Review Evidence: The Last Ritual Developer: Lexis Numerique Publisher: The Adventure Company Genre: Adventure Release Date: October 2006 Platform: Review by Shannon Hall-Harris December 4, 2006		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

I’m going to do a little something different with this review by stating at the outset, I hated Adventure Company’s latest offering, Evidence: The Last Ritual.  I mean, I really, really hated it.  There is not enough space allotted in this review or enough clever turns of phrase in the English language to accurately describe the deep, gaping maw of despair I tumbled into each time I booted it up.  If I had been playing this game on my own time, I would have seen the lay of the land within two hours, and promptly traded this game for one that didn’t make me want to dig my eyeballs out with spoons. 

But wait—before you dismiss this game out of hand, let me also state that there are people who really, really loved this game.  I know this for a fact because after being stuck on the same puzzle for SEVEN DAYS, I visited message boards, wherein fans were proclaiming Evidence to be the best game in the world. Not being a member of MENSA myself, part of me wanted to reach through the vast web and strangle these people.  But the saner half knew that I had to take this into account.  I must find a way to rail at the unfairness that is Evidence, while describing it in such as way that you’ll will know whether I should put you on my list of “People to Strangle”.  Now that I have that out of my system, let’s continue. 

The first impression I had of this game was a very positive one.  I was so excited about the packaging that I delayed opening it so that I could show it off to random persons who did remarkable jobs of feigning interest.  Let me explain:  the CDs are enclosed within a clear case, and on the outside of this case is an evidence sticker. This, in turn, is enclosed in a plastic bag, with an evidence seal on the outside.  It all gives the impression of being actual evidence in an actual case, which is how the game is really played. 

For those of you who played Missing: Since January, the plot will be familiar.  The Phoenix, infamous serial killer and expert in all things esoteric is back again.  He’s not only killed the documentary filmmaker who confronted him in the last episode, he’s on a seemingly unrelated spree.  Worst of all, the Phoenix has used his latest victims as unwilling accomplices in his twisted game:  a CD he has released to the police featuring documentary footage, plus the film from another victim, and of course: twisted games.

This new victim is Jessica, a woman from Philadelphia who is desperately searching for her brother, Adrian.  Adrian had been involved in a questionable cult and had not been heard from for years.  Accompanying Jessica is her friend, Sharon.  Together they will traverse America and ultimately, the globe as their search takes them to Portugal.  Throughout the game, you’ll see film shot by this pair as part of your reward for solving puzzles and clues to further the plot.

I want to be perfectly clear here:  this is NOT a traditional point and click game.  There is nothing conventional at all about Evidence, which uses Windows puzzles (I believe they were Flash or Quicktime)  interspersed with films and commentary by the Phoenix.  The puzzles rely heavily on internet searches and clues from emails generated by the game.  Once you install the game, you’ll register to receive these tidbits and clues. 

This was actually a pretty clever idea.  I knew when I started that emails would sent by virtual characters, but there were a few that were so convincing, I thought for sure they were from other players.  This wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility, since you’re able to contact other players through a special web site, phoenix-investigators.org.  This email/ player contact/ internet search concept really does immerse you in the game. 

Being a razor-sharp internet searcher, I thought I had this game all sewed up, but boy was I wrong.  Some of the websites you’ll visit are real, and some are created for the game. Many puzzles require searching for one thing, which will lead you to another, which will lead you to another, which will offer the solution if only hazily.  Once you have solution in hand, you’re still not out of the woods because it can be difficult to execute.  Sometimes you have to grab little circles in the air and place them correctly, or corral letters that fall Tetris-style into the correct sequence, or push little bugs around so that they line up just so.  The best way I can describe the puzzle style is a group of casual games made really difficult and tied together by a single plotline.  That doesn’t really cover it, but you get the idea.

One important point I’d like to mention is that this game relies heavily on sound; probably more so than any game I remember.  There are puzzles that require you to distinguish tone, listen for and recreate a series of beeps, or simply hear sound effects that offer clues.  Also, I didn’t see an option for text to display throughout the video clips, and this could make things very difficult.  If you happen to be hearing impaired, I’m not sure you’ll be able to successfully complete this game without a walkthrough. 

Each puzzle had one thing in common:  a dark, unsettling atmosphere with ambient music to match.  Everything was black, red, smeared, scratched, muted.  The music was filled with static, pulses, and other odd sounds.  Sometimes people from the films would be featured with eyes scratched out in red.  .  The developers did a very good job of creating something that really could have come from a demented mind.  The other theme that ties the puzzles together is esoteric knowledge and the Templars.  These figure prominently throughout the game, and by the time you’re finished you’ll know more than you ever wanted to about the bloody history of this murdered sect.  Just why the Phoenix is so taken with the Templars, I’ll leave you to discover for yourself.

Now, this game had elements I always enjoy: the Templars, for example.  I’ve always loved games centered on them, as well as all the esoteric concepts the game employs.  So why was this game different?   Frankly, it was just too hard.  I hate to sound whiny, but did I mention that “7 days” thing?  There were many puzzles that took hours or days to figure out.  With that much time in between films, I sometimes lost the thread.  I would forget why I was doing what I was doing, which made the plot seem more loose and hazy than it really was.  The incredible difficulty level of this game took the fun factor out of it for me.

And I’m just going to confess here, I missed the usual perspective found in adventure games.  There were no rooms to explore, no loot to collect, no conversations to have.  Just puzzle after puzzle after puzzle, each one more maddening than the one before.  It’s an immersing game, just not in the way I prefer. 

One thing I’d like to comment on is the superb acting of the characters in the films.  Their reactions were completely believable, and there was no one I thought broke the spell.  One thing I did notice was that Sharon and Jessica, who were supposedly American, spoke with distinct French accents.  The delivery was still very good, but the accents were obvious.  I just thought it was interesting.

Now it comes down to brass tacks.  How do I rate this game?  Given how much I loathed playing it, I’d like to give it a really low grade.  (Is there a Z?)  But I can’t in all fairness do that, because this game is exactly what it’s supposed to be.  What it does, it does well, and many of you will enjoy it.  I didn’t.  So to balance that out, my final grade is C.

Final Grade: C (find out more about our grading system)

If you liked this game, then Play: Missing: Since January Watch: Seven, The Bone Collector Read: Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon

System Requirements:

• OS: Windows® 2000/XP
• Processor: 800 MHz Pentium® 3 or Equivalent
• RAM: 256 MB
• Sound Card: Sound Blaster® Compatible
• Graphics Card: 32 Bit
• CD/DVD-ROM: 8x
• HD Space: 2.5 GB
• Internet: 56.6Kbps Modem and Web Browser