An often overlooked classic point and click adventure game, although it can be frustrating.
The Dig starts out with an asteroid called 'Atilla' nearing impact with Earth and three astronoughts (well, ones a reporter called maggie, the other an archaeologist called brink and a military man called low) to detonate a couple of nuclear devices to halt Atilla's descent.
However they uncover something alien which transforms Atilla into a space ship which is Faster than light to a different planet.
And not to give much away i wont continue talking about the story in such a way, needles to say it is a very good sci fi story.
Graphically the game is fine, the 2D backgrounds are detailed like most of lucas arts point and click adventure games, the characters look good when theyre closer to the screen but very VERY pixelated and ugly far away from the screen, however it certainly looks better than the more recent 3D graphics in adventure games, such as grim fandango, escape fro monkey island and the more recent Broken Sword games.
The sound is very well done, a more classical mix than anything else which suits the atmosphere in the game, and the setting brilliantly certainly adding to The Digs overall quality, its the sort of music I find fitting in any game concerning space/aliens etc that isnt a action game but a slower gaming experience such as The Dig.
And sticking with the sound subject, the voice acting is superb throughout, from the increasingly agitated Brink, the tough maggie and plain talking mr.low, who is voiced by Robert Patrick of Terminator 2 (have you seen this boy?)
Gameplay wise, its generally good through out, but spoilt by some rather annoying and obscure puzzles namely the lens puzzle were you have to manouver a robot to pick up a lens with a series of colours inputted on a console with ZERO help or hints. Other times there a re a few mundane things, like cycling through geometric shapes to ge tthe right combo but if you go one too far you have to cycle through that shape over and over again to get back to the one you need.
Othertimes the puzzles are absolutely fine on par in terms of enjoyment with Broken Sword 2. I say 2 because the first broken sword is far superior with no annoying puzzles, but the sequel has an excruciatingly irritating near final puzzle which i feel is on par with 'The Dig's light puzzle,
But all the other puzzle are fine, the gameplay proceeds at a nice pace and in conjunction with the great music, storyline and graphics the game is good.
Value wise again good considering it got released as a classic title at a more budget price.
And i feel its worth mentioning that the ending for the game is wonderful.