"OK, the Captain told me that I’ve got to get to the main deck and talk to the navigator. Now, I’ve just got to get up there. I’ll just click my way over to that door over there (click, click), and... wait where’d it go? Maybe it’s to my left (click). Nope, well maybe if I back up and try again I’ll find it (click, click). There, now I see it to my left. I’ll just walk up to it. Wait, now it’s in my face. I want to walk through it, not into it! Man, this is driving me crazy!"
This is just one of the many issues that I had with one of Cinegram Media’s newest offerings, Search for the Golden Dolphin. This title seemed so thrown together that I cannot believe that it was even released at all. As implied by the opener, the biggest problem that I had with Search for the Golden Dolphin was the interface. The folks over at Cinegram Media Inc. tried to use the same type of interface that was implemented in games like Myst and Riven. They were correct in using this first–person interface, but their design made it practically impossible to navigate at all. I found myself constantly running into walls and walking right by people that I was supposed to talk to without even seeing them.
Getting completely lost was not uncommon while playing Search for the Golden Dolphin. Getting lost would not have been all that bad if the designers would have considered it. However, I am under the impression that they did not. I found myself constantly running into people that I was not supposed to talk to until later in the game, and they would talk to me about things that were not supposed to come up yet. The designers should have made it so that if I did happen to accidentally get ahead of myself those people would not talk to me yet. They should not have assumed that I would always stick to the path laid out for me (particularly since that path is so hard to FIND).
Even with interface problems like this, it is still possible for a game’s graphics to save the day. Unfortunately, this in not the case with Search for the Golden Dolphin. The entire game basically consists of QuickTime movies laid over static textures. The other characters on the ship are played by real actors, and overlaid over a background. This title could have been just as easily created five years ago. I actually found myself looking at the copyright date on the jewel case; I could not believe that it said 1999!
The only thing that saved this game from completely falling flat was its story line. You are Lieutenant Nathaniel Thorne, fighting for the newly created United States Navy against the French in the West Indies. The Thorne name is a very reputable one among seamen, and when your father’s killer seizes control of the U.S. ship the Golden Dolphin, you are sent to seek revenge. On your journey you will come across many different puzzles and battles. But, no matter what the situation, you have only one thing in mind: the honor of your father.
With such a brilliant story line, it is a shame that the game fell flat. Everything in this title looks thrown together. If I did not know better, I would have thought that this game was made by a couple of computer science students at the local community college. If it were 1995, then this title would have received far higher marks than it did, but there is just no room for primitive titles like Search for the Golden Dolphin in today’s high–standard gaming world.
"Search for the Golden Dophin has the unmistakable and rather cloying aroma of rotting fish!"
