Uninvited

"You are uninvited to play this game"

If never-ending series do not yet indicate that a good game will be shamelessly exploited until we are left with a dead cow, we can always revert to finding rip-offs that get ported to multiple consoles. Among the most obscure ones, Uninvited takes all of Shadowgate's ideas and tries to be just as entertaining. I initially wrote that this game was ported to the Commodore 64 from the NES, but according to someone who ignores the advent of e-mail, it is actually the opposite.

Anyway, while this new piece of information is forcing me to update this review with the necessary corrections, this doesn't change anything to the fact that Uninvited is bad. For those who have been sleeping in a cave during the past years, the concept of text-based games implies that everything is done by moving a cursor about and by clicking on given actions as well as items. Everything is done via the cursor, even moving around - although ''moving around'' isn't exactly how it's done, obviously -.

In Uninvited, you take the role of a guy who needs to rescue his kidnapped sister. The premise is confusing, to say the least. You wake up in your car and cannot clearly recall what happened. As the confusion sweeps away and you vaguely remember what happened beforehand, it dawns upon you that your sister is missing. As you manage to escape from your wrecked car before it explodes, you finally end in a mansion's garden. Obviously, you are set to explore that huge house since time-travels were not included among the game's plentiful options. If it had been, you could have travelled back time and chosen another game which you could perhaps enjoy.

This is the time when you should turn off your C-64 and go watch Futurama because the gameplay inexorably evolves into a nightmare after this. It is simply horrid and what is actually decent drowns in the pool of mediocrity that Uninvited is from beginning to end. There are still a good things in it but seriously, when you are suffering so much you don't even notice the decent parts, you just have to deduce the game itself is crap.

Uninvited's concept isn't exactly unique but the setting is innovative enough to be talked about. Through exploring the mansion and its surroundings, collecting items and files, you will learn more about the plot and can also learn spells. However, doing any action is extremely tedious and the gameplay is very repetitive. Of course, some of you will argue that such games are bound to be devoid of interest but there are actually a handful of games in the genre that are worth checking out, the best example being the infamous Maniac Mansion.

However, you will never find this excitement and fear of what awaits you further ahead here. Instead, you will more likely be bored to death and loathe every second of it. Common sense would dictate to stop playing and move on to another game but I played it several times for the purpose of this review. And each new playthrough was as annoying as the previous one due to all the faults that plague Uninvited. The moments of humor thrown in such as a greedy ghost or a bouncing demon don't even manage to make it somewhat fun.

Exploring the mansion and its surrounding is tiresome. There is a small map at the bottom of the screen to avoid any unnecessary frustration but the holes that represent exits are so small you'd be much better moving the mouse on the designs themselves. Puzzles are for the most simple and the spells which you absolutely need to beat the game are, in most cases, relatively easy to obtain but it may take several minutes to locate certain items. This is quite irritating when you combine it to the sloppy controls.

Moreover, the game comprises of a maze that will have you pulling your hair out in desperation. I swear, if someone hadn't posted an image of it on the 'net (GameFAQs itself), I would have turned into a serial killer. The similarity among my victims would have been the fact that they were all part of the team that conceived Uninvited. But then, I realized this wasn't necessary because they must probably be hiding somewhere because they are so ashamed of producing this game.

While the core of Uninvited is easy, the later parts do get more complex and require some thinking. But you will very likely find the solution in less than two minutes unless you never made it past kindergarten. You can also die in this game and the cause of this can be anything from an encounter with a bunch of zombies to accidentally tapping a ghost on the back. Ironically, this constitutes the only good point about the whole game since some deaths can be hilarious and things can get somewhat fun as you try to die through the most stupid ways.

The storyline is quite interesting and manages to stay sensible enough but will you really pay attention to it when you are struggling so much against the controls ? As you explore more rooms of the mansion and gather more loose files and items, you will learn more about Dracan, the resident evil of Uninvited. What he wants with your sister is debatable and some events don't fit in but since the game holds a fantastic plot, I guess those are not really faults.

The graphics too are decent. There are a lot of horrid designs with doors that look like mats and other objects that are never realistic but the backgrounds are always well-detailed. Faded colors are a big problem though as stairways look like they were hurriedly added just before the game was released. Consequently, some of the important items are barely noticeable because they do not have that shining appearance which normally indicates that the key or fruit can be grabbed.

As for the sound, the same repetitive theme plays on endless. The music is decent but after hearing it from beginning to end, I'd rather not talk about it. It's a pity there are not a lot of sound effects though which is sad since these would have added to the tension you logically get upon playing Uninvited -and any such game the first time.

As good as the graphics may be and as decent as the music turned out in spite of the repetitiveness, the gameplay and absolute lack of entertainment contributed to turn Uninvited into utter garbage. While things look moderately good and the game starts beautifully, you will hate it after barely five minutes. Each minute that passes sees you falling into a deep depression as you start banging on your screen, hoping that this will finally cause the evil-looking cursor to move. But it just won't, they forgot to add that ability.

Taking all this into consideration, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Uninvited is a poor attempt to continue the Shadowgate legacy. The former is never as exciting as the latter and is completely ruined by the lousy controls. As if that wasn't enough, the gameplay itself is extremely tedious and lacks that typical overwhelming feeling such games require. You may want to pay it for the funny deaths but are those really worth enjoying such a horrid game and such painful moments ? I don't think so.

~ Score : 2 ~

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/02, Updated 11/09/02