  Reality is bent and twisted in 'Missing: Since January'. |
Warm up those Fava beans and put some Chianti on ice.
Just in time for the holidays and all those CSI aficionados out there, The Adventure Company has released a 'Game of the Year' (read 'expansion pack') edition of the breakthrough and multi-award winning 2004 mystery game 'Missing: Since January'.
Originally published as 'In Memoriam' in Europe, 'Missing' is an experience like no other in gaming. Utilizing real emails and a horde of Internet sites created for the game, 'Missing' puts players in the role of an amateur sleuth hunting 'The Phoenix', a crafty serial killer. The madman has kidnapped two investigators, Jack Lorski and Karen Gijman, who were hot on his trail. As 'The Phoenix' taunts you with puzzles, riddles as well as intriguing and gruesome video clips, it is up to you to locate poor Jack and Karen...or perhaps what remains of them.
Utterly unnerving and eerie, 'Missing' virtually erases that barrier between what is reality and what is fantasy. If getting email from those who wish to assist you with the investigation doesn't freak you out, watching 'The Phoenix' himself type directly to you inside the game's interface certainly will. It is downright weird but weird in a good way especially if you are a fan of the aforementioned hit cop series or films like 'Silence of The Lambs', 'Seven' or 'Saw'. The puzzles are more like intriguing (and sometimes maddening) little mini-games and the use of such cool additions as a video and sound analyzer really makes you feel at times like you are an egghead of a forensic detective.
With the 'Game of the Year' edition, a new missing persons case promising ten extra hours of gameplay has been included along with a riveting documentary that reveals how sicko developers 'lexisnumerique' created the game. While this is not enough to warrant a second purchase by those who already own the game, it is a fine incentive for adventure gamers who haven't experienced 'Missing' to give it a second look and see exactly what all the fuss is about.
If you have grown weary of this moribund genre and have been looking for a crafty mindgame to scramble your brain cells, your search has ended.
