A captivating and graphically beautiful game but far far too short!

User Rating: 7 | Return to Mysterious Island PC
I downloaded the playable demo of this game which, subsequently, led me to buy the full version. It is graphically beautiful, a full-screen scrolling backdrop that is just breathtakingly stunning, which helps to set the atmosphere for this somewhat disappointingly short adventure, set on an island in the Pacific which has been inspired by the Jules Verne classic of similar name.
The general plot is adhered to fairly well at first although it does trend toward a disappointingly hi-tech modernistic conclusion as it nears completion. However this does not detract from the overall charm of the game.
Set in modern times it goes along the lines of a beautiful young woman being stranded on an unknown island following an accident at sea, having to survive with what she finds around her on the island (including raw materials to make food). However she soon finds out that she is not alone and that she has a ghostly companion on the island who gives her a quest . She is helped along by a monkey who befriends her after she rescues it, and together they gather all the materials they need to complete the quest given to her by none other than the ghost of the famous Captain Nemo, which once completed will ultimately lead to her rescue from The Mysterious Island.
As for the game play, the thing that attracted me more than the usual smattering of logic puzzles was the possibilities of creating new objects by combining existing inventory items, for instance, mixing three or four base objects together that are found lying around the beach to create something more useful which can be used to obtain food. But having obtained said food you still can't eat it until you collect more objects to make a fire with which to cook it. Then you have to find a place to build the fire... (Not trying to give any spoilers away here...)
This is a refreshing change as you actually have to think logically through every step of a puzzle before you can successfully complete it. That having been said there are several ways to solve a puzzle using these methods and there are usually JUST enough items around to let you solve it. Even if you make a mistake or two there is generally more than one way to solve a puzzle using different combinations of objects so all is not lost.
A lot of item combinations require a basic understanding of chemistry (acids etc.) however to offset this, there are a few clues lying about to help you out and it is not difficult to solve even the most difficult of them.
It is possible to die in the game but only near the end, and only if you choose the wrong option to solve a particular problem (or click in the wrong place). You immediately come back to life at the same spot you died at before you made that all-too-fatal wrong click.
As mentioned above, this adventure is too short and does not make nearly enough use of the objects that you eventually create in your inventory, and the over-all story arc is not overly-complicated which means it is easy to complete this game in a very short space of time (about 1 day of play should do it if you think through things thoroughly enough.)
Although I have no real complaints about this game (apart from the really really cheesy bit with lasers, phasers and floating robots (!) ) I do feel that it could have been longer and slightly more involved. The modern hi-tec does not really marry in with the Jules Verne era, which relied on electricity and mechanical technology as portrayed in the classic "20,000 Leagus Under the Sea" starring James Mason. Anti-Gravity certainly never entered into it and as for phasers...
However, this adventure does make you think and it does make you interact with the gorgeous scenery. Not to be passed over if you have a day to spare and you want something to do that is not TOO taxing.
I have given this game a rating of easy which it is, IF you examine the scenery closely enough. Once all objects are found it isn't too difficult from that point onwards...