Reviewed: January 24, 2005
Reviewed by: Roger Cox

Publisher
The Adventure Company

Developer
Kheops Studio

Released: November 3, 2004
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

8
9
8
8
8.5

System Requirements

The Story: “On an uncharted topical island, anything is possible. Alone on an around the world sailing expedition, the adventurous and determined main character Mina, becomes stranded on the shores of a wild and apparently uninhabited island. While exploring her new surroundings, she uncovers artifacts, living spaces, and old technologies that were left behind by the people who came before her. Desperate to get off the island, Mina builds a temporary home from the remains of a granite house, uses her survival skills against the wilds of the jungle, and befriends a small monkey who becomes her helper and ally. During her journey, Mina becomes aware of a figure in the shadows… Could this be the unsettled ghost of the legendary Captain Nemo? Piecing together hints and clues he provides, Mina must travel to the well hidden Nautilus to liberate the island.”

In this game you will take on the role of Mina and solve a variety of clever puzzles using your surroundings in order to return to civilization. The only thing you are wearing besides your clothes is a satellite phone/GPS/multimedia device located on your wrist. This helpful device doesn’t work at first, but later on it becomes a critical device in telling the story of this game, along with helping you identify items you find.

Mysterious Island is a simple point-and-click game that takes place in the first person perspective. The difference here is that you must click each time you want to move a series of steps. What I mean is that you must click the direction you wish to go and the game will take you to the next closest predetermined spot.

The game play is pretty basic as well, simply find the items around you and figure out how to combine and use them on the island. Thankfully, you have a lot of inventory slots to put your items in, even though you won’t necessarily have to use all of them. But it seemed to me that everything you find has some purpose. For example: A dry palm branch can be used with a magnifying glass to create a fire. That’s only one example, but just remember that this game is all about combining and using items in order to proceed through it.

Combining items takes place in your inventory menu and it’s very easy to do. Simply drag the items over one another that you want to combine. If they are compatible then they will be put together and form a new item. Sometimes you will need to form a new item, use it, then break it apart so that you can use the individual components on another puzzle.

The cursor serves as your navigational waypoint. A blinking white circle on it indicates your ability to proceed that direction. Since you forgot to bring your trusty compass with you, this serves as a nice guide.

Because there is no free roaming, Mysterious Island at times manages to feel narrow, like a hallway. One way Kheops Studios tried to make the game feel, more open, is by making the paths you travel on crisscross. Although it helps, I believe that you can never create a true adventure game that doesn’t let the gamer discover their own paths. Mysterious Island leads your hand through the game and it’s your job to figure out how to get around the obstacles.

There is no auto-save feature, like most of us love. Nevertheless, the game is kind enough to remind you to save before letting you exit out. Thanks for the reminder. If it weren’t for that, I would have lost my data.

Options for this game are mysteriously scarce. You can change/turn:

1. The video rendering from hardware to software (or vise versa)
2. The camera rotation speed
3. The subtitles on or off
4. The volume level up or down

Most people would never think about playing a single player puzzle game with someone else, and neither did I until one day when my friend unexpectedly dropped in the office. I pulled up another chair and he watched as I continued to play Mysterious Island. Quickly realizing that this single player, puzzle game would bore my poor friend to death, I decided to save it right after I completed the puzzle I was working on. I explained to him the puzzle and he sat by and studied the situation with me. He was the first one to discover the equation to my problem and it was at that point that he was hooked.

We ended up trying to out-think the game for 6 straight hours. We eventually tired and quit for the day. But as the saying goes, “sometimes two brains are better than one.” This game requires patience; make sure you have a ton on-hand.

The cut scenes are hand-drawn, minus the introductory movie and look pretty crude. But they some how manage to add a piece to the game that would otherwise be missing. They aren’t terrible, just extremely simple and bland. Normally the cut scenes happen when you create or do something. For example, striking up a fire or cracking open a coconut to eat.

There seemed to be one long, continuously repeating background musical score that comes and goes throughout the game depending on where you are located. In some areas, the background music stops and all you hear are the birds chirping and the rustling of leaves in the wind. The background music may become repetitive after several hours, but it complements this game by adding the essential theme music.

Another thing that is repetitive is the main character’s many “one-liners” that she repeats each time you click on something. However, you can interrupt her while she’s talking. So if you make the mistake of clicking on something more than once, you don’t have to pay the price.

As far as voice acting is concerned, it’s good, but no-where near great. At times the main character you play as sounds either insincere or like she’s reading the script.

It should be no surprise to anyone familiar with the author Jules Verne that the story in Return to Mysterious Island is one that is very enjoyable and entertaining. Throughout your adventure your satellite phone is on the frits. At one point your mom calls, but you can’t talk, you can only listen to her. At other times you receive news reports about your disappearance. All the way through the game the story flows well, and all the pieces eventually fit together. It’s an extremely pleasant adventure where its only real fault lies in is its short length (approximately 15 hours long).

I seldom ever talk about a game’s box art, but Mysterious Island’s is a perfect fit. You could honestly buy the game based solely on the box art and get what you expected. The only thing you can’t tell by looking at the box is the exact style of gameplay it uses. One would most likely assume it to be similar to a Myst game, but it’s not abundantly clear from reading/looking at the box. Check it out at a store or online and see what you think.