Alabama Smith: Escape from Pompeii Review

Alabama Smith: Escape from Pompeii Review

Review by Sara

You get too little adventure for you buck in Alabama Smith: Escape from Pompeii as the game practically does all the work for you.

Too Easy

A recurring issue in multiple aspects of this release is how much the game directs you into every action that must be completed. Ignoring the over-gracious hint system (that regenerates after approximately one minute), there is a “tasks to complete” list in the lower portion of the screen that keeps tabs on what must be done next, providing too much detail to the user thus removing much of the mystery and adventure elements of the game. Furthermore, the structure of the game directs you to each new location without any input or movement guided by the player which is a little too constricting for an adventure game.

Not Very Entertaining Tasks

Mini-games are very simple and include average tasks such as locating matching pairs of cards which isn't all that fun.

Expert Mode Isn't For Experts

One positive feature is there is both an expert and casual mode so that players can adjust the difficulty to their preference. However, the expert mode maintains much of the ease of casual mode, including hints that regenerate after only one minute and thirty seconds, reducing the overall challenge.

Spell Check is Always Good Before Releasing a Game

Although it is not too much of a detractor from game play itself, some of the dialogue boxes during cut scenes contain missing letters and some players will be turned off by a lack of proper editing.

Cut scenes themselves are particularly dull without voice acting, often without an enticing story and run much longer than is necessary. Fortunately only a few clicks will move you past these scenes to the next location. Indeed the best feature of this game are the exquisite hand drawn graphics that are a delight to behold. That fact aside, most players seeking an adventure will not find it here.

Conclusion - Not Much Challenge

Enthusiasts of hidden objects games may not be bothered by the hint system that may easily become a crutch, game directed movement into each new area and list that provides direction to which activity must be preformed next, but adventure enthusiasts will most likely be disappointed with the overall ease of this release.