MINI-REVIEW: Ghost in the Sheet / S.C.A.R.E.
(Review copyright 2007, Andrew Plotkin <erkyrath.RemoveThis@eblong.com>)
I wandered lonely as a cloud through the wasteland that is Gamestop. But
what? A title I've never seen? Published by neither Adventure Company nor
Got Game? Startling.
_Ghost in the Sheet_ is an indie effort from two Czech designers calling
themselves Cardboard Box Entertainment. The package promises "paranormal
comedy", and the game kicks that off in fair style: you are hit by a truck.
Your eternal reward turns out to be a grouchy demonic boss, who wraps your
ghost in a traditional white sheet and dumps you back on Earth to
investigate goings-on at a run-down factory.
This is a good angle on the limitations of the traditional adventure
interface -- you can't touch or move most objects because you're a ghost.
And it doesn't get frustrating, because you gain supernatural abilities as
the game proceeds. You start out able to move small objects. (But not carry
them around; no inventory here. And yes, the need to transport objects
between rooms figures into several puzzles.) As the plot proceeds, you learn
new tricks, which lean toward the thematically appropriate: a ghostly glow,
a sudden draft.
The interface is an old-style first-person slideshow, although it has picked
up the trick (more familiar in third-person games) of putting subtitles on
each cursor hotspot to let you know what the object is. The factory
environment is solidly rendered; it's not overwhelming, but there are enough
touches of animation to bring the place to, as it were, life. And while this
is not generally a horror game (you are, after all, already dead) it has a
few well-placed corners of genuine creepiness. You also get occasional cut
scenes -- rather spare ones, done in static, monochrome, hand-drawn
illustrations. These would have benefitted from a more expressive style, but
they get the point across.
On the positive side, you get plenty of dialogue: both narrative voiceover
and interaction with the other characters, who form a lively -- er, active
part of the game. The ambient sound and musical score also hold up their
respective ends of the bargain.
The gameplay is decent, though not brilliant. The early puzzles are not too
difficult. Eventually you reach bits that are -- more difficult, but due to
design flaws rather than complexity or cleverness. One puzzle (in a locker
room) was probably a good idea on paper, but falls apart in the chaos of the
rendered world. I actually thought of the correct solution, and then decided
it didn't make enough physical sense to be worth trying.
Other scenes are predicated on discovering certain clues, which meant that
my play session hung up because I had failed to click on a particular sheet
of paper (of dozens scattered around the ruined factory). This problem is
hard to avoid in mystery games, but the upshot is that you can get stuck
with no practical recourse but a walkthrough.
On top of that, the game has a fairly broad design. You encounter lots of
puzzles, lots of items, and lots of clues, only a few of which are relevant
at any given moment. I appreciate that in an adventure, but it's hard on the
player when he encounters puzzle problems. Where do you proceed? This is
where the palette of abilities hurts you: you are tempted to methodically
search the game, trying every ability on every object you encounter. (And,
indeed, I spent a lot of time doing this.) This is, counterintuitively,
*less* interesting gameplay than the Myst-style one-verb click-to-use-it
interface.
This is not to say I had a bad time. I figured lots of stuff out, I solved
most of the puzzles on my own, and the ability palette was fun when I *was*
in the game's groove. All of the puzzles were relevant to the story and
integral to the environment. The many NPCs were *not* used as an excuse for
unending fetch quests. Plus, as the game website explicitly promises: no
mazes and no slider puzzles. It's good to know some designers are paying
attention.
The biggest flaw of the game -- at least, of the English version -- is the
translation job. The title is a case in point. "Ghost in the Sheet" is a
running gag in the story: your boss calls you that, you call yourself that,
various characters are variously surprised or disgusted to encounter a
"ghost in the sheet". But the gag isn't *funny*. The phrase is a lousy
nickname; it's not short, it's not euphonious, it's not fun to say, and it
doesn't sound like anything. (Except an anime movie, which doesn't turn out
to be relevant.) I mean, if everybody called you "Casper", that would be a
gag, right? Not a particularly good one, but it would fit. "Ghost in the
sheet" just sits there.
(If anyone knows the Czech original of that phrase, I'd be interested to
know it. I bet it's funnier. The English title _Ghost in the Sheet_ seems to
be used even in Czech references, although the game is coming out as
_S.C.A.R.E._ in Europe.)
The whole script is like that. It's grammatical, but it's awkward in
phrasing and emphasis. (And this hurts the puzzle clues as much as the
comedy.) It's like, well, like reading a foreign language, only in English:
you have to translate each line into what it *really* means. The English
voice actors work like hell to make it sound natural, but they can only do
so much.
Summary: Look past the lousy translation for an entertaining adventure game.
The puzzles are patchy, but they're original and well-integrated; the
graphics aren't stunning, but the story is nicely put together.
(This review, and my reviews of other adventure games, are at
http://eblong.com/zarf/gamerev/index.html)
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
Bush's biggest lie is his claim that it's okay to disagree with him. As soon as
you *actually* disagree with him, he sadly explains that you're undermining
America, that you're giving comfort to the enemy. That you need to be silent.
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