Obsidian

Moby ID: 1564

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 75% (based on 24 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 17 ratings with 1 reviews)

The game that should have been as popular and acclaimed as Myst, but didn't.

The Good
The graphics, both still-framed and full motion, were good, the locations were awe inspiringly surreal, and was overall a good adventure title. The game also had two endings.

The Bad
The puzzles would get really hard at times, also both ending movies weren't longer than twenty seconds each, not including the credits.

The Bottom Line
In 1996, Rocket Science made Obsidian, a Myst-like adventure game that was prettier (not pretty as Riven, though), had animations for every transition (which the Myst series did not have), and was many times more surreal.

You play as Lilah, a scientist observing a strange formation that grew due to a satellite made with nanotechnology dubbed Obsidian because it resembled the black mineral of the same name. While camping near it, your partner, Max Powers (yes, that's his name) gets sucked into it, and you follow him in. What proceeds are worlds that are parallel to both of their subconscious, seeing how in their PDA, they mention things their dreams which are later found inside Obsidian.

The first part of the game takes place inside a giant cube, and you constantly change the direction of gravity in order to access each side. The giant cube resembles an office that would dwarf the DMV, the IRS, and your college Registrar combined in terms of how much you have to do in order to get them to do something. While there's a lot of confusion to be found, there's also quite a bit of humor. You'll encounter a race of people that basically look like robots with television screens for heads. The screens have human faces, but you most of the time they would only show their mouths. I guess most of them are shy. One of the screen-people, in a jab towards Myst, will only say "Find me the blue pages!" over and over again.

Windows · by Brandon R (3) · 2004

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Zeppin, Jeanne, Scaryfun, Havoc Crow, MrMamen, Patrick Bregger, Virgil, Xoleras, Wizo.