couldn't follow a link from the particular puzzle we were working on into the appropriate chapters or topics of the textbook. Along the way, you pick up "Knowledge Chips" that add chapters to your Brain Center and I suppose, if you kept up with the reading along the way, the new topics would relate to the new puzzles in the area. But, later on, when we were still working on the puzzle, it was very difficult to find those same topics in the textbook again. Like "Physicus", a link to just the appropriate topics would have been very useful.
Other than that, the game was very well written and designed. The user interface was very intuitive and easy to use. Could have done without the gratuitous, politically-correct diatribes on "greenhouse gasses" and "socially responsible science" that we have come to expect in these games (easy to ignore, though). We just started on "Bioscopia", but it looks as if that one more closely resembles "Physicus" in design and scope, bummer. I hear they are working on a "Chemicus II" game, so once we finish with URU, we will probably give it a go, too.