Gamespot must truly detest adventure point & click games.

User Rating: 8.5 | Memento Mori PC
I've already learned to ignore GS's scores for adventure games but I cannot stand how some people here may give up this awesome game just because of GS' prejudice ._.

Three raw words about the plot. In the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg suddenly all security cameras stop working but nothing seems to be missing. There's a suspicion that some painting has been replaced by a perfect copy. You play two characters in turns, an Interpol detective Lara, and a reformed art forger Max, your main task is to find out what happened in the museum. The main plot is definitely dominating, but I like how the stories of different characters are being told as if just by a coincidence.

I enjoyed this game a lot and I was playing it for the whole two days with hardly any break, it was totally engrossing, so it was hard for me to avoid being enthusiastic at some points.

Memento Mori is a 3D point and click TPP game. I still prefer 2,5D adventure games because they usually have hand painted backgrounds and simply look prettier but the moment I started this game I've got delighted with the lighting which is truly amazing. I love how dynamic lights in the disco were changing the room in such a natural way, I loved the day turning into evening and evening into night. I'm also glad the game isn't real time only, but has many amazing cinematic movies. The character models could be a little better, they shine too much in sharp light (textures have similar effect to those in TR Legend in NG mode, so shiny) and also hardly move their mouths, but generally I was impressed.

...::: Graphics 8/10 :::....

When I was still trying to sort my first impression about this game I came across first people I could talk to and interact with. I must admit the background characters are very realistic, they do not only answer the questions but have their unique character, sense of humor and there's always some short story about them. Even some people you cannot interact with will interact with you by using the same elevator as you, or by saying 'good morning' in the hall. It's amazing how they aren't just another background objects. There's also one more feature I loved: when there are two characters next to each other they usually have a conversation, but you won't be able to hear them until you come closer. At that time a small sentences can be seen above their heads that become the more visible the closer you are. But beware, when you come to close they may stop talking and start to stare at you until you go away -_-" This game was really well thought out. Those small details are amazing.

Not only characters, there's more to that, eg. when you need to pick something bigger you don't put it in the pocket, neither you have to throw everything else from the inventory (SL2, hint, hint) but you are simply holding it in your hand until you use it or place in back where it was. Simple and amazing. You don't have to put it back to do other things, you can hold it and still talk to people, a thing that's usually impossible in other adventure games. When you check the computer Lara or Max move the chair away and the camera flies smoothly to the monitor screen. When you call the elevator the numbers of floors change depending on where the elevator really is. More to that, you can turn around each object and search them from each side, that's probably the biggest advantage of a 3D environment.

I loved the riddles. No more abstract things like connecting a phone with a cat, this game is full of logical tasks, whenever there's a problem you simply think of sth you would do in real life and that's exactly what need's to be done in a game. Sometimes there's more than one way, eg you can enter the house by room window or basement window, but you try the easier way first and find out it's not the right one. Once I thought I bought the wrong thing and wondered if I need to load the last save but it just occurred that I didn't take the change money from the vending machine which I can use to buy again. There's also some readings to do, some things to conclude on the base of notes, a lot of logical thinking. Maybe I was just lucky but I didn't stuck at all, I always knew what I needed to do after another task. How to make a small girl trust you? How to make a drunk aggressive punk leave the club and not get into fight? You just have to listen and you'll know.

...::: Riddles 10/10 :::...

The dialogs are great. I loved the narrator's voice. Lara's Russian accent was really good. I can swear they used the sound of an open door from Tomb Raider 2, it's exactly the same! The music was also very TR-a-like, beautiful at times, sometimes nostalgic, but also energetic and riveting. I liked the music in the disco, as far as I remember, it changed several times when I revisited it.

...::: Sound 9/10 :::...

The only flaws I encountered were two missing dialogues (you could read the subs but there was no sound) and at some point of the game there was one vagueness. An object has been taken away, yet if you enter the room where it was taken from it was still there. That's all.

I wanted to give this game 9.0 (which I rarely do in case of adventure games) until the ending which turned the good, down to earth plot into something paranormal and I didn't really liked that.

Once again, I'm glad I can recommend another amazing game. It's logical and engrossing, good for beginners, a must for keen adventure point & click game fans.




...:::: Trivia ::::...

Inspired by Tomb Raider? The main protagonist is called Lara, she wears plait in the beginning, the sound of opening the door in the museum underground (after going down the ladder) is 100% the same as in TR2, and in one scene she says: "This place gives me the creeps" which is the very first Lara's utterance in TR: The Last Revelation. I truly enjoyed those little references, too many to be a pure coincidence :)