Heart of China

Heart of China is a somewhat untypical adventure game. Apart from several glitches not unique to this particular game (and to be honest, not very relevant at the time the game was published), it is very well done technically and sports some quality artwork. The gameplay difficulty is easy-to-medium and the game is not outrageously long, a skilled adventurer should be able to finish it in about half a day. The story isn't Earth-shattering but it certainly has several unique points. All in all, it's an adventure worth playing and it gets a B+ from me.

Heart of China is not your run-of-the-mill adventure game. For one thing, there are no spaceships and not even the a slightest hint of Atlantis or Knights Templar. The story in fact takes place in the "real" world (but I use quotation marks because it is not a true story, or at least I think it isn't) around the year 1930, although the "Heart of China" thing is a lie for the most part (I'll explain later). Since 1930 is technically the last millennium and China is distant from the intended target audience, I suppose this qualifies as "long ago and far away", which is always a good setting for an adventure.

Heart of China was released in 1991 by Dynamix, which was an subsidiary of Sierra and usually developed the company's action oriented games. Therefore you get some nice action sequences within the game, which can fortunately be skipped. A big achivement for all hardcore adventurers among us. The game also contains Sierra-typical elements. So you should better save often... Nevertheless Heart of China is one of the grand adventures in the gaming world and should be in every adventure-fan's collection!

Grafiken är inte alls illa konverterad från 256-färgersoriginalet, och musiken skäms inte heller för sig. Och ju snabbare maskin man har, desto fler animationer och ljudeffekter får man. Men faktum kvarstår: handlingen är tunn som vatten. Dessutom har flera av problemen alltför långsökta lösningar. Heart of China är inte direkt dåligt, men det verkar som om alla stirrat sig blinda på det estetiska och storvulna i projektet, och totalt glömt att ha en bra historia att bygga spelet på. Det relativt höga betyget får Heart of China enbart för den fina grafiken och ljudet. Spelmässigt har det inte mycket att erbjuda, vare sig för den inbitne äventyraren eller nybörjaren.

Si se hubiese tomado con el diseño un camino menos pedregoso quizá, Heart of China se hubiese perfilado como firme candidata para ser una aventura de culto, ya que el resto de los elementos tienen una factura bastante limpia. Pero en su lugar y gracias a un desarrollo poco afortunado, ha pasado a engrosar esas listas de "aventuras desconocidas".

Following the success of Rise of the Dragon, arguably Dynamix’s best known adventure game to date, Heart of China is the second adventure game title released shortly after by the developer. The game also represents the continuing effort by lead designer Jeff Tunnell to move onto a new direction to develop games that create a cinematic experience. Technically, Heart of China uses the same game engine as Rise of the Dragon. Inspired by movies such as Romancing the Stone and Raiders of the Lost Ark, the game takes the player on an adventure to many different exotic locales in the orients after World War I. Though commonly seen as being overshadowed by its predecessor, Heart of China is not a game that is to be forgotten by fans familiar with the history of the adventure genre. In fact, this game is a perfect example of how detailed and ambitious an adventure game can be made out to be.

Heart of China, then, is certainly not without its flaws. It can be a deeply frustrating game, but when it gets things right, it gets them very right indeed. The story may be clichéd B-movie fare, but it still manages to create a very real sense of excitement. The game may be full of dead-ends, but these do give a sense that your actions and choices really do matter; it's not just a case of finding the correct gameplay trigger in order to move onto the next section. Its problems are obvious, but so is its greatest success: it's a game that really does encourage you to replay it; to try different ways of approaching a situation to see what effects they might have. It certainly isn't a classic, but it does deserve to be recognised for achieving something that few other adventures even attempt, and, despite its problems, managing to be a fun game to play. It may not be perfect, but a journey into the Heart of China still manages to be a memorable one.

Keine Frage, Heart of China verwöhnt mit tadelloser Grafik und narrensicherer Steuerung, doch wo bitte ist das Spiel? Die wenigen Rätsel sind so fadenscheinig, daß selbst ein ungeübter Adventure-Laie alle Gefahren in (gestoppten und verbürgten) zwei Stunden überwunden hat. 120 Mark für 120 Minuten gebremsten Adventure-Spaß; eine hochinflationäre Tendenz, die Dynamix nicht weiter verfolgen sollte. Die "Rauhbein trifft Traumfrau"-Geschichte hätte weitaus mehr Aufregung hergeben können, so bleibt leider nur ein farbenprächtiges Nichts. Beim nächsten Abenteuer bitte mindestens 2 MByte für Rätsel reservieren und nicht alles für Grafiken verplempern.

In spite of its gameplay-related shortcomings, Heart of China can be fun for genre fans. It just doesn't last very long, because once you've figured the correct 'route' through the game out, it can easily be solved within a day.

Spielerisch ist bei der Amiga-Version genausowenig los wie beim MS-DOS-Original. Der einzige Grund, warum man die Umsetzung nicht auch in zwei Stunden durchspielen kann, ist die Trägheit des Spiels. Die Ladezeiten von Festplatte (Speicherbedarf etwa 9 MByte) sind unerträglich, die von Disketten völlig indiskutabel.