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Evidence Hands On

Evidence Hands On

Written by Tyler Sager on 10/12/2006 for PC  
More On: Evidence
The Adventure Company sent along their latest adventure/horror, Evidence: The Last Ritual, and it seems things are shaping up for this interesting and somewhat disturbing game.
 
A serial killer known as The Phoenix has sent out a little game to taunt and showcase his latest killing spree, and it’s up to the player to figure out the various puzzles and hints laid out by the warped and psychotic mind.  As the puzzles are defeated, snippets of information, movies, and taunting emails lead players deeper and deeper into the game. 
 
Like last year’s MISSING: Since January, Evidence requires an active internet connection to play. Many of the puzzles require online searches to various esoteric websites, and several hints and clues are emailed to the players as they progress through the game. The Phoenix himself taunts players as they make their way through the puzzles, and “other players” also lend a hand through some of the stickier spots. I attempted to email responses to some of the emails from the game, but there didn’t seem to be a provision for emails to be interactive just yet. 
 
I’m usually not big into the “search-the-web” type games, so Evidence doesn’t appeal to me on that front. Some of the internet puzzles were almost too obscure for my tastes, although many of the websites needed by the game (including the main Evidence site) were still being translated as I was playing through. If players truly are able to team up and tackle these challenges, I can see many of these puzzles being much more enjoyable to plow though.
 
The non-internet-based puzzles are much more my style of challenge, and they were a nice mix. Mostly logic problems, the puzzles are a collection of Flash-based head-scratchers, and most were pleasantly difficult without being too frustrating.
 
I did find myself disturbed at the violent imagery and jarring visuals. Couple that with the fact that the game will send emails and reach out to the “real world” on occasion, some players may become uneasy as the “forth wall” line is blurred. I like my games to remain just games, and Evidence takes things just a little farther than I am comfortable with. However, many players may find that extra realism exciting and engrossing.
 
Evidence: The Last Ritual could be a fun and intriguing puzzler/horror when it finally hits release. The puzzles are shaping up to be quite challenging, and the creepy plot looks to have quite a bit of polish already. We’ll have a full rundown on the game once it makes its official debut. 

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.

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About Author

I'm an old-school gamer, and have been at it ever since the days of the Atari 2600. I took a hiatus from the console world to focus on PC games after that, but I've come back into the fold with the PS2. I'm an RPG and strategy fan, and could probably live my gaming life off a diet of nothing else. I also have soft spot for those off-the-wall, independent-developer games, so I get to see more than my share of innovative (and often strange) titles.

Away from the computer, I'm an avid boardgamer, thoroughly enjoying the sound of dice clattering across a table. I also enjoy birdwatching and just mucking around in the Great Outdoors.
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