Missing Since January Review

When I got this game, I really didn’t know what to expect. When I opened it, I was still unsure. It was like a mystery. You are told nothing on the box about what may be inside (apart from the names of two people who have gone missing), but when you found out, it is truly original.

Jack Lorski and Karen Gijman have both gone missing. Ironically – they were researching why the same thing happened to someone else. The CD used to play the game is supposedly the CD left at the scene where the pair was last seen.

Jack and Karen work for SKL Networks who have distributed the disc in hope that somebody may decipher the contents. You have to ‘register’ to the network and supply a username. A password is then provided so that you can login to the program and extra features on SKL’s website. Once registered, you are part of a ‘team’ – you and two others (no, they aren’t other ‘real’ people playing the game – but expect to receive emails from them with hints), now you can enter the CD.

The content is almost disorientating and you have to think your way around it. You are met with many puzzles – and for each one you complete, you are shown more and more of a video that Jack and Karen were making on their quest. The puzzles range in difficulty and many require you to use the internet to find the answers. A very original part of this game is the fact that many websites have been made for it and they must be used in order to help solve the mystery – not only websites have been made, but characters who will email you, and even reply if you ask a question – that, to me, is truly innovative.

This game is very hard to score in many of the fields. Sound and visuals do not necessarily play a huge part in the game – but the way they are portrayed is very effective. They totally match the style of the game and immerse your mind in the puzzles. Heck, it may even scare you sometimes! For this reason, they are going to score quite highly.

The game play couldn’t be better – your limit is your imagination. The fact that you are not stuck on the program to play the game, but you have the internet at your fingertips and must find what you need. I don’t like to say things are better than they are, so I’m not going to. Creativity scores as high as possible for the simple fact that the idea is great and I have never seen things done before that are done in this game.

The one thing that takes away from this game is the replay value. If you’ve solved the riddles once, you’ve solved them a 100 times. In summary – this game is a must buy if you are unsure what to get. If you like adventure games, you will love this and I would gladly recommend it to anyone.