Majestic: Special Edition

Moby ID: 5282

Description official description

Previously only available online, this boxed version brings together the software for episodes 0-4 of the online suspense thriller. Made up characters send you real faxes, emails, phone calls and chat to you online, telling you secrets to solve mysteries at any time during the day, even when you are least expecting it.

Also included in the box is an exclusive strategy guide and a behind the scenes video on how Majestic was made.

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Credits (Windows version)

302 People (259 developers, 43 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 73% (based on 4 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.7 out of 5 (based on 3 ratings with 2 reviews)

THE single worst gaming experience I have EVER had. Period.

The Good
The concept of Majestic, the idea of making a player's real life into a part of the game, is clever. And maybe the game itself is fun, too. It certainly sounds like it might be. Unfortunately, I never got that far.

The Bad
Majestic is anything but. I only got partway through the tutorial explaining the game interface. When I click the icon that's supposed to advance me to the next page, it does nothing. If I close the browser and try to re-enter the tutorial from the Majestic Alliance application, it brings me back to the same page, where I encounter the same problem again. Each time, I have to listen to the moron's speech before I get a chance to click the icon and not be advanced further. If this is part of the reality factor of the game, this should probably be explained, as it isn't any fun at all. If it's not part of the game, someone did one suck-ass job of programming.

EA's technical help for Majestic is the absolute worst support crew I have ever had the extreme misfortune of needing to contact. The online e-mail support promised a response within 24 hours, and I'm still waiting after 40. Calls to the support line are handled by "first-level" techs, which basically means they search the online help for answers that sound like your problem and read them back to you, even if you've told them you already searched the online help yourself. Stimulus, response -- buncha freakin' amoebas working the phones. If they can't read back an answer that satisfies you, they promise to escalate the issue to the "second-level" techs and assure you that within a few hours, you'll get a reply, which then never comes.

I made the mistake of purchasing the commercial "Special Edition" of the game, and can't return it since I've opened the box and set up the account using the CD code number. I guess now that they know they have my money, EA just doesn't care.

The Bottom Line
I have never been so disillusioned by the undelivered promise of a gaming experience as I have with Majestic. That's including John Romero's Daikatana. That's including Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2.

They say everyone's Majestic experience is a little different, so maybe you'll have better luck. Based on mine so far, though, Majestic is a total scam and a complete waste of time. Perhaps someday EA support will actually get off their asses, fix my problem, and get back to me, and I'll get some enjoyment out of the game. But I doubt that my opinion of Majestic will ever fully recover from the first impression.

Windows · by Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe (1674) · 2002

Only a madman could have produced this awesome experience.

The Good
When I first got the game I wasn't sure what to expect. The things I had heard about Majestic in various gaming magazines gave the game a certain mystique. People calling me at home to advance the plot? Faxes addressed to me dealing with the Illuminati? As far as I was aware, there had never been an adventure game quite like this.

After you load up the game you go to log onto Majestics server when, dun-dun-dun, the server is down. You go to EA's site and they say they are working on the problem. Emails are sent to you saying they will get Majestic up and running as soon as possible. Dig a little deeper and you find out why the Majestic server is down. Using the web you discover that the developers building has been burned to the ground! This is the start of the game.

I have to admit that I was suckered by Majestics opening. In a way it was reminiscent of getting tricked into your first kiss, I was annoyed by being played for a chump but I was thrilled by it all the same! The game was playing with your head before you even expected it which is actually rather astonishing. The only other game to come even near to a total "figure-it-out" opening was Hacker. Majestic is truly a game for those who love to explore.

You have to use the internet for most of the game to research different items from websites, some real and some fake. You also can use your instant messenger which you can converse with other Majestic players to assemble clues. The story of Majestic is also moved along via recorded video and audio files.

The much touted phone calls that you receive are pre-recorded and sound cheesy, but they bring an immersion to the game that I haven't experience to this day. Oh yeah, be careful to alert everyone else in the house about the game otherwise Grandma might answer a phone call where they are told that the murder was done by the Illuminati.

The Bad
I have to be honest. After the novelty began to wear off, I was answering phones saying "Hurry it, up" to the recorder. The game still had me just for the story, but I feel the game was never fully realized to its potential.

The Bottom Line
Majestic is a game which will probably never be duplicated. It was a one-time shot, a failed experiment in a vast ocean of sequals and rehashes and remakes. Regardless of my final opnion that it was just an above-average game with more novelties than the Tropicana Adult Superstore, I am personally proud to have been a part of a unique foray into online gaming.

Windows · by j. jones (1658) · 2005

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Game added by Kartanym.

Game added November 5, 2001. Last modified February 27, 2023.