Reviewed: March 29, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Got Game Entertainment
Developer
Knut Mueller
Released: Q2, 2003
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
7
6
6
6
6.9
System Requirements
Mac System Requirements
Rhem is one of those adventure games that pays homage to the old QuickTime adventures made popular in the late 90’s. You are thrust into the game with very little background info. In fact, you will need to explore a surprising amount of territory before you even get a grasp of why you are here or what you are doing. The opening of Rhem has you riding around a sophisticated rail system (think Riven) that drops you off at your first encounter.
You meet a mysterious stranger who steals your mine car and leaves you behind to start the adventure. Your main objective is to collect a letter, conveniently torn into four pieces and scattered to the four winds. Find these and assemble the letter and return it to the author’s brother to essentially win the game.
If it sounds easy you are right. This game is exploring and puzzle-solving at its most basic. There is no huge story to follow, only a huge world and amazingly difficult puzzles. There are no subtle clues and a surprising lack of available information to read during the game. This is one of the few games that actually has more gameplay than narrative.
Rhem takes place in a rather large world with multiple locations, complicated paths, landscapes, and buildings with multiple entrances. There are trap doors and ladders that extend the game in the vertical dimension and some levels can only be accessed during certain times or after certain objectives have been completed.
The puzzles are quite challenging including the very first one that you need to solve before you can really get started with the rest of the game. You are going to have to be ultra-observant and really good and analyzing clues. While all of the puzzles are rooted in the environment and mechanical in nature, many are based on some pretty far-out concepts that will skim right over the heads of all but the most seasoned of adventurers.
The best part of this game is that there is no pixel hunting as has become popular in games of this sort. You simply move your cursor to the edges of the screen to change the view or move in a new direction. Anything else you need to click like levers, buttons, and switches are all fairly obvious. The cursor will change shape to indicate various actions that can be taken.
Another feature worth mentioning is the unlimited save games. This makes it easy to try various things without the risk of playing huge parts of the game over if you fail. If you screw up a puzzle you can simply reload and try again, assuming you saved earlier.
Gameplay is presented in a slideshow style much like the Myst games. There are a few transitional effects and some excellent water, even though it isn’t animated. The design and textures are beautiful with lots of earth and rustic patterns, and while they might not compare to the high-budget titles, they look really good for an independent release.
Locked down to 640x480 and 16-bit color you will need to manually adjust your monitor setting prior to playing. I always find this annoying - DirectX auto-switching has made me lazy – and if you insist on playing in high-res be prepared to play in a tiny window in the center of your screen.
There is only a limited amount of movies, about 15-minutes worth and all of the QuickTime variety. These are good quality although they appear in a much smaller section of the screen than the normal game. The opening rail ride is several minutes which is a stark contrast to the incredibly short an unrewarding closing movie, although you do get a nice fly-through of the game after you have completed it.
The sound effects of Rhem are quite nice and compliment the graphics in a minimal way, but there is a distinct lack of music. This might be an issue for some but I found it surprisingly refreshing.
Rhem is a very long game, huge actually, partly because of the difficulty and partly because of the sheer scope of the world design. Experienced adventurers can look for 20-30 hours and everyone else can double that estimate.
As with most adventures, the gameplay and puzzles are all linear and there is no real reason to revisit the game after you have finished it. Even so, at only $29 Rhem is one of the better values you can currently find for your PC right now.
If you enjoyed the Myst series of games or want to relive those retro-adventures from the late 90’s then Rhem fits the bill perfectly. The graphics are surprising good and support some devious puzzle designs that require careful exploration and all of your analytical skills. Best of all, you aren’t weighed down by a convoluted and often unnecessary story. This is puzzle solving at it’s best.