The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript

"If you ever want to spend an afternoon in Renaissance-era France..."

I really, really enjoyed this game. It combines most of the elements I love most in an adventure game -- problem solving, thinking outside the box, a hint or two of danger, and lots of surprises. In some ways it was a lot like Myst, in terms of appearance and solving puzzles, but I found it far more enjoyable than Myst, which drove me crazy.

The story takes place in France, in September of 1522. You are Valdo, formerly apprenticed to Francesco Malzi, who was himself a protege of the great Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, some time before the start of the game, Valdo went and got himself fired by copying one of da Vinci's works and selling his duplicate. However, his current employer doesn't seem to mind...whoever this individual happens to be. Valdo's mission is to journey to Cloux Manor, presently the dwelling of Marie Babou ("Madam" as she is usually identified), and conduct some research. Ostensibly, he is merely looking for some lost diagrams and battle sketches; in reality, he is sent to find the eponymous forbidden manuscript -- a codex notebook of Leonardo's that he seems to have deliberately lost. There's no telling how valuable the information it contains may be.

Did he really lose it, though? Valdo's employer is rather convinced that it's not lost at all, merely concealed somewhere at Cloux. The young artist is thus conscripted to reveal the hiding place. It won't be easy; Leonardo has left many clues about the codex, and the clues are scattered throughout the manor. Madam and Saturnin, the caretaker, also confound him along the way; she is rumored to be the King's mistress, while he's apparently out to get as much as he can for himself, and neither one is precisely what they seem. If all that weren't bad enough, someone's got it in for Valdo. It will take all of his cunning, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to solve Leonardo's mysteries, find the codex...and leave the manor alive.

To come up with my score, I considered five major categories -- graphics, originality, gameplay, story, and replayability.

Graphics: 9/10 The look and feel of this game is intensely real. The French countryside setting is beautifully rendered, and while the people aren't perfectly natural-looking, they come very very close. The detailing is excellent; the costumes in which characters are dressed are well-designed; and on the whole it has a really good look to it. The best part of all, of course, is the digital reproduction of some of da Vinci's great paintings. Leonardo's art adorns the walls of many rooms in the manor, and while a few of them are relevant to the plot, each one is worth taking the time to pause and admire.

Originality: 10/10 I give them full marks for the unique details of the story. It blends accurate historical and scientific data about Leonardo da Vinci and his work with a complex, carefully woven story. The characters are very human and therefore flawed; possibly the only completely good guy in the whole story is Leonardo himself. The book in which documents are stored and viewed is not an original idea in itself; however, what is unusual is the fact that the player must interact with the documents -- projects must be assembled, adjusted, or unmasked in order to move to the next phase of operation. There are a lot of details in this game that I simply hadn't expected, such as the task of romancing Marie Babou and how your success with her will affect the game's outcome, and surprises like that are always great to find.

Gameplay: 8/10 Unfortunately, the game does lose some points here. It's not a particularly easy game, and many times the course of action required is nowhere near obvious; while being challenged is of course desired, once or twice I suspected the game's creators of trying to instigate a nervous breakdown. The game also contains a few spelling errors in the written text of characters' speech, and one particularly glaring mistake would have players believing that one character is over three hundred years old! The other annoying thing is how much backtracking you have to do in places; it's very easy to, for example, be in the midst of creating a potion in Leonardo's lab only to discover you're out of water, so you have to go back outside to the pond to refill your flask. It can be a little frustrating, and while the manor is not overly large and you really can't get lost, it's possible to grow a bit disoriented at times.

Having said all that, however, it's nevertheless a very good game. The non-linear storytelling means that some tasks can be performed out of precise order, which is great in that missing (or even skipping) a particular step usually doesn't mean you've messed up beyond all hope. Even if you do mess up, in all but one instance that I can recall, you can try again. The whole thing keeps you guessing as you go.

Story: 10/10 Again, completely impressed with the story. It's got some of everything -- adventure, deception, history, mystery, and a little sex. Valdo is a flawed hero, neither lovable nor despicable, inherently; throughout the game, he has a meter which shows whether he is more angelic or diabolical, and it is the choice of action by the player which determines the level of each. Meanwhile, the loyalties of every other character in the game are perpetually uncertain, and it is only toward the conclusion that Valdo knows who are his true friends...and who are some of his enemies.

Replayability: 8/10 There is, of course, a limit to how many times you can replay this game before you run out of unique options, but the game itself is such a long one that it'll be some time before you reach that limit. Play it once with a higher angelic rating, and again with a higher diabolical. Charm Madam into sharing her bed through gifts and flattery, or remain a perfect gentleman throughout the story. It's still the same basic story every time, so you will eventually be playing the same game twice, but like I said, it will take a while. I said it reminded me of Myst, and one of the ways in which it does is the prospect of multiple outcomes; if you don't like the way it ended the first time, you can go and try for another ending. All the endings have one sequence of animation in common, which is delightful, but the specifics vary.

Total score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/07

Game Release: The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript (US, 06/07/06)