Ok guys this is my first attempt at writing a review so bear with me

Hitchcock: The Final Cut

System Requirements:
Pentium 333MHZ
24X CDROM
64 MB RAM
300 MB Free Space
Windows 95/98/2000/ME

You play Joseph Shamley, a psychic private eye hired by a mysterious & mute girl. Her Millionaire
Uncle is a major Hitchcock fan, who is currently shooting a movie, only to have the entire
cast and crew disappear, accompanied by a trusty Mynah bird, you set out to solve the mystery.

This game is both mouse and keyboard controlled, while you might be thinking oh no!! The controls
on the keyboard are very simple, and shouldnt take you more than a minute or so to figure
them out.

Your menu, inventory, clues regarding people that you enocunter, and your map are all
easily accessible through a PDA, with a quick right click of your mouse.

Hitcock is divided into 5 chapters, (there could have been more in my opinion).

Be warned that if you are a little squeamish, then this game probably isn't for you.
There are quite a few corpses dotted about, some of them quite unpleasant.

The atmosphere, both of the game and the area in which the game takes place is dark
and mysterious, lots of dark rolling thunderclouds and crashes of thunder, but this
only adds to the intensity of gameplay.

For all you budding detectives out there, who love snooping through people's things, finding
secret rooms, and finally unlocking doors that could not previously open(that annyos the hell out
of me in games, when you can't go in some rooms, why put doors there?). I would
highly recommend playing!

The graphics are really well done, and some of the music is excellent.

For me personally, the only annoying aspect of the game is the Mynah bird, he does
insist on yelling Danger! Danger!! alot, probably due to his alcoholism

I have heard that quite a few people had trouble with actually playing this game, but it
installed and ran perfectly on my computer!

I really enjoyed this game, and was sorry to see it end, hope they are going to make a sequel!

WELL EVERYONE, That's my first review, I hope I didnt leave anything out.
Justine

Thanks for the review! Well done for a 1st timer!

I'm also just starting Hitchcock! I found that bird, but he hasn't followed me around yet! The only critisim I have so far is that the character you play (Shamley) looks like he's floating on the scene instead of actualy 'being there''. This is especialy evedent when he walks up or down stairs. A minor complaint, though.. and the game looks like it will be fun!

Louis

Justine, excellent review, very well done and your enthusiasm really shows. I've been on the fence about this one for a long time (mainly because of the installation woes I've read about combined with the price right now), but your line about those of us who like to snoop around - doors I can't open annoy the hell of out of me too - has convinced me that maybe I should give in finally and get this game.

One question, about how long of a game would you say it is? Or maybe how long did it take you from start to finish?

Hope to read some more reviews from you. Your review was well written and informative. Thank you!

PS Burpee, Software First is a great place to purchase games from. Very reliable and fast and reasonable prices. If you're from here in the states they also have a currency converter so it's also a very user friendly site.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback regarding my review.I was a little hesitant at first, but as I had just finished playing it, and was still fresh in my mind I thought I'D give it a go. I am glad I did

In answer to your question Kat, It says on the cover, 20 hours of game play, I would say it took me around 15 maybe?

Justine,

Excellent review.

I was definitely one of those who really enjoyed this game. Even with the few coding dead ends - I just reloaded and avoided doing what I did the first go around.

I loved the look of it. Yep I even liked the drunken Myna.

Well you can definitely write a great review so I am looking forward to any more you care to share.

Laura

I've just finished playing this game and I have very mixed reactions. I usually stay away from keyboard-controlled games, but since this game uses the mouse for the pixel hunting and inventory items, etc. I decided to give it a try. I found that while I still don't particularly like keyboard controls and prefer the mouse only, I did get used to the controls in the game quickly and they didn't spoil my enjoyment of the game in any way.
I read in some reviews that the game didn't have enough to do with Hitchcock, but I felt the game actually did include a lot of environments and references to Hitchcock, so I was happy about that. I am not a Hitchcock film pro, so I was afraid that I would miss out on a lot of the puzzles and references, but it wasn't too specific for someone who casually enjoys Hitchcock films.
The biggest drawback in the game for me was the linear game play, and I had to go back three times and start over from a previous save because I ended up at dead ends. My advice for anyone playing this game is to make a save at the beginning of each chapter and don't alter that save, because dead ends come when you have saved the game at certain points during gameplay instead of playing straight through. There were a couple of instances where two different characters were still in environments (sometimes in a see-through condition) when they weren't supposed to be there, and I assume this is because I wasn't supposed to re-visit the location at that time. This happened once and was very amusing because a bird was sitting in a room and I could only see it when I turned my character in a particular angle at a certain time, and the bird was huge! The bird wasn't even supposed to be in the room at that point. Another weird thing was that the subtitles would be right during speech in the game, but the voice would start halfway through the speech, or would only say one word and would cut off. I'm just thankful the subtitles were there, because it would have been impossible to know what was going on, otherwise. There were changes in perspective that were sometimes very distracting and inconvenient, and sometimes interesting, but on the whole I really could have used fewer attempts at trying to duplicate Hitchcock's camera angles.
I really did enjoy searching through the different environments and talking with the different characters, and I loved the fact that I could travel almost anywhere in the game even when it wasn't necessary to further gameplay. For instance, I was able to walk completely around the house and around a cliff and around a graveyard even when I had nothing to do there. I'd say the game's length is medium; I played it for about four evenings in a row for 2-5 hours at a time.
As I said in the beginning, my feelings about the game were very mixed. I think if they would have made sure all of the bugs were gone or made a patch, the game would have been a keeper.
Happy gaming,
Beth

Played the game and found it very interesting once I got the hang of the controls. JUst not long enough. As for the controls, seems I'd best get used to keyboard because my last three games (playing now) Eye of Isis, Broken Sword, and Prince of Persia are all keyboard controled.

I probably really extended the length of playing time because I had to go back and replay whole chapters three times, and I also obsessively return to all locations to make sure something new hasn't popped up. My advice on this is that if you are by the seashore or marsh and there is no building to enter, you are probably finished with that location when you have done a major thing there. If there is a building at the location, though, you probably have to continue to examine it.

I'm not sure which version I have because I bought it used from a Boomer. It has 2001 Ubisoft with a California address in the fine print on the back. It has an Arxel Tribe symbol and an Ubisoft symbol. The front says "Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Final Cut" all printed in white, with Alfred on the right and a roll of film next to him with scenes from the game on it. It's all in black and white.

I hope you will go back and play it, Becky, because very little of the game happens in the office. You are there at the beginning and then a bit at the end, and that's it (I'm assuming you mean the office at the manor). It really can be suspenseful and it's fun to snoop around. If you save your game after the beginning of every chapter and leave the save there, you should be fine. I never had a dead end where I had to go farther back than the beginning of that chapter.

Happy gaming,
Beth

I'm about ten hours into this game now, and I'm still up in the air as to what I think about it.

It installed perfectly. The only glitch I've encountered so far is that sometimes the voices cut away during conversation (as Bryansmom mentions) but the subtitles let me know everything that's being said.

I am somewhat surprised at the gore factor. I've been scared to death while watching Hitchcock movies, but I never had to dwell visually on what was on-screen -- in a game where you're searching the corpses it's kind of hard to close your eyes until the bad part is over.

I'm playing with a partner who is a Hitchcock buff. Believe me, there are a LOT of Hitchcock references in the game. There are also flashes from various movies -- most of which my partner has gleefully identified. Sometimes these aid in game play, but I think most of them are more plot related.

The plot is VERY thick right now. I'm mystified as to what is really going on. There is an extremely quirky game going on with who is involved with murdering whom for what reason. It's like a Jacob's Ladder, with domino effects going both ways and no way yet to figure out what set it in motion in the first place.

I've met the bird, but have only served it one drink.

EDIT * * * *

I just participated in the wardrobe change. Not a wardrobe "malfunction" -- this actually accomplished something. If only I looked that good in pink!

I have decided that this game feels like "Hitchcock: The Twilight Zone". Despite the plethora of Hitchcock references, it doesn't play like a Hitchcock film. It's like a Hitchcockian setup in an alternate universe. Dark and quirky.

The bird is unusually cooperative. What is its motive in helping me? I'm extremely suspicious of the bird. It IS incapable of killing, isn't it?

Second Edit * * * * *

I finished this awhile back and have been mulling it over for some time.

Graphically, it is one of the most stylish games I've played. The black and white environments with hand-tinted color is atmospheric and works perfectly with the game's plot and themes. I think they hit a home run with the graphics.

I'm not quite sure what I think of the characterizations. The hero was conflicted (and handsome) enough to be interesting. The heroine and the bird added a touch of quirkiness. Loved the bird. Many of the other characters appeared too briefly -- often for reasons of extinction.

The plot had twists within twists, and I think that is where the game lost me. I think I'll need a second play-through to really understand who killed whom and why. The information is there, I just was so confused by the various rooms and keys and clues that I only got partway toward the goal of understanding what was really going on.

The game presents a darker image of Hitchcock than I remember from most of the movies. Parts of it were unexpectedly morbid. After a Hitchcock movie, I feel I've had a brush with true evil. After the game, I felt I'd been staring it in the face for a long time.

Thanks Justine for a great review. I played this game about four years ago and remember at the time finding it difficult to get hold of. I don't remember much else except! that I didn't have any problems playing it and I sussed out what was going on. One of those games well worth replaying to see where the pieces fit in. Your review has inspired me to do that - but I have forgotten so much would probably have to replay twice!!