Biddeford Maine quiet coastal town
The starting point of Black Mirror 2 is set twelve years after the events of Black Mirror in the coastal village of Biddeford/Maine (circa 1990’s) where we meet our central character Darren temping in a photo studio. Darren’s boss, Fuller, has a well deserved reputation in the town as being a sleaze and is disliked by the female population. But things begin to look up for Darren when an attractive English girl named Angelina visits the studio to have her picture taken. However, Darren isn’t the only person interested in Angelina as he notices that she is being followed by a strange man.
As expected Darren decides to investigate these incidents. His Research will soon lead him to several locations – including the English village of Willow Creek that adventure game players know from Black Mirror #1. BM2 is a standalone game – so it isn’t necessary to have played the first instalment and while it does have references to the previous title, this story is taken from a brand new perspective where the Gordon family history or tales from Black Mirror is retold.
Early on in development the decision was made to make Black Mirror 2 a 2.5D game instead of 3D, this was based on feedback from the adventure game community wanting to retain the unique Black Mirror style. So thumbs up to the developers for listening to their fan base but how did this major graphics decision pan out? Rather excellently actually!
Black Mirror 2 features attractive, artistic 2D backgrounds and the environments are expansive. The early stages of the game take place in the sleepy New England coastal town of Biddeford, Maine, where we visit shop interiors with pretty, hand-drawn storefronts, a 50’s style diner, hospital, police station, Darren’s home, and the town’s hotel. This relaxed coastal town contrasts quite sharply with the more austere stately homes and medieval Willow Creek when Darren follows Angelina to the UK. Willow Creek is a town trying to cash in on its horrific reputation but tourism has diminished leaving a dark and moody atmosphere where you are unable to distinguish between friends and enemies.
The gaming environment is quite large for instance while you have ,say , Darren’s home to visit there are maybe three rooms or Fullers shop where there are five areas to investigate – environments within environments ! Like in most similar games, you move around from location to location by clicking on your destination and in Biddeford you are gifted a handy hotspot map in the style of a tourist map allowing you to jump quickly from one destination to the other but for some reason the developers didn’t carry this mechanic over to the UK locations. This seemed a bit of a strange decision as the playability factor changed a bit – almost as though it was a different game.
As far as graphics go they are of a very high standard although in some cases you do need to be pretty exact with your cursor. The backgrounds and characters are wonderfully drawn and as well as experiencing night and day expect different weather conditions too. The rainfall is executed beautifully as is the effect of hazy weather and sunlight. Darren also experiences plenty of flashbacks the closer he gets to Black Mirror and these are really the only form of cut scenes which again are crafted beautifully. Don’t be surprised either by supernatural occurrences around the Willow Creek area! There is also the opportunity for Darren to die however, this triggers an auto save which will allow you to pick the game up from just before his “final” action.
I was very lucky to receive a copy of the BM2 very early on and although the English voice-overs hadn’t yet been added (I worked through the game with the English subtitles) I did listen in on the German audio. If this quality is replicated in the English version, it will create a truly atmospheric experience with the ambient sounds, brilliant music score and the right selection of character casting.
conversation topics are displayed along bottom of screen
The inventory is simplistic,user friendly and displayed when the cursor hovers toward the bottom of the screen. Like most games of this style ,combining objects in inventory is a matter of dragging them onto each other and using objects is achieved by right clicking on the object and then the position where you want to action it. Topics of conversation are also displayed in this manner and you just have to choose what you would like to discuss with the character.In the top right hand corner you will find a small on screen menu (when you hover your mouse) this contains the load/save option, the link to the main menu, the notebook and a button to reveal hotspots. I found this simple little menu very charming in its elegance and functionality. The notebook is an invaluable tool too .Within its pages you will find your current task which will be scored out once completed and it will contain staggered hints if you so need them. These are hidden as spoilers and are only revealed once you click on the small bracketed arrow below the written passage. Also Darren automatically takes note of any important information meaning you don’t need to keep reaching for your own pen and notepad. The puzzles on the whole are inventory based. There are logic puzzles but they are not too testing and there is a skip button should you need it .
Willow Creek
The qualities of Black Mirror2 game have been so wonderfully crafted and bundled together,the story will keep you guessing to the end and the easy user interface works well. Perhaps some of the more seasoned adventurers may claim the logic puzzles to be too easy but I didn’t think so. The one element I would like to see integrated into adventure games (and this doesn’t just apply to BM2)is that if a player does use the skip button I would like to see the solution and reason displayed. But all in all Black Mirror 2 is a good solid game and the gorgeous graphics, sound effects, twisting story line and eye for detail make Black Mirror2 one of my favourite adventure titles in the last twelve months
Marks out of 10
Gameplay 9: Lovely and Fluid drives the story onward
Graphics and Audio 9: Cant completely comment on the audio as the English voices have yet to be added but the graphics are oustanding as is the music score and ambient sounds
Story 8.5: Excellent with so many twists and turns
Replayability 8.5: will definitely call back in on Biddefored and Willow Creek
Overall : 8.5/10
