Journey to the Center of the Earth

About

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a single player action game. It was developed by Frogwares and was released on July 22, 2016. It received negative reviews from players.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" is a first-person adventure game featuring beautiful 3D graphics and a superb storyline. Players, as photojournalist Ariane, explore a hidden world beneath Iceland filled with exotic landscapes, unique civilizations, and strange creatures. As you solve puzzles and uncover clues, the game reveals a shocking secret in this epic adventure.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Journey to the Center of the Earth screenshot

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30%

Audience ScoreBased on 60 reviews

story10 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features beautiful visual scenes and a charming premise that evokes nostalgia for fans of the adventure genre.
The gameplay offers a retro feel with challenging puzzles that can be enjoyable for dedicated players.
It works well on modern systems like Windows 11, making it accessible for a new audience.

The game suffers from frustrating pixel hunting and poorly designed navigation, making it difficult to interact with objects and progress.
Many puzzles and content from the original version are missing, leading to a lack of clarity and logical progression in the story.
The voice acting and character development are subpar, contributing to an overall mediocre experience.

story
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
60%
15%
The story has received mixed reviews, with many describing it as mediocre and filled with clichéd characters and fetch quests. While some players found it charming and entertaining in a quirky way, others criticized the lack of clarity and frustrating gameplay mechanics that detracted from the narrative experience. Overall, the story is seen as a highlight for some, but it struggles with execution and coherence.
- “The story is fascinating in the same way a train wreck of clowns is.”
- “This was such a fun way to experience this story!”
- “Thanks Frogwares, you guys are master storytellers and creators!”
- “The story, honestly, was rather mediocre.”
- “All of the characters are mediocre, just as the story itself.”
- “The story and progression are not clear in the slightest, and I have encountered many bugs while playing this game.”
gameplay
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for its frustrating mechanics, particularly the character movement and excessive backtracking, which many reviewers describe as outdated and cumbersome. Overall, players find the experience to be unenjoyable and tedious.
- “The movement mechanics of the character you play, Ariane, are terrible.”
- “Very frustrating gameplay with a lot of backtracking and outdated mechanics.”
- “Very frustrating gameplay with a lot of backtracking and outdated mechanics.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics of the game, while considered exceptional for its 2003 release, are marred by choppy character movements and various graphical glitches. Overall, players find the visuals tolerable, but the experience is often hindered by frustrating gameplay mechanics and a lack of polish. Despite these issues, the game's charm and visual appeal from its time still resonate with some players.
- “The graphics are exceptional, although the characters' body movements are rather choppy. However, when this game was originally released in 2003, the stick-man-like movements were acceptable, as the visual graphics were so amazing at that time that one might have been in a state of rapture.”
- “The graphics are tolerable (considering it's from 2003), and the overall story is somewhat harmless and charming.”
- “There's so many I've lost count: unskippable snail-speed terrain traversal which wastes your time, non-sensical puzzles, pathetic graphical glitches, counter-intuitive and inconsistent UI, horrible pixel-hunting, broken game triggers, deadpan voice acting and so on and on and on.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely unintentional, with players finding amusement in the absurdity of the dialogue and the repetitive fetch and fix-it quests. While some moments can be entertaining, the overall tone suggests that the game does not actively aim to be funny, leading to a "laughing at" rather than "laughing with" experience.
- “At times (when it wasn't too frustrating), I enjoyed the game because I was laughing at the stupidity of the dialogue and the nature of all the fetch quests and 'fix-it' quests.”
- “Definitely 'laughing at' and not 'laughing with', as the game does not try to be funny.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with players reporting numerous issues such as slow terrain traversal, nonsensical puzzles, graphical glitches, inconsistent user interface, frustrating pixel-hunting, and broken game triggers, all contributing to a frustrating experience.
- “There are so many issues I've lost count: unskippable snail-speed terrain traversal that wastes your time, nonsensical puzzles, pathetic graphical glitches, counter-intuitive and inconsistent UI, horrible pixel-hunting, broken game triggers, deadpan voice acting, and so on.”
- “The game is plagued by numerous stability issues, including frustratingly slow movement, illogical puzzles, and frequent graphical glitches that detract from the overall experience.”
- “I encountered a multitude of problems, such as broken game triggers and a confusing user interface, which made it nearly impossible to enjoy the game.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is praised for its chill vibe, contributing to a fantastic retro experience that enhances the overall aesthetic. Players appreciate the soothing soundtrack, which complements the game's visuals beautifully.
- “The game is a fantastic retro feeling experience, and one I wish I'd found years ago. The chill music is so pretty and complements the resolution beautifully.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, often describing it as user-hostile and cryptic, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “One of the most tedious, user-hostile, cryptic games I've ever played.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a sense of disconnection and awkwardness, as the protagonist's sliding movement creates a surreal and unsettling experience that may evoke feelings of unease in players.

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23h Median play time

23h Average play time

23-23h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a action game.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 23 hours playing Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Journey to the Center of the Earth was released on July 22, 2016.

Journey to the Center of the Earth was developed by Frogwares.

Journey to the Center of the Earth has received negative reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a single player game.

Similar games include Sherlock Holmes: The Silver Earring, Black Mirror, The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, Still Life 2, Syberia II and others.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

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