Snatcher (MCD, 1994)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-9 Control-7 (6 w/o light gun) Challenge-6 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality- 7
Overall Score-7.5
+
Good sense of humour
Very cinematic and stylish
Good voice acting for the time
Light gun action sequences break up the monotony (too bad these scenes are so rare)
Dark cyber punk atmosphere with a good amount of fluff (creating an immersive world)
Memorable locations and characters
A well done depiction of a couple drifting apart
Good length
Impressive soundtrack and ambience
The video phone
Secret optional events
Lots of gore (and some jokes about it such as the autopsy part)
Minor horror/surprise elements that might've influenced Resident Evil
Good use of colour (often close to the system's limit)
Good-great dialogue and dialogue options overall
Some good puzzles
+/-
You can get stuck if you behave very badly? (get kicked out of Katrina's house or Outer Heaven)
Very linear
Heavy on cutscenes
Influenced by Blade Runner and Terminator
-
Too many (and too long) monologues (Act 3 is almost an anime made of stills)
Advancing the story forward sometimes requires a certain number of actions instead of searching for/saying the right thing (Katrina’s house after she’s been attacked) so even if you know what to do it will take a long time doing it (you often have to repeat commands for something to actually happen)
Plot exposition that often underestimates the player’s intelligence but sometimes also speeds through important parts in non-subtitled monologues
Unskippable cutscenes
The Oleen puzzle (why would an advanced robot take such a crap picture? And the clues suck until the chess piece is both mentioned and shown – At which point the puzzle is ruined)
Plot devices (not being able to access the memory chip in act 1, seemingly logical conversation options being kept away from you, Harry doesn’t contact you about Benson etc., some ridiculous plot twists (the three women knew each other and spoke for most of the game? The Seeds had a red headed child who looked nothing like them)
Inconsistent character art
No notable side quests or difficulty options
Dated and somewhat strange interface (look and investigate are synonymous and often lead to a random action when used such as “take” or “open”)
Only 4 save slots
Sometimes easy to miss clues
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality- 7
Overall Score-7.5
+
Good sense of humour
Very cinematic and stylish
Good voice acting for the time
Light gun action sequences break up the monotony (too bad these scenes are so rare)
Dark cyber punk atmosphere with a good amount of fluff (creating an immersive world)
Memorable locations and characters
A well done depiction of a couple drifting apart
Good length
Impressive soundtrack and ambience
The video phone
Secret optional events
Lots of gore (and some jokes about it such as the autopsy part)
Minor horror/surprise elements that might've influenced Resident Evil
Good use of colour (often close to the system's limit)
Good-great dialogue and dialogue options overall
Some good puzzles
+/-
You can get stuck if you behave very badly? (get kicked out of Katrina's house or Outer Heaven)
Very linear
Heavy on cutscenes
Influenced by Blade Runner and Terminator
-
Too many (and too long) monologues (Act 3 is almost an anime made of stills)
Advancing the story forward sometimes requires a certain number of actions instead of searching for/saying the right thing (Katrina’s house after she’s been attacked) so even if you know what to do it will take a long time doing it (you often have to repeat commands for something to actually happen)
Plot exposition that often underestimates the player’s intelligence but sometimes also speeds through important parts in non-subtitled monologues
Unskippable cutscenes
The Oleen puzzle (why would an advanced robot take such a crap picture? And the clues suck until the chess piece is both mentioned and shown – At which point the puzzle is ruined)
Plot devices (not being able to access the memory chip in act 1, seemingly logical conversation options being kept away from you, Harry doesn’t contact you about Benson etc., some ridiculous plot twists (the three women knew each other and spoke for most of the game? The Seeds had a red headed child who looked nothing like them)
Inconsistent character art
No notable side quests or difficulty options
Dated and somewhat strange interface (look and investigate are synonymous and often lead to a random action when used such as “take” or “open”)
Only 4 save slots
Sometimes easy to miss clues
