Shivers

aka: Shivers: La Terreur Révèlera les Secrets des Ténêbres, Shivers: What Darkness Conceals, Terror Reveals
Moby ID: 663
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Surviving a dare by your friends to spend the night in a haunted museum is how Shivers begins, but it soon turns into a challenge of capturing the evil Ixupi, ghosts of South American legend, in pots scattered throughout the museum.

The game is similar to Myst in many aspects in that it's an adventure game with a 1st-person slideshow-type presentation. Though unlike Myst, you have a life meter and the Ixupi can steal life from it if you aren't careful.

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Credits (Windows version)

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 70% (based on 21 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 48 ratings with 6 reviews)

A Masterpiece!

The Good
Shivers is a brilliant game. I was really honored to play this game, as this game is really rare and uncommon, so what are the chances to come across this kind of game in Israel?

First of all, this game is so intelligent and intriguing! The puzzles are really unique and original, the kind you have to spend hours on solving. Besides the progress you make by solving them, when you're done, the feeling is so rewarding, it's just great.

The pre-rendered MYST-like graphics and overall atmosphere is fantastic. Turn off the lights in your room and immerse into this game. The graphics are so authentic and the museum looks so mysterious and creepy that you feel like you're drawn into it.

The music - This category is a really strong one on Shivers. This is one of the games with the most unique and brilliant music I have encountered. The music accompanies every step in the game. There is no place or section of the museum without music. You will hear in this game music pieces from Cello Partita by Bach to modern psychedelic masterpiece. The music serves the moment fabulously, it corresponds the atmosphere perfectly.

Creepiness - Well, this game is creepy, I must admit. The effect of the deserted museum and the lurking Ixupi (those spirits haunting the museum) really had it on me. I've found myself startled more then once in this game.

The puzzles are really diversified. You can find in the game puzzles involving music, mazes, ancient games such as "Marble Solitaire", picture assembling and etc. The common about them all that they are devilishly hard.

The Bad
Shivers, in my opinion, is nearly perfect. I can't say anything bad about it. I can only emphasize that this game is hard. If you don't like puzzle games, or don't have patience, there is nothing for you in this game.

The Bottom Line
Shivers is an outstanding game in the sub-genre of puzzle games that followed "Myst" and I can easily refer to it as a "milestone" in the Adventure games scenery in all times. As Myst fan, I think it is a shame that Shivers did not have a success similar to Myst's. Although it is hard to obtain similar achievement, I think it could have been possible, maybe with larger publicity back then. I just know that anyone who played this game loved it.

A true masterpiece.

Windows · by 1gnition (284) · 2006

This game is so divine, it sends shivers down my spine

The Good
The 7th Guest was an adventure game released in the early Nineties. Considered one of the first games to take advantage of the CD-ROM medium, it combined puzzle-solving with full-motion video, a formula that made it a success. Not only did it prompted a sequel, but it also caused other companies to capitalize on its success. Shivers shares the same game mechanics, but it is a bit easy on the FMV.

Four friends have challenged you to spend a night at a museum founded by Hubert Windlenot, a professor who was a big fan of archeology. There were rumors that two high school students ventured inside 15 years ago and never returned, and that Windlenot was responsible. The opening movie focuses on the player being locked inside the museum gate while your friends give you the rundown. A mysterious voice is soon heard telling the player to get out, reminding me of the “Bad Dream House” segment in the very first Simpsons Halloween special. Then your friends drive off, leaving you to find a way into the museum. (Hint: It's not through the front door.)

As you start to venture inside, you hear Windlenot's ghost telling you that it has been taken over by the Ixupi, evil entities that drained his life essence, and possibly, the life essence of the two missing students. Your only hope is to capture the Ixupi within vessels, the two parts which are scattered throughout the museum. Only then will you prevent further destruction.

Windlenot's museum is just like any other one in real life, with multiple floors, elevators, and surveillance cameras in certain exhibits. There are even buttons near the doorways that tell you about each exhibit. This led to me believing that I was actually walking through a real museum.

The object of Shivers is to explore every inch of the museum while finding the two pieces of each vessel. Then once you have the completed vessel, you must examine its bottom half to work out what the symbol on it represents, according to a book you find in the library. It is up to the player to associate the symbol with a certain object to find out where the correct Ixupi would be. Once it has been captured, the vessel gets stored in one of the ten slots above your life essence, displayed at the bottom of the screen.

If you encounter an Ixupi before you manage to complete a vessel, or use the incorrect vessel on one, your life essence gets drained and you have to try again. There are puzzles in most of the exhibits that need to be solved in order to access other parts of the museum, or to discover more parts to a vessel. Each puzzle can be solved more than once, and this is even encouraged in fact considering that you get bonus points for doing so.

One of the most useful features is called “Flashback”, in the game's control panel. Not only does it allow you to review the game's cut-scenes, but re-read books without the need to go back to the library or another area to access them. In addition, closed captioning is provided for dialogue if turned on here. This is useful to me as much of the dialogue goes in one ear and out the other. It is the first for any interactive movie Sierra made, but it's a shame that the company decided that this would be a one-off.

The graphics are pre-rendered, in the same vein as Phantasmagoria, another of Sierra's interactive movies released in the same year. All the objects in each of the museum's exhibits are real, the backgrounds are not, and the only animations that are present in the game are one of the Ixupi draining your life essence. I always enjoying see one of the vessels being carted away if you use it on the wrong Ixupi.

The music ranges from traditional to pop and rock styles, but there are some pieces that have a dark tone to them. The music really blends in with whatever exhibit you are in. If you are in the shaman exhibit, for instance, you hear the sound of repeating drums and several chanting. It is brilliantly composed. The way that you can tell if an Ixupi is in one of the exhibits is also neat. It's always the same tune, but with different instruments depending on what exhibit you're in. As for the sound effects, most of them were taken from a CD and then edited for enrichment.

The game is non-linear, meaning that you can tackle each puzzle in any order you like, as well as collecting each vessel at the time of your own choosing, with each part of the vessel placed randomly each game. Completing Shivers gives you the opportunity to explore the museum on your own, without the threat of the Ixupi lurking nearby.

The Bad
The only think I didn't like about Shivers is the fact that you are only allowed to store one item in your inventory, forcing you to memorize the whereabouts of each vessel. The final Ixupi is triggered when you dealt with nine Ixupis, but it is easy to go around in circles finding the last vessel before that event occurs. I had a lot of trouble completing the vessel that resembles wood, but it wasn't until I read a walkthrough that made my job a lot easier.

The Bottom Line
Shivers was released in the mid-Nineties, when video game companies like Sierra decided to create games that combined FMV and puzzle solving. Your objective is walk around a museum, collect vessels, and use these vessels to deal with the enemy within. The graphics are great, the sound is great, and the game itself is packed with atmosphere. You can even play the game in any way you like. If you enjoy light horror games where all you do is explore, then you could give this game a try.

Windows · by Katakis | ă‚«ă‚żă‚­ă‚ą (43092) · 2017

Shivers down your spine

The Good
Adventure gaming took a slightly darker tone in the 1990s, with the introduction of CD-ROM technology and a willingness to target a older, more sophisticated audience interested in more then just cute mascots or damsel in distress storylines.

Shivers is one of these game's and, for the most part, the results are extremely well done. The early 1990s graphics, including some full-motion-video, may seem quaint today, but it was quite impressive when the game was originally published.

The game starts with you being "peer pressured" into spending the night at an old, haunted museum. The big and gaudy building has got a rather shady past, mostly due to the ethical lapse of museums founder.

The dangers of archaeology being used for unethical, even racist and elitist ends, is one of the ideas explored in the game. It is a pretty sophisticated plotline in a video game and well done.

The game creates an atmosphere that is creepy, with a truly eeiry look for the mysterious museum and it's exhibits.

The pre-rendered graphics are impressive and better then using all full-motion-video. Their is not tons of full-motion-video in the game, but the video and voice acting helps to tell the story, instead of being a distraction.

The game is hard! The story is engaging and well told, but even the most seasoned adventure gamers will struggle to get too far.

To survive the adventure, you must find a series of ancient jars and figure out how to set the right spirits free. It's a tricky proposal when items are not always in the same place and you cannot carry many items at once.

Hence, you spend quite a bit of time going back and forth with jars, holding one at a time, and hoping that you can help bring some peace to the ghosts and ensure that certain dark and sinister powers do not fall into the wrong hands.

The Bad
Shivers is a tough and somewhat unforgiving game. The puzzles are tricky in themselves, and made more so by the lack of a traditional inventory.

Where as most adventure games assume that you can hold numerous items at once, this game generally limits you to one item. Maybe it is more realistic, but it can feel like a cheap way to increase the difficulty level.

The Bottom Line
Shivers is a sophisticated, early 1990s adventure game, offering up tough puzzles, a creepy museum setting and some thought-provoking commentary on the dark side of archaeology. If this describes your type of game, then give it a try. It may just send shivers down your spine.

Windows · by ETJB (428) · 2014

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

The random play factor of this game was influenced by Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe, according to Marcia Bales, the game designer.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Benjamin Tucker.

Windows added by Dragom. Macintosh added by Scaryfun.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, jean-louis, Zeppin.

Game added January 3, 2000. Last modified February 8, 2024.