The Lost Crown
Review
Black & white adventuring never was this good
by Caitlin Roberts
reviewed on PC
Gameplay
The gameplay, at its most basic level, is exactly as advertised. The Lost Crown is a point and click adventure game. This means that you shouldn't be expecting too much in the way of action and excitement. It moves along at a measured pace, and you can't get to certain points –or indeed even look at certain items without the right equipment– until you have reached a point in your mystery solving that the clues provided will actually make sense. The game is sometimes slow at the beginning; there were a few points which were positively tedious, in fact, as I returned over and over again to find the missing clue which was stopping me from doing anything else.
But as the game progressed the 'action' and the tension increased in intensity to the point that there were, I must admit, several screams torn from my throat as things jumped out at me on the screen. Most of the puzzles were logical once you resolved the trick of them, and it was fascinating to run the different pieces of paranormal equipment over different special items in order to discover the necessary clues. Even repeated attempts with the same equipment, on a few items/places, provided you with new information on the second, third or even fourth try. The use of the video recorder's night vision created an opportunity for the game play to flip between first and second person, which provided variety and a few interesting plot twists, to say nothing of increasing the tension at some points later in the game.
Visual Effects
I found many of the 'visual effects' in The Lost Crown to be unique in my experience. When I first started up the game, I was worried that somehow my graphics card wasn't up to the requirements because everything was coming up in black and white or eerie bits of static green on CCTV consoles in the security control room. In fact, the majority of what you will see in The Lost Crown is in black and white. This brought to the foreground two main elements for me. First, the splashes of color are jarring, eye-catching, and attention-grabbing when they do occur. It really bothered me at first, truth be told, but eventually I adjusted my perception to accept it; when color was splashed across the screen it actually felt excessive. I certainly hope this was the intent of the developers; if so, they succeeded fantastically. Second, the digital re-imaging of real locations filmed for the purposes of the game are extraordinary. It was not something I truly appreciated at first, but again, I found myself adjusting and enjoying as the game progressed.
There were some issues, of course. The animation of the people was not remotely lifelike. In particular the body movements; I have never seen so much ‘forward-motion moonwalking’ in my life. The voices were out of sync with the characters' mouths. I found I needed to concentrate on the text version of the conversation rather than the faces, just to avoid becoming obsessed with this particular problem.
Engrossing
Overall, I found that I enjoyed The Lost Crown far more than I had expected to, but occasionally there were slow spots, irritating stalemates which would not allow you to move forward without that one missing clue. The animation of the characters themselves leaves a lot to be desired and the grammar and spelling in the game is absolutely appalling. All in all, the game was engaging, engrossing; and well worth the time and distraction away from other pursuits.
8.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
