Another stepping stone toward interactive cinema.....
Got to say a big yeah! for the gorgeous and photo realistic graphics (esp. for 3D). What a looker, Sophie is. Appropriate movements and gestures, voice inflections, etc. from all characters. I have visited most all of the game locations (Louvre, Westminster, etc.) and the game captures their atmospheres well. The puzzles were perfectly integrated into the story. Puzzle difficulty was about perfectly spot on........Very unusual for the adventure genre. Most games are a hunt and peck, pixel hunting hell, at times. Or they have ridiculously cryptic, obscure solutions with no clearly defined process for completion. Some would probably say they are too easy in this game, but I say that pacing shouldn't suffer just so you can go to bed at 3am with a migraine (!)
The bad stuff revolves around the inevitable outcome of good intentions minus poor quality control. Walking through doors, turning invisible, spending half the game just trying to push your partner the heck out of the way, loading bugs, and a bit too much reliance on a couple puzzle types, kind of put a damper on gameplay for me. I imagine this game was fairly rushed. It is polished, but not without flaws.
Dan Brown has really cashed in on the "Passion of the Christ" movie phenomenom. This is the kind of subject material that makes just about anyone with even a passing interest in religeousity, really stand up and take notice. The premise he is putting forth (or passing off), is plausible, rooted in documented history, and kind of passes the smell test. The supernatural is kept to a bare minimum in the video game, and it is easy to believe these are honest to goodness, living and breathing people.
This game is a biblical tutorial with a skeptical twist. Again, Dan Brown and all those who brought his work to fruition should be applauded for breathing fresh air into the staleness that was the Holy Bible. Play the game for the art, medieval history, Jesus fable, or Indiana Jonesey stuff.
Gonna play it through one more time!