Macintosh

The 11th Hour

Do any of you remember the Vincent Price classic The House on Haunted Hill? The 7th Guest's environment always reminded me a bit of walking through that house. Now what do gamemakers, dealing with the exact same environment, do to vary it and make it look fresh? Give it to a motorcycle club as an open house for the weekend. And that's exactly the condition you find the Stauf mansion in this sequel to The 7th Guest, and believe me, it works just fine.

The 11th Hour is a good game for those who are really puzzle fanatics. For anyone else, maybe not so much. As in its predecessor, the puzzles are diverse enough that it helps to have a couple of brains working on them. The more perspectives you can apply to the problem, the better your chances of solving it. I didn't really think the story was as large or cohesive as in 7th Guest or Myst. If you have a high tolerance for frustration, it might not be a bad game to take along on a road trip -- provided you have a mouse for your notebook.

Despite having only an hour's worth of video, which is doled out in snippets and a longer sequence near the end of each disk, The 11th Hour won't be solved quickly -- prepare for a significant time investment to put Stauf to rest.

Overall, 11th Hour is a mess in its storyline, its poor puzzle quality, its too-high-end requirements, and its general lack of consideration for the game player. I would not recommend this game to anyone.