by MattB - March 29, 2005

The nations of the Earth are united under a single government, and in the metropolises, life goes on as usual. Mad gurus preach the end of the world, yuppies in glass high-rises design advertising strategies, gangs and prostitutes loiter in the rundown quarters, terrorists scheme, and old men spin conspiracy theories. Satellite cars, chats and mobile messengers make life easier but also more dependent on technology, not to mention more susceptible to surveillance and terror. Communications Designer Peter Wright couldn�t care less which politician is involved in which scandal, and for whom his agency is devising new campaigns. Ever since his wife and son were killed in a plane crash, he lives in isolation; withdrawn, taking one day at a time. He works listlessly, drinks too much, and spends his evening s in chat sessions with strangers. Everything changes when a SWAT team abducts his next-door neighbor, an online journalist, without any explanation. Intrigued by what he witnessed, Peter begins to try to find some answers and makes some astonishing - if not unsettling - discoveries.

Welcome to The Moment of Silence, a point and click adventure game that�s all about conspiracy and mystery. Usually the only point and click adventure games I�ve played were on the comical side (Full Throttle), and the serious tone of TMS took me by surprise. Even with it�s flaws, I kept coming back for the engaging story, and it�s nice to see an adventure game like this one actually take you on an adventure.

Seems simple enough

The gameplay is kind of bland, but then again it might be unfair to expect much more from a point and click game like this, it's a simple process of clicking on items and determining which items in your inventory need to be used at the current time. Now that may not necessarily be a bad thing if you enjoy these kind of games, but it�s when that simplicity is ruined by glitches that it becomes a chore. The game has some clipping issues (at one point Peter actually ran through a desk), and you will often have trouble trying to get the next screen to shift over so you can explore more of the environment. Sometimes the game�s already slow pace is ruined by Peter�s extremely lethargic run, and it can get frustrating when it appears that parts of the screen will lead to new areas but are just part of the scenery.

Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The graphics on TMS dance between breathtaking and brutal. First there are the fantastic (which, honestly, is an understatement) pre-rendered backgrounds that are simply amazing. From water trickling down from a vacation cruise pool in the middle of some of the most realistic and life-like vegetation to grace your monitor, to watching the gritty hustle and bustle of the dilapidated Lower East Side, complete with burnt out buildings and broken down cars, the environments do a wonderful job of presenting the developer�s vision of the future. The character models, however, are as ugly as the backgrounds are beautiful. Honestly, I initially mistook them for Sims, given their awkward facial expressions and the overall dullness of their animations. At one point, a character is smoking a cigarette and moving her head around. However, the cigarette doesn�t move with her, and it either gets consumed into her face or appears to be floating. It�s too bad, too, to have such wonderful environments and then have the characters within those environments be so sloppy. Now on to the cinematics. They look pretty good...that is, they would look good if this was 1998. Bulky characters and bland surroundings with even blander textures make me wonder why they even included cinematics in the game.

The audio is actually one of my favorite parts of the game. The music is often entertaining and does an excellent job of setting the mood in the various locations. You�ll visit a space resort that�s accompanied by a soothing yet suspicious tone, and more action-oriented scenes are sure to get your attention with the music alone. Surprisingly, TMS breaks the trend of crappy voice acting. The majority of the voices fit the characters well and often bring them to life, quite a feat considering how bland their visual representation can get. Granted, a few of the NPC�s (non-player characters) voices can leave something to be desired, but everyone�s a critic and I was overall impressed with the voice work.

Is this the type of game I'm going to enjoy?

I�m going to tell you right here and right now: games like TMS are an acquired taste. This is not an action-oriented game, and players who need something with a faster pace will probably get bored quickly. If you like games that make you think, though, I hope you�ve got a good head on your shoulders because you�ll need it. I myself am a fan of puzzle games and mysteries, but more casual gamers won�t have the patience to fully enjoy TMS. There�s a reason to why the Point and Click adventure games are so limited and it�s because not many people play them. But, given the quality of the story and atmosphere, I encourage people to give TMS a shot because the game really does throw some crazy things your way.

Unsurprisingly, the replay value in TMS is minimal at best. There�s only so much a single-player puzzler can do that will be challenging multiple times, although the story has enough twists and turns in it that you might want to play through again just to clarify some of the things that happen. Otherwise, there isn�t much to keep you coming back, so keep that in mind before you spend your hard-earned cash. Fans of conspiracy theory stories and sci-fi adventures will probably get the most out of it, especially since it plays like an interactive book. The story is well-told to the point that the awkward characters are fairly forgivable, which is quite an accomplishment.

TMS is a one time play through game and I�m sure many gamers will think it�s a waste of their money because of it. Why should they? The game is far from revolutionary but it stands as a simple story telling game plagued with a few bugs here and there. It�s a solid game for fans of the genre, but if you�ve never been into point and click adventures, The Moment of Silence won�t convert you.