DreamCatcher Crystal Key (Bargain Bin Write-Off)
Written: Mar 15 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Challenging puzzles, great graphics
Cons: Slow and sluggish at times, occasional freeze-ups, linear gameplay
The Bottom Line: Although some gamers may enjoy this game, my personal experience was that the slowness and occasional freeze-ups were a nuisance. The linear play was somewhat boring as well.
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| kelly60's Full Review: Dreamcatcher Crystal Key (Jewel |
This is my entry into rice75's Bargain Bin Games Write-Off. I purchased The Crystal Key by DreamCatcher Interactive from the discount games section of Wal-Mart.
The story line is simple. Your planet receives a cryptic message from the world of Arkonia. Within days an alien, Ozgar appears outside of Earth's atmosphere. With his appearance, the weather patterns of Earth are altered, reeking havoc on Earth.
Your world is under attack. The only way to save it is by using the crystal key. You will venture through various lands of jungle, water, and desert while exploring these worlds in search of the crystal key. As you travel through each of these worlds, you must carefully examine the various puzzles you come across, and solve the mysteries along the way. It is up to you to save the planet, so you must use your wits to solve the many challenging puzzles. Your ultimate goal is to find the Arkonians and defeat the evil Ozgar.
The Crystal Key is filled with many secrets that you must discover. Many of the puzzles are very challenging, but remember, the fate of the planet is in your hands. Can you save Earth? This science fiction, adventure game plays similarly to Myst, where you must also solve many challenging puzzles. Though these puzzles are not extremely difficult, you may often need to experiment to determine what it is that you must do to solve the puzzle. I found it handy to keep a pad of paper and a pen next to me because I knew that some things would be important, but I was uncertain what I would need them for. I found it easier to take notes than to try to remember all of the clues I found.
The story is fairly linear, with the detailed puzzles to solve and limited character interaction, you keep trudging forward toward your ultimate goal of defeating Ozgar.
There are a few items you need to collect along the way for use in your adventure. These are stored in your spacepack, and visible below the picture window. Most operations are preformed with a simple click, though a couple of functions must be done by clicking and dragging.
The graphics are great with beautiful 3-D scenes and animation, a 360-degree virtual environment, and challenging 3-D puzzles. QuickTime video sequences are also included, but these are extremely buggy and seem to be more trouble than they are worth.
The Crystal Key contains some decent original music, and also some good sound effects. I especially like the sound effects as you take flight.
System requirements:
Win 98/95, P133 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 70 MB hard disk space, 8X CD-ROM.
Mac OS System 7.5 or higher, Power PX, 120 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 70 MB hard disk space, 8X CD-ROM.
Platform: Mac OS, Windows 95 / 98 / Me
suitable for persons age 6 or older.
The Crystal Key COULD BE a good game, if not for the many bugs within it. The load time for this game is incredibly slow, as is much of the gameplay. Occasionally the game freezes up as well, which is really irritating if you haven't saved recently. For this reason, I would recommend saving frequently.
Personally, I found it somewhat tedious, as there is no real adventure to this science-fiction, adventure game. You are simply told that this is the task you must accomplish, then you set out on a linear path doing what you are told to do.
The battles are not really battles, since you don't really engage in any sort of combat. Likewise, you don't actually get to fly the spaceship, but rather just are along for the ride. At least the scenery is nice along the way.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
kelly60
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Member: Kelly
Location: Northern Michigan, USA
Reviews written: 364
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