Having seen all the comments and opinions about the second Schizm game, I finally got around to playing the first one. This game definitely lived up to the rave reviews about the beautiful graphics and extremely difficult puzzles.
That being said, my impressions of gameplay: (CD version)Installed and played perfectly on WINXP. Due to the 5 disks and frequent location and character switches, the full install is recommended if you have the space. The environments are easy to navigate around in with point & click interface. ( This is nice because you don't have to worry about falling from dizzying heights or straying onto a precipice and falling to your death into the ocean.)
I thought of this often, as while playing this game I sometimes went and played some of Tombraider 3.
You play the game as Sam and Hannah, the crew of a supply ship on a mission to make contact with an expedition of science teams and specialists on the planet "Argilus". Communication is cut off, life support fails, and they must abandon ship. Each lands in a different location with poor radio contact. They now each have to figure out the numbers, symbols, and mechanical systems of this strange planet. Sometimes you have to switch back and forth between the two in order to accomplish tasks.The game immerses you into the feeling of how it would be to wander around in the alien world of another planet, far far from home. In Argilus, sound is connected to color, mathmatical symbols are totally strange, and mechanical things are organic. But the whole place is empty of it's inhabitants. Where are they? What happened?
There are 5 different areas to explore:
The Living Ship-you'll have to learn how to get to this huge organic floating island with winglike sails and use it to get from one location to another. When you reach a place, it sends out a big tentacle with a little seat.The tentacle plugs into to the wall of the next island and off you go.
The Balloon Field-You fly through a beautiful multicolored sky filled with incredible colored balloon-like air ships. You are in a "fish balloon" once you figure out how to get it working, that is. (no easy task!)
The Bosch Tunnel- a dark, mysterious place with a strange computer.
The Temple- you'll see a huge stone statue of a spaceman in here. Sort of like a space age Egyptian/Buddist temple.
Matia Island-You'll get to see how the inhabitants live-their houses, but there is noone around. This planet seems empty of life.
To sum it up, if you have infinite patience and a very mathmatical and analytic mind, you can figure out the puzzles. However, that's not me, so I did it with help from a WT.(Thanks MaG!)And even then, it's difficult.There is one sequence that is randomly solved, so you just keep at it and try not to throw your keyboard thru your monitor-if I can do it, so can you!
The trips around this beautiful, srange world were well worth the effort of sticking with this game. My only negative comment about the graphics is that when you're in dark places, inside buildings, ect. there are blocky patches and dull colors that are not consistant with the beauty of the rest of the game.
If you're a Myst fan, you'll like this one too.I give it a 4 star rating.
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