If a picture is worth a thousand words, the picture that would best describe playing In Memoriam is Edvard Munch's 'The Scream.' Imagine, if you will, playing an adventure game where most of the time spent playing that game was spent rifling through a filing cabinet looking for clues. That, sadly, is a good way of describing what it is like to play this game. The game developers thought they could add in occasional arcade-style games to break up the monotony of the constant rifling through unchanging means to find clues (Internet searches). These arcade-style games were a HUGE mistake. These games involve hand-eye coordination, luck, and persistence to get through them. So, one may wonder why I believe this game is similar to 'The Scream' painting. Well, that is exactly what you will do many times throughout the game due to utter frustration with the "puzzles." The little fact-finding hunts, and the intermittent arcade-style games are enough to make you go mad. Perhaps, though, that is what the developers had in mind.

In Memoriam, however, does have some good points. The overall story is rather involved, and you are left to unearth tidbits along the way. The tidbits of information given to you are enough to keep you intrigued to see how the story will end. This game is not for people without persistence. I'd imagine many would give up during one of In Memoriam's many arcade-style games. These games can be extremely difficult, and you cannot progress in the game without successfully completing them. Another point I liked of the game were the graphics. The graphics were pleasing to the eye (and the videos shown along the way were nice interludes between puzzles). Other than those two points, the vast majority of the time spent playing In Memoriam is spent hoping it would soon end. The greatest joy I got from playing this game was when I had finally completed it, and I learned how the ending played out.

Ultimately, I thought I would have felt a sense of accomplishment completing this game. Instead, I felt annoyed with myself for sticking it out and learning of the lackluster conclusion (which leaves room for a sequel to In Memoriam). I admit, I was eager to see how the story would unfold, but the developers left us with a big goose egg by the time it was all said and done.

Throughout the game, a grand total of 66 e-mails are sent to the player. The first contains your login and password information. The remaining 65 e-mails pertain to the gameplay itself. For some, like myself, this will be a constant annoyance. For others, this may be a refreshing break from the frustrating/monotonous gameplay.

If someone wanted my opinion whether or not to purchase In Memoriam, I would say skip it. The actual puzzles (minus the arcade-style games) are mostly awful. There are several pixel-hunting puzzles in the game, and most of the others make you look for the missing information on websites (which gets very boring). If the websites ever go down, the owner of their copy of Im Memoriam is left with useless game CDs. E-mails play a vital role in solving some puzzles, and the final game is played on the Internet. So, one would never be able to truly finish the game without the ending scenario being played out (if the website ever closes). If you ever consider purchasing this game, in the future, be certain that all online sources are still up and running. In fact, you would not even be able to begin In Memoriam due to not being able to create an account (which is a required step in playing In Memoriam).

One, final note I would like to offer is the added annoyance a player gets doing the Internet searches for clues, and the sifting through garbage to find them. There are numerous websites with walkthroughs, strategy guides, and forums (each in various languages) on the Internet. Well, if you type in key words to the puzzle you are trying to solve, you get numerous, other sites as junk to sift through to find what you are looking for. Hopefully, In Memoriam will be left to die (a sequel never be made), and no other developers will follow the lead of this game. The Internet plays a vital role in completing In Memoriam, and I will assume the costs of bandwidth will force the developers to close their websites and mail servers in the future.


Gameplay: F
Graphics: B/B+
Audio: F (same, repetitive clips over and over)
Story: C+ (somewhat intriguing until the end)
Overall: D/D-


Reviewed by: Gamehound

Nice stuff GameHound.

I have just dabbled in the game at this point. So far I am in between on it. The arcades were not worth including, but I think I am liking the gameplay a bit more than you did so far. Well so far

Again, very nicely worded. I will be looking forward to other reviews you want to post here.

Thanks for the kind words, gatorlaw.

Wait till you get to the arcade games in Soon (in TERRA), Zocha (in AER) and Sichet (in IGNIS) then let me know what you think. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />


Gamehound

Hey back GameHound.

I have skipped around quite a bit and cherry picked my way through the large group of "astrology" or star puzzles (?) The ones with all the weird names. I did the irritating move the dot through the maze with the pac man type bombs. Major pain puzzle. I melted that solve onto a gold master to ensure I WOULD NOT have to do it again. Well not really - but would if I could.

Not real fond of the fix the movie reel puzzle either. Actually - I haven't been thrilled with many of the puzzles I have solved so far. But having played the A.I. "cloudmakers game - the e-mail portion is fun to me. So it offsets a bit. Right now I would give the game a C, maybe a C+.

Not much higher than you - just a bit.

Do you mean that you have to go hunting on the web for clues for this game? It could be dangerous shifting through sites. One could pick up viruses and Trojans that way.

It indeed this is the way to play the game I for one do not want it.

Nah, you won't get virii. The sites that load don't load BHOs either. That is the only way I could think of a virus being sent. I've been through the game completely, and all is safe as far as the concern you address, lasanidine.


Gamehound

I enjoyed playing In Memoriam, but I love researching topics. In fact, when I was in college the library was across the street and during breaks I would go in, think of a topic I wanted to learn more about, and then research it for fun. I know that sounds odd, so I understand why a lot of people wouldn't like In Memoriam.

I enjoyed some of the arcade puzzles and some of the other types of puzzles in the game. I really liked the auditory puzzle, the film reel puzzle and the one with the laser light reflected with mirrors. I had to have my son play a couple of the arcade puzzles (the Pac-man type puzzle and asteroids-type puzzle) and he finished them within a few minutes.

I think the website searches are the game's biggest weakness, because, as Gamehound has pointed out, the sites will probably eventually not be maintained and the answers will not be there in research. Assuming you are still able to register the game and sign on, however, you would still be able to play the game if you use a walkthrough that has copied the webpages for your use, or if the game site itself just copies the pages for use for gameplay. That takes away a lot of the fun of the game but does enable you to get the answers you are looking for to complete the game. I didn't find the e-mails annoying, but they usually talked about parts of the game that I had already finished, so they didn't help me at all. I think the game would have been much better if the clues we were looking for could be found on any research site on the topic. For instance, instead of trying to find one fictional man's name, which required us to find the exact website they had created for the game, they could have asked us which Egyptian God is represented by the jackal (this is just an example that has nothing to do with the game). Then, we could have found that information on any site related to Egyptian Gods, and we could type the answer in and it would work. If they do make a sequel (and I hope they will, but that's just me), I hope they will ask general questions about topics that can be researched without using manufactured websites.

If you really enjoy research, detective/thriller games and some arcade puzzles (and a couple do require the use of the keyboard), then you might really enjoy this game.

Happy gaming,
Beth

Unless the developers make a patch, before their ultimate surmise (closing in the future), no one can even get into the game because the game requires that you create an account. No walkthrough will bypass this for you. I have tried creating an account, and saving it. I re-installed the game, loaded the save, and I was unable to get into the game. So, you either need an existing account, the company needs to be up-and-running, or the developers need to release a patch that will bypass this feature before they close their doors.

Sadly, a good walkthrough isn't enough. The walkthrough I made for Gameboomers (now posted on the Gameboomers walkthroughs page) will, at the very least, show the entire story with e-mails and what not. That walkthrough, and this thread, may be the only way to get a sense of this game in the future.


Gamehound

Gamehound? Just found this post too late
Bought the game was disappointed as 2 all this e:mail stuff really boring. this game was # 1 worst game I ever played.

Darleen

Can anyone please help me with Varis 3 rings and tabs. The picture in the w/t is so small that I cant barely see how the solution is.
Eva/Teddymamma

Thanks Gamehound for an interesting review of the game. I wasn't sure about this one & picked a copy up very cheap - personally I thought I should have been paid to take it off their hands!!!

I thought the idea of searching the internet & getting E-mails to help you solve a mystery was in theory both an intriguing & brilliant idea! In practise, I had a lot of trouble setting-up an account in the first place & when I finally did I found myself playing these impossibly difficult & tedious arcade type puzzle games that I just didn't enjoy! I gave up after the first 4 puzzles, - I have a few games I gave up on but may go back to later as I do like to finish! Not this one - I appreciate Forever Worlds much more now & would give it an A++++ etc next to this one!

Eva, I copied your request for help over to the Hints Forum. You'll find it under Teddymamma's In Memoriam. I'm sure our hint wiz's will be able to unstick you. I'm sorry I can't be more help, but I've never played this game.

Chrissie, I'm sorry you are not enjoying this game. It was definitely a game people either loved or hated. Others have also complained of the difficulty in setting up an account. I'd say it takes a lot to make someone appreciate Forever Worlds.