DOS

The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge

Det enda som stör mig lite är att många av objekten i spelet är "osynliga", och ligger gömda i lådor, under sängar eller i högar med bråte. Det vill till ett vilt pixelklickande för att hitta dem, något som kan kännas lite frustrerande ibland. Annars är Malcolm min absoluta favorit-bad guy. Det var verkligen ett snilledrag att göra honom till stjärna. Missa honom inte.

Alle Jahre wieder beschehrt uns die vorweihnachtliche Spiele-Flut eine Fortsetzung der Kyrandia-Saga. Auch heuer ist auf die Westwood Studios Verlaß: Nach dem edelmütigen Brandon und der selbstbewußten Adventure-Emanze Zanthia bekommt endlich der heimtückische Hofnarr Malcolm seinen großen Auftritt.

Great characterizations; simple interface. So-so graphics except in the Windows Mode; interface can get in your way. Tricky puzzles; hilarious dialog; no single right way to win; provides a challenging and entertaining adventure.

It still doesn't quite have the intangible magic of (aargh) Monkey Island, but Malcolm's Revenge is a great game. People who enjoyed the first two instalments will be especially pleased with it.

What I love about the game mechanics is that you just click on whatever or whomever you want to interact with. There's no cumbersome interface to navigate every time you want the character to interact. The puzzles, while being ingenius and hilarious, are incredibly difficult, and if you can work your way through without reaching for a walkthrough, you should apply to become a Kyrandian Royal Mystic. I hear there's a vacancy.

Das Westwood-Adventure präsentiert sich noch edler und geschliffener, was Präsentation und Bedienung angeht. CD-ROM sei Dank sorgen Sprache, größere Spielfiguren und herzhafte Musik für eine vielversprechende Atmosphäre. Ex-Bösewicht Malcolm als Held ist eine Idealbesetzung; für alte Kyrandia-Kenner ist die Story besonders reizvoll. Die Puzzles begewen sich auf einem vernünftigen Grad zwischen Anspruch und Lösbarkeit - zumindest meistens.

The creative team at Westwood have succeeded in producing a thoroughly entertaining game, easily the best of the trilogy so far, with a good balance of typical adventuring fare and elements thrown in for pure fun. This is one game where it really does pay to try everything, everywhere, on everyone, not because of the frustration of not knowing what else to do but just to see what reaction you get.

At a time when most of the industry seems to have "gone Hollywood", with everyone scrambling to get "big names" for digitized animations and voice-overs, and pushing the edge for whiz-bang graphics and sound effects, it is nice to see at least one company is concerned about content over gloss. Westwood may have gone a little too much on the obscure side, but at least they were listening to the game players, and went for "toughing up" instead of "dumbing down".

If I were not reviewing this game I would have never bothered to complete it. I am a great fan of Westwood Studios work and look forward to their future projects, but in my opinion save your money for another game. If your looking for a good Kyrandia game then buy Kyrandia 2, in my opinion it is just a much better game, and far more enjoyable.

It's a pity that the game design is so shoddy. Playing the bad guy is a refreshing change, and it's good to see the game making fun of its own clichéd plot. I really want to like the game, but due to the nature of its gameplay (for the third time, but it can't be said often enough: tedious), it's close to impossible. Pity.