Black Mirror
- June 17, 2014
- KING Art
- 13h median play time
With its atmospheric effects and foreboding settings, Black Mirror is a captivating third-person graphical adventure that unfolds over the course of six in-depth chapters. As a British nobleman returned home to the family manor, you work desperately to prove that the untimely death of an ancestor wa
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games StoreIn "Black Mirror," players explore the eerie Scottish castle of the Gordon family, uncovering dark secrets and supernatural forces. With a focus on exploration and puzzle-solving, players must unravel the mystery behind the cursed lineage and the sinister events that took place. The game features a gothic horror atmosphere, paying homage to the original point-and-click game while offering improved graphics and gameplay mechanics.
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Reviews
- Engaging and atmospheric story that keeps players invested.
- Beautifully crafted backgrounds and sound design that enhance the gothic horror experience.
- Challenging puzzles that require logical thinking and exploration.
- Extremely slow pacing with tedious backtracking and waiting for NPCs to complete tasks.
- Poor voice acting, particularly from the main character, which detracts from immersion.
- Frustrating mechanics where certain items can only be interacted with after specific triggers, leading to pixel hunting.
- story421 mentions
- 46 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of "Black Mirror" is generally praised for its engaging and immersive narrative, rich atmosphere, and well-crafted characters, drawing players into a dark and gothic mystery. However, many reviews note that the pacing can be slow, with tedious backtracking and some plot holes that detract from the overall experience, particularly in the later chapters. While the initial intrigue and emotional depth are highlighted, the ending often leaves players feeling unsatisfied, suggesting a mixed reception regarding the story's execution.
“The story is amazing - dark, gloomy, emotional, deep.”
“The story lives rent free in my head sometimes because I do still feel really bad for a lot of the characters in this ultimately very tragic story.”
“The storytelling is coherent and continues the ever-tightening spiral of the story to the breathtaking finale.”
“The story takes a nosedive in later chapters.”
“The rest of the time was spent dragging back and forth between a few NPCs, while the story barely moved an inch.”
“The story didn't work for me because it didn't finish what it started.”
- atmosphere154 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its gothic and eerie qualities, effectively immersing players in a dark, suspenseful environment enhanced by well-crafted sound design and visuals. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke a sense of mystery and tension, making it a standout feature despite some criticisms regarding pacing and gameplay mechanics. Overall, the atmospheric elements, including detailed backgrounds and haunting music, contribute significantly to the game's narrative and player experience.
“The music and sounds are all very well matched to the theme and really help set the mood for an atmospheric immersive experience.”
“The atmosphere is unsettling and the characters are interesting to talk to.”
“The ominous and foreboding atmosphere always seems to get under your skin accompanied by the gothic pre-rendered scenery along with voxel-based character models.”
“The detailed and eerie environments of the Black Mirror castle perfectly capture the game's gothic horror atmosphere.”
- graphics114 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated, reflecting its 2003 release, but many players find them charming and atmospheric, contributing positively to the overall experience. While some criticize the clunky character animations and pixelated visuals, others appreciate the detailed backgrounds and gothic art style that enhance the narrative and ambiance. Overall, the visuals may not meet modern standards, but they still hold a nostalgic appeal for fans of classic point-and-click adventure games.
“The graphics are good; despite their age, they still hold up with plenty of good detail, a nice use of color, and a good atmosphere with plenty of good backgrounds.”
“The graphics are beautiful in this game; it's a joy to wander around exploring and finding things.”
“What makes the game stand out is the atmosphere and the story, with some of the best graphics of its age and genre (and they do hold up even now), wonderful sound design and music.”
“The graphics are quite dated nowadays but are still quite charming (the video segments notwithstanding, lol).”
“Comparatively, the graphics were decent for the time, 3D graphics were all the rage and the models used here aren't terrible for 2003, but they haven't aged particularly well.”
“The graphics aren't so awful as to hinder gameplay, but I did find they took away from the mood of the game - a grisly death just isn't as grisly when it's depicted in 30 pixels.”
- gameplay90 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its slow pace, tedious mechanics, and reliance on waiting for scripted events, which detracts from the overall experience. While the narrative and atmosphere are praised, the dated point-and-click mechanics and lack of intuitive controls often lead to frustration, requiring players to rely on walkthroughs to progress. Despite these issues, some players still find enjoyment in the story and puzzles, indicating that the gameplay may appeal to those who appreciate classic adventure games.
“The storyline had me intrigued from start to finish, and the game's puzzles and challenges can be extremely hard, but overall, this gameplay experience is just as fun on the second and third playthroughs as the first.”
“As you progress, you uncover shocking revelations and unexpected twists, making for a thrilling and satisfying gameplay experience.”
“Nevertheless, with its quality story, characters, atmosphere, twists and turns, and enjoyable gameplay filled with puzzles, it made me fall in love not only with point & click adventure games, but also with the horror genre.”
“Another gameplay issue is having to wait for a character to finish their (sometimes lengthy) animation sequence before they will speak with you.”
“This game wouldn't stand today's gameplay standards for the lack of replayability, and this is one of the key reasons behind the demise of the adventure games genre as a whole.”
“The gameplay is a bit tedious as you must exhaust all possible dialogs and do exactly the right thing before the game will let you progress.”
- music44 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric quality, effectively enhancing the immersive experience and complementing the story's eerie themes. While the soundtrack is described as beautiful and haunting, some players noted its sparse use, which can create moments of silence that heighten tension. Overall, the sound design, including ambient audio and music, significantly contributes to the game's mood, despite criticisms of the voice acting.
“The music and sounds are all very well matched to the theme and really help set the mood for an atmospheric immersive experience.”
“The soundtrack matches the game perfectly and aids in the immersion of the game.”
“The music is a huge contributor and some of it will be spinning around in your head for days.”
“The voice-over is just about decent here, with the main hero sounding so stiff, it’s almost robotic, and the rest of the cast varying from 'middle-of-the-road' to 'above average'; and while the soundtrack is appropriately grand, there’s simply very little of it to make any kind of serious note.”
“Sometimes when the player character pauses, they pause for so long while music plays and nothing else happens.”
“Most of the soundtrack is different kinds of dead air, which gives the game a unique atmosphere.”
- grinding31 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a significant issue with grinding in the game, primarily due to tedious pixel hunting, slow character movement, and excessive backtracking. Players often find themselves frustrated by the need to revisit locations and exhaust dialogue options, leading to a gameplay experience that feels repetitive and drawn out. While the storyline has potential, the slow pacing and unintuitive mechanics detract from overall enjoyment, making many aspects of the game feel laborious.
“The gameplay is a bit tedious as you must exhaust all possible dialogs and do exactly the right thing before the game will let you progress.”
“Whilst that may seem like a good, meaty game...the only reason it's so long is because the character moves at a snail's pace, talks like he's constantly consulting the dictionary, and the game requires tedious amounts of back-and-forth forcing you to constantly revisit the same locations.”
“An interesting storyline, however, the tediousness of many of the required tasks severely detracted from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- humor22 mentions
- 95 % positive mentions
- -9 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely unintentional, stemming from clunky character animations, wooden voice acting, and absurd situations that often lead to laughter rather than fear. Players find the awkwardness and corny dialogue amusing, with some moments described as "so bad it's funny." Overall, while the game may not deliver on its intended comedic elements, it provides a unique and entertaining experience through its quirks and oddities.
“There is also a kind of clunkiness in the character animations and voice acting, which, to be honest, is sort of hilarious and grows on you over time; it has a very unique style.”
“There is also a side mission about some stolen old family wine, so you can hear him complain about some very expensive wine, of which they have many hundreds... funny!”
“The unintentionally hilarious voice acting.”
“So here is my review: it's not funny like the rest because I feel the game doesn't deserve such thought put into it.”
“The humor falls flat and feels forced, making it hard to enjoy the game.”
“I expected a lot more laughs, but the jokes just didn't land for me.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting frequent freezing, crashing, and various glitches, including audio problems. Overall, the experience is marred by these technical flaws, detracting from gameplay enjoyment.
“Very buggy, keeps freezing and/or crashing.”
“Loud audio glitches followed by hard-crash of the app.”
“This game has (in my opinion) some major flaws (horrible voice acting, very unsatisfying ending, having to talk to everyone in the game - however irrelevant to the current point of the story they are, in order to progress - and (as others reported) some annoying glitches).”
- emotional4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its deep and complex storyline, which is described as dark and gloomy, evoking strong feelings. However, some players find the overall experience lacking due to the gameplay, suggesting that the emotional depth of the plot may not be enough to compensate for other shortcomings.
“The story is amazing - dark, gloomy, emotional, and deep.”
“This game somehow gets away with it, because the beauty and emotional complexity of the main plot makes up for it.”
“You play the part of an emotional character who comes home to find his uncle has disappeared.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues that hinder gameplay. Despite strong voice acting performances, the overall experience is marred by slow and unresponsive mechanics, making it difficult for users to fully engage with the game.
“This game is not optimized.”
“Unable to actually play the game since the optimization is really bad and it runs very slowly.”
“The performance of 'Samuel' sounded like the star actor was sick, and the poor stage manager had to go through the play reading his lines!”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with players noting that it fails to meet modern gameplay standards, leading to a tedious experience that often requires a walkthrough. This limitation is seen as a significant factor contributing to the decline of the adventure game genre.
“This game wouldn't stand today's gameplay standards due to its lack of replayability, which is one of the key reasons behind the demise of the adventure game genre as a whole.”
“Cons: back and forth over and over again, boring at some points, unplayable without a walkthrough, and lacks replayability.”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Character development is hindered as the protagonist's motivations primarily serve to drive the plot forward, resulting in a lack of depth and growth that could have been explored through puzzle design.
“His entire motivation is to advance the plot, thus we are robbed of character development through puzzle design.”
“The characters feel one-dimensional and lack any meaningful growth throughout the game.”
“There are no real choices that impact character development, making the experience feel shallow.”
