Graphical adventures have always been one of my favourite game genres, and when I came across this one (which I’d never heard of) for a budget price, I jumped at the chance. Though it’s not among the best I’ve ever played, it certainly deserves its place in every adventure game fan’s collection.

Overview

An asteroid is on a collision course with earth. A small team are sent up to use explosives to alter its course away from earth, but also to investigate the asteroid. What they find propels them to a strange new world, with mysteries galore…

First Impressions

The game initially seemed a lot easier than most, with the first few scenes presenting no problems as far as the puzzles were concerned. There was a bit of humour in the game but the emphasis was on storyline, character development, and atmosphere. All three seemed good though by now the storyline is something we’ve seen fairly often so it’s nothing new if you’re a sci-fi buff – or even if you’ve seen a decent number of sci-fi films or TV series. But it’s involving and pulls you into the plot immediately.

Interface

The mouse-driven interface is very reminiscent of that used in Sam & Max. It’s standard point and click time with no verb table to choose from, you either interact (left click) or bring up your inventory (right click). Pretty simple stuff. Conversations involve choosing a subject from a (graphical) list, making a profound statement, or asking a question. The last two are actually fairly useless, though. Some puzzles have their own interface which you’ll have to work out for yourselves… mostly pretty easy but some require more luck than judgement… well, that or a hint / walkthrough!

Difficulty

It starts out pretty easy but one or two of the puzzles later on are damn near impossible. There’s also a bit of inconsistency to them – some of the harder puzzles just have no apparent logic to them. This can get very frustrating.

Aesthetics

The graphics are similar to the old classics Zak McKraken and the first Monkey Island game – i.e. very low-res by today’s standards. The special effects (by Industrial Light and Magic) are unimpressive nowadays, and to be honest I’m not sure if they’d have looked particularly amazing even several years ago. This doesn’t detract overly from the game however.

The sound effects are very atmospheric and are excellent quality, as is the voice acting. (The main character is voiced by Robert Patrick of Terminator 2 – he was the evil T-1000 model.) The music is extremely good and perhaps some of the most atmospheric I’ve heard in an adventure game.

Will You Still Be Playing it in 6 Months’ Time?

Probably not. Unless you’re either a super-genius or very fortunate with your puzzle-solving, you’ll need a walkthrough for some of the more obscure puzzles while sailing through most of it. Some puzzles are well thought out though, it’s a pity that the “huh?” puzzles spoil the game to some extent.

Is it Worth the Money?

You’re likely to be able to find it at a budget price now though I don’t believe it’s been officially released as a budget title (I could be wrong). A very nice adventure game spoilt in a couple of places and losing out from being 5 stars with some inconsistent puzzles and a lack of “wow” factor in the sequences that are obviously supposed to leave you feeling impressed. However, I thoroughly enjoyed playing The Dig and would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure games and in particular other LucasArts games.

System Requirements

DirectX compatible computer
Windows 95/98/ME,3000,XP (I ran it on XP without much trouble, occasional glitches but saving the game then re-loading it sorted them out, only a minor annoyance.)
CPU: Pentium 133MHz or higher
Memory: at least 32Mb. Windows 2000 and XP users need at least 64Mb.
Graphics card: 2MB+
CD-ROM: 4x
Sound card: 16-bit sound card (this is one of the few older games where no problem with the music or even speech was encountered).
DirectX: 6.1 or higher (version 8.0 included on the disc)

Other Information

Steven Spielberg was involved in the creation of The Dig.

Award-winning sci-fi writer Orsen Scott Card contributed dialogue.

There are nearly 200 locations in the game.

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Final Ratings

Graphics: - 65% - looks pretty creaky by today’s standards and the cut scenes aren’t very impressive.

Sound: - 93% - excellent use of music and sound effects to create atmosphere, good voice acting.

Playability: - 77% - intuitive interface for the main game but some puzzles require you to second-guess the designers as to what you do.

Longevity: - 78% - you won’t be completing quickly but the length is sometimes due to unfair puzzles.

Replay Value: - 63% - once you’ve played it once, you’re unlikely to do so again.

Value For Money: - 80% - for the £4.99 I paid for it at Blockbuster (second hand though), I’m certainly not complaining.

Overall Rating: - 78% - a very good adventure game but not one of LucasArts very best offerings.



Links
*****
LucasArts Games

The Monkey Island Archives (MI1-3)
Escape from Monkey Island (MI4)
Grim Fandango


Other Adventure Games

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror

Discworld
Discworld Noir

Bladerunner


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My Top Ten Commercial Graphical Adventure Games




Recommended: Yes

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