I started playing "Evidence: The Last Ritual" a few days ago, and I can't stop playing. Here is my review for it...
"Evidence: The Last Ritual" is the sequal to last year's "Missing Since January", and is made by The Adventure Company. It is packaged in a clear case inside a plastic evidence bag.
This is the premise of the game: A serial killer, named "The Phoenix" has been commiting multiple murders in several areas of Europe, and the police cannot find him. One day, the suthorities recieved a malicious CD containing a mysterious "game". They were sure it was from The Phoenix. After a long time of trying to decrypt the CD and failing, they decided to release the CD to the public to see if they can beat The Phoenix's "Game" and try to figure out what happened to two recent people who have gone missing. This game is that CD.
The game revolves around two cases, the disappearance of Adrian Moses, who went missing in the United States, and the multiple murders commited in Europe.
The game is broken into 8 parts, each part containing multiple "puzzles" The Phoenix has created. These puzzles are hard, and I don't mean just getting a headache hard, I mean getting a brain hemorrhage hard. Most of the puzzles will just give you a very vague clue, and you will have to do LOTS of online research until you get anything even close to an answer. If you haven't used Google before this, get ready to. More than half of the game time will be spent online, researching and checking your emails.
That brings up the next interesting part, emails. Often, the game will send you emails from other "Investigators" decrypting the CD. These people are going to be your best friends throughout the game, considering the information they give you is invaluable for helping to solve the puzzles. They will also give you tools to help you decrypt some of the puzzles in the game. Sometimes The Phoenix may even send you clues via email. You will get a LOT of emails throughout the game (In total so far, I have about 100), so be sure to check your inbox often.
Now onto graphics, it's obvious that the game was made in Flash, but that doesn't detract from the quality of the game. In fact, the fact that it's made in Flash helps, since this way you can easily switch between the game and the internet, which you will be doing quite often.
The visuals and sound in the game are stunning. The combination of disturbing imagery and ambient sound make the atmosphere genuinely creepy. You will probably find yourself peering over your shoulder more than once throughout the course of the game. Most of the game involves the puzzle in a small window surrounded by nothing but black. The music sets the mood quite well, with soft ominous music and occasional distorted voice that send chills down your spine.
Overall, I give "Evidence: The Last Ritual" an 8 out of 10. Although the game is wonderful, the researching can get a bit tiring, and the massive amounts of emails do get repetitive.
"Evidence: The Last Ritual" is rated M for Blood, Violence, and Strong Language.
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