Black Mirror Review - Reboot with a better story
On a remote spot in the Scottish highlands is a large old castle. This castle is called Black Mirror Estate and is close to a loch and belongs. The estate belongs to the Gordon family. They were already in that place from the moment the Celts set foot on shore, but there is something false. It haunts the old castle, and it is said that there is a curse over the Gordon family. Well, luckily that something is not right, otherwise it would only be a boring game!
The Name's Mirror, Black Mirror
Many people probably thinks that this is a game based on the popular television series, but no. The game title already existed for the series, because Black Mirror is a reboot of an old point-and-click adventure series on the PC called "The Black Mirror". Three games of the original series have appeared, the first of which appeared in 2003. With a lot of fun I played these games, because of the grim atmosphere, beautiful settings and the exciting story. It has always been clear to see elements such as cutscenes and voice-acting that the makers did not have deep pockets, so the games were often judged very strictly. Many members of the old development team have also worked on this new part, which creates a familiar (dark) feeling. The team comes almost entirely from Eastern Europe, but because everything takes place in Scotland, they have especially brought in a Scottish writer. Allright lassie!
No, not the singer / tv personality (thank God)
This new Black Mirror is clearly intended as a reboot of the series. The game no longer plays as a point-and-click adventure, but as a kind of modern follow-up of this genre. You walk through the castle in third person, talk to people and solve puzzles. Black Mirror tells a similar story, but is slightly different. So everything revolves around the Gordon family and their estate, but all forenames and family ties have changed. You play this time as David Gordon, who visits the Gordon Castle after the death of his father in the Scottish Highlands. David wants to find out what is going on with his family, and in the meantime he regularly sees ghost apparitions. All the assistants in the castle do not want to cooperate, but in the end David gets a researching companion, the psychologist Leah, in the course of the story.
Puzzle pieces
The gameplay of Black Mirror consists mainly of walking around and searching in the large castle and the surrounding grounds, with fortunately a few priorities in the menu at any time. This takes the lost goallessness a little out of what you often have with the old point-and-click adventures. David Gordon also always gets a kind of visions of spirits, and these often show how something has happened in the past, which is usually accompanied by a puzzle. The bigger puzzles are where the game is the coolest, where in a 7th Guest / Myst style, for example, you have to open a door or cabinet with cryptic hints. Unfortunately, there are only a small handful of these puzzles in Black Mirror. The control during the puzzles is fine,
Look in the mirror
It is to be said that I was really looking forward to this Black Mirror reboot, because grim games where it is all about the story, the atmosphere and a lot of puzzle work, are still rather scarce. It is important to realize before you start the game that the makers also with this part again had no large budget. You can clearly see from many aspects that they have to row with the belts they have. After five minutes I thought: this game will largely be checked by reviewers. There is also some criticism about Black Mirror. The controls are generally quite mediocre, some cutscenes are not really successful in terms of lipsync, animation, and acting. Most of the characters could also have been worked out a bit more. Incidentally, the game is not really long, after that 'In ten hours I saw the creditroll. Yet I played the game from fun to end. The story is exciting, the sets are beautiful and the music and atmosphere are very successful.
Conclusion
Black Mirror is a reboot made with love under a limited budget. It has a number of obvious flaws, but it certainly does not make the game bad. The exciting story with a beautiful setting make it definitely worth it, even though an old woman in a cut scene can look like a robot. The fact that the game costs between 30-40 Euros at launch also makes it even less critical. You have to accept Black Mirror for what it is: a small (black) diamond with very rough edges.
The plus and minus points
✔ Beautiful environment and decor
✔ reboot with a better story
✔ good music and atmosphere
✔ Lovecraft and Poe approve!
✖ Cutscenes sometimes buggy and weird
✖ controls regularly annoying
✖ should have been a bit longer
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!
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Seems like a very interesting game. Ill have to check it out for myself! Thanks for the review.
Looks amazing bro thank you for sharing
Nice review, and since the game is approved by Lovecraft, I have to check this out!
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