Curse: The Eye of Isis

"Resident Evil... Egyption style!"

''Dude, this game is so similar to Resident Evil!''
-Little Brother

Gameplay 6 - ''It's okay.''
Clumsy is the word of the day, kids. The controls don't quite work unless you have a game pad, the camera angle often keeps your enemies out of sight even when they're attacking you, and the absolutely useless maps means you might often find yourself stumbling around hallways blindly until you find your objective by sheer chance. However, the clumsiness of the title hardly renders it unplayable. In fact, Curse is a very playable game, though that doesn't mean that it's compelling.

Graphics 7 - ''The average graphics.''
Most of the game's characters are technologically behind the curve a little, lacking much in geometric or texture detail. Environments fare a great deal better in both respects and are accompanied by some very stylized lighting that provides a solid gloomy atmosphere to much of the scenery.

Sound 7 - ''Nothing big...''
The things that go bump in the night come through loud and clear, be they a steam pipe suddenly bursting or a loud knock on a nearby door to jolt you after a prolonged silence. However, voices and most of the creature and weapon sound effects come off as strangely muffled and lacking in any sort of intensity or depth. The end result is a strange mixed bag of varying degrees of quality.

Replay-ability 4 - ''Needs a little working with.''
You play the game. You beat it. There's little to no incentive to do so again.

Documentation/Support 6 - ''Uh, okay.''
The manual is your average 25-page jewel-case version that you see with many games. It gets the job done with basic instruction and character profiles and so on. No more, no less.

Summary 6 - ''The okay kind of game!''
Curse is really just an homage to a genre that had its heyday several years ago, but it fails to do anything that might reinvigorate the genre, not that it really tries anyway. At least one might be able to expect a magnification of the strengths of the genre it pays tribute to in a game like this, but the lens seem to be placed squarely over the weaknesses instead. Nonetheless, Curse is more mediocre than it is bad and any true fan of the genre probably won't regret giving it a shot.

Note All the words in quotations were taken from my little brother. He's the best little dude you can ever hang out with. Anyway, this whole review really came from both of us. I thought I'd make this little review special and unique. Thanks little bro!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/04