I remember first stumbling over Cruise For A Corpse in 1996, as part of a swap deal that took the boredom that was Pirates! the other way. Being an adventure gamer I happily took up this latest challenge. From the out set I liked it but also did not love it. It did not grip me in the same way the Monkey Island series, for example, had done.
You take the role of Raoul Dusentier a Pirate of a gentleman complete with handle bar moustache and slicked back hair, who has been invited on the maiden voyage of the Karaboudjan III.
I remember first stumbling over Cruise For A Corpse in 1996, as part of a swap deal that took the boredom that was Pirates! the other way. Being an adventure gamer I happily took up this latest challenge. From the out set I liked it but also did not love it. It did not grip me in the same way the Monkey Island series, for example, had done.
You take the role of Raoul Dusentier a Pirate of a gentleman complete with handle bar moustache and slicked back hair, who has been invited on the maiden voyage of the Karaboudjan III. Before he has time to settle in the owner of the vessel and overall rather rich bloke Niklos Karaboudjan is murdered!!! You wake up
in the victims quarters after somebody, rather unsporting, hit you over the head. Everybody aboard the ship is a suspect and you only have a limited amount of time to solve the murder.
Created by Delphine Software (of such greats as Flashback and Out Of This World/Another World) the graphics are well presented with the opening sequence, interrogations and cut scenes obviously given a lot of time to be perfect in atmosphere and look. Unfortunately this does not extend to the game as a whole, the background looks fantastic with every inch being seeped in detail right down to the lighting in certain areas. The problem with such heavily designed backdrops is that the lead character’s failings are extremely noticeable as he often looks like a child’s doodle on a great artistic masterpiece. It does not end there as the detailed backgrounds also make objects of use incredibly difficult to spot adding unwanted hours of boredom on to the game’s playing time which unfortunately does not work in the game’s favour.
Though it isn’t all bad as the game is engaging enough for those trying an adventure game for the first time. This is most down to its limited time game span as it adds tension to the game and the ease it has in navigating the ship, the map given the player the ability to jump from one room to another without taking the long way round. Also the Agathe Christie set up grips the player and plays out like one with everybody out to take the spotlight off them, it is a premise that sits very comfortably within the genre, though doing this does void the game off the genres trademark wit and insanity.
Overall though the more experienced player will find the lack of balance in the game play frustrating as at times it becomes all too easy and at others brain numbing hard. Just download it and give it a try.
