Pilgrim: Faith as a Weapon

aka: Pielgrzym, Pilgrim, Pilgrim 2, Pilgrim: Das Geheimnis der Schrift, Pilgrim: Par le Livre et par l'Epée
Moby ID: 2436
Windows Specs

Description official descriptions

Pilgrim is an adventure game loosely based on Paulo Coelho's novel The Pilgrimage. It is set in Southern France in the year 1208. Summoned to his father's side, the protagonist Simon Lancroix is told that he must obtain a valuable manuscript in a secret room and deliver it only to Petrus, a friend who lives in Toulouse. His pleading hints that this mission might be dangerous, but Simon agrees even though he doesn't understand. Shortly thereafter, his father dies. The interaction begins in the library as you start Simon's adventure.

This is a first person, point and click game with a somewhat unconventional interface. The inventory contains objects which can be used as well as clicked on during conversations. Icons of the people Simon has met or heard about also act as conversation topics when clicked on. The game features an in-game hint system which provides very vague clues to the many puzzles Simon will encounter. A comprehensive encyclopedia is accessible at any time to document and elaborate upon the historical facts of the era and the game itself.

Angels, demons and people from all walks of life will help (or hinder) Simon's progress towards his goals as he travels around France's towns and countryside. Locations are varied with marketplaces, villages, a ruined fortress, gothic churches and, later, fanciful environments. Puzzles include several mechanical problems, helping other characters with objects and information as well as creative environment manipulation.

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Credits (Windows version)

37 People (35 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 65% (based on 15 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 17 ratings with 4 reviews)

Absolutely beautiful.

The Good
A haunting soundtrack, and some really thought-provoking content. Best of all, unlikely to attract the usual collection of halfwits and nerds, since it requires a modicum of original thought.

The Bad
Unable to run in full screen mode and rather dark.

The Bottom Line
Draw the curtains, open a bottle or two, turn out the lights and enjoy the pure atmosphere of it all. Not for the kiddies.

Windows · by The Hog (2) · 2004

I broke both cds to this games! Worst ten bucks i ever spent!

The Good
It was cheap to buy.

The Bad
Everything!

The graphics were terrible! The engine is similiar to myst (Im a fan of 3rd person myself). The people looked like they were made from balloons(Actually , more like the diplomats in Civilisation 2).

The voice acting was Awful! I wanted to hit the main charachter because he sounded like a pansy.

Its just one of those games were finishing the puzzles is no fun. Everytime you finish one annoying puzzle , you are rewarded with a more irratating puzzle.

The Bottom Line
Go buy Kings Quest 5!

Buying this game would be punishing yourself.

Windows · by Shayne Bates (12) · 2001

If you can get over the primitive interface, an interesting concept awaits you.

The Good
This is Arxel Tribe's first game, and displays the company's roots in creating static CAD products. To help them establish themselves they involved the French graphic artist Moebius to create the characters, and the author Paulo Coelho to write the storyline.

The graphics look passable for the age of the game, though a little dated. Arxel tribe created all the scenes in 3D and then rendered them out, like Myst. To their credit some of the scenes do look magnificent and overcome the game small screen size. Toward the end of the game the graphic tend to look more rushed, and show the developers had some difficulty creating other-worldy landscape in 3D.

The landscape is well populated with many characters who in the time honoured adventure tradition you will need to help in order to progress. The characters are based upon sketches drawn by Moebius, though the final renderings bear little resemblance to the sketches (which are available on a extra disc in the Wanadoo edition).

Above all it is the storyline that lifts this game up, and makes it worthwhile playing. Borrowing the philosophy of Coelho's own beliefs this game casts the player in the classic role of a fool at the start of his journey, with a mysterious quest given by his dying father. In order to complete his quest he must interact with the people around him, and collect items in his inventory. So far so usual. What pushes this game is the clear set of moral choices you have to make as the character. Whilst they take the form of the standard give x to y style challenges the solution often lies in applying a certain moral thought to the challenge. This increase as the game progress, and leaves behind your original mission, as you yourself become the pilgrim and have to adopt (or at least understand) the story's philosophy.

The Bad
If the above 'epiphany' happened in a natural and smooth way this game would be fantastic. Unfortunately it's execution lacks the lofty ideals of the concept. Without spoiling the game's story the task you are set only have one conclusion, making no room for moral 'error', this leads you to distance yourself from Simon, instead making you develop Simon's philosophy, not your own. It would have been nice to at least have some alternative routes for different playing styles to reflect your morals.

The whole game feels like the first game for a company. The background renderings are good, but become notably worse as the game progresses. Appreciating the graphics is difficult though the game uses a slideshow system for navigating, that places you in some odd positions, and doesn't allow you to explore your surroundings very much, leading to a slightly claustrophobic feeling in wide open areas.

The characters are fairly primitive, and appear untextured, leaving some of the without discernible eyes. As a result they all appear as if they are made of plastic. There is no attempt at lip-synching and only a nod toward animating the characters (they often bob along the screen rather than walk). As soon as a character is finished with they simply freeze, and no longer respond to you.

Much of the game also anachronistic, given the 13th century setting, you are transported to places which have impossibly complex contraptions using advanced optics, which given the context of the latter part of the game, may fit in, but feels odd.

On a technical level, there are many flaws in the programming, which can be seen in having to start the game each time before loading your game, and having to watch the game actually skip forward to your save point.

The Bottom Line
It is an interesting game, and given that it is the company's first attempt at making a game, they did well to employ someone to write a decent storyline which has scope far beyond most games.

Unfortunately Arxel Tribe look like they've tried to copy elements from other games, and haven't quite managed to pull it off. The interface is clunky, and can hinder progress in the game.

Beyond these faults you get a quaint first game, that does a rare thing for a computer game, it makes you actually think.

Windows · by RussS (807) · 2006

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
I found a way to run it in fullscreen Nicholas Parkanyi Jul 28, 2010
install problem alex grros Sep 6, 2008

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Andrew Hartnett.

Windows 3.x added by Jeanne.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, JRK, Tapio.

Game added September 19, 2000. Last modified June 25, 2023.