Salammbô: Battle for Carthage

About

Inspired by the novel of Gustave Flaubert and the works of Phillippe Druillet, Salammbo: Battle for Carthage puts you in the middle of two of antiquities greatest powers. Can you deliver Salammbo's message before it's too late?

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Salammbô: Battle for Carthage screenshot

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 76 reviews

story36 positive mentions

music3 negative mentions

The game features stunning graphics and a unique art style that captivates players.
The storyline is engaging and keeps players interested throughout the experience.
Puzzles are generally logical and satisfying, providing a good challenge without being overly frustrating.

The navigation system is confusing and can lead to players getting lost easily.
The game suffers from technical issues on modern systems, requiring significant tinkering to run properly.
Some puzzles rely on obscure logic, making them difficult to solve without external help or walkthroughs.

story
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
46%
5%
The story is generally well-received, with many players finding it engaging and enjoyable, often highlighting its compelling narrative and unique art style. While some critiques mention linearity and gameplay issues, the rich dialogue and historical context, particularly its basis on Gustave Flaubert's work, contribute to a captivating experience. Overall, the narrative is seen as a strong point, making it worthwhile for fans of adventure games despite some technical shortcomings.
- “The art style is incredibly gripping and unique, the puzzles are generally fair, and the story actually had me wanting to see what happens next, which does not happen for me in these types of games since I play them mostly for the aesthetics.”
- “This is a game based on great books by Gustave Flaubert, and despite a bit poorly aged background images and very low resolution screen, 'Salammbo' has amazing dialogue, a fascinating story, great world and character design, beautiful music, and top-notch competent puzzles that have aged very well by today's standards.”
- “But for the adventure gamer who'd appreciate a good story, beautiful environment design, and some fair puzzle challenges, 'Salammbo' is a true gem, even today.”
- “Brawny men, busty babes, big weird creatures: all wrapped in a convoluted power struggle story that is loosely based on real events and persons, set in a nicely rendered dark fantasy world.”
- “For example, it has no hint system, but sometimes none of the characters tell you how to push the in-game plot further - all you have to do in a situation like this is to use every item from the inventory on every active spot of every location, only to find out that all this time our hero had his own plan of actions in mind (but for some reason he forgot to share it with the player).”
- “The interface is god awful and annoying, the story is kind of linear but follows the original novel pretty well without being boring.”
graphics
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
54%
7%
The graphics of the game are often praised for their unique and gripping art style, which many reviewers find breathtaking for its era, despite some acknowledging that they are dated. While the visuals create a captivating atmosphere, opinions vary on whether the aesthetic choices enhance or detract from the overall experience, with some finding them overly dark or bizarre. Overall, the game's graphics are seen as a highlight, appealing to those who appreciate artistic design over modern technical standards.
- “The graphics and the atmosphere are great.”
- “The graphics of the game are simply breathtaking for its era, with futuristic architecture and intimidating character models.”
- “There are many other problems with Salammbó, but despite everything, it completely deserves to be played at least once - its gorgeous landscapes and unique aesthetics are the real heart and soul of the project.”
- “The developers went for a certain aesthetic, but they overdid it in my opinion.”
- “This does not work on modern computer hardware without third-party software to disable graphics features, significant settings and config editing, etc. This is just to get the game to load up.”
- “I'm not recommending it because of the dark visuals and weird art style (pretty much every human and animal looks like various demons and monsters) and the aged gameplay style.”
gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
75%
11%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by dated mechanics and frustrating navigation, making it challenging for modern players to engage without a walkthrough. While some appreciate its unique story and visuals, many find the puzzles overly complex and the gameplay experience generic and flawed. Overall, it may appeal to those who can overlook its shortcomings for the sake of nostalgia or artistic value, but it is not recommended for players seeking a smooth and enjoyable experience.
- “The gameplay for an adventure game from 2003 is surprisingly solid.”
- “Really unique look, story, and gameplay!”
- “But truth be told, this unusual game with its old school gameplay and great story was a great way to pass some time.”
- “Alas, as a game, Salammbo suffers from dozens of little flaws that make its gameplay painfully frustrating in the modern era.”
- “The inability to easily see which direction one can move is a critical downfall of the game, detracting so much from gameplay that I regret having played.”
- “On the other hand, the gameplay often cannot correspond to them, so if you seek a really good quest that you can play comfortably without a walkthrough, you need to seek further: technically, Salammbo is a generic first-person point-and-click quest that is similar to other generic quests of that genre from the 2000s.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
64%
21%
The music in the game is described as a mix of well-implemented classical scores that can sometimes feel jarring or out of context, contributing to an alien atmosphere. While some reviewers find the music decent and fitting, others note its inaccuracies and the overall experience as average, with the orchestral elements enhancing the unique art style and storytelling. Despite its flaws, the music is generally appreciated for adding to the game's dramatic and immersive qualities.
- “Right from the menu, it feels alien then continues to do so with such a bizarre mix in almost every corner of the design with its design of the characters, the architecture, and the very dramatic orchestral music.”
- “This is a game based on great books done by Gustave Flaubert, and despite a bit poorly aged background images and very low resolution screen - Salammbo has amazing dialogue, fascinating story, great world and character design, beautiful music, and top-notch competent puzzles that aged very well for today's standards.”
- “Right from the menu it feels alien then continues to do so with such a bizarre mix in almost every corner of the design with its design of the characters, the architecture and the very dramatic orchestral music.”
- “The classical music score is both well-implemented but also sometimes jarring and out of context.”
- “The music is decent but it's inaccurate whenever the game plays it.”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
25%
8%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its dark, elegant, and overwhelming qualities, complemented by a unique art style reminiscent of classic French space opera comics and heavy metal aesthetics. While the graphics and voice acting are noted as strong points, the overall gameplay experience is considered mediocre, with the atmosphere serving as a significant highlight that elevates the game despite its technical shortcomings.
- “The atmosphere is dark, elegant, and overwhelming.”
- “Mediocre quest with mediocre puzzles, writing, and voice acting which are compensated by brilliant art style and unique atmosphere of classic French space opera comics.”
- “Basic, but the atmosphere is incredible.”
- “Now with that out of the way, I'll start by saying for a 12-year-old game, it's got a weird and gorgeous art style. It's just a unique piece of animation done well. The voice acting is very good, but the humans look like aliens and demons. The atmosphere has that science fiction (or fantasy, I don't know what Cryo was targeting) heavy metal type style you would see on music albums like Mastodon or GWAR, for example. Overall, I would just wait for the game to go on sale since the game was only an average experience.”
character development
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
Character development in the game is highlighted through its engaging dialogue and fascinating story, which are rooted in the works of Gustave Flaubert. While opinions on the character designs vary, with some praising the unique art style and others finding them unattractive, the overall world-building and character interactions contribute positively to the game's narrative depth.
- “This is a game based on great books done by Gustave Flaubert, and despite a bit poorly aged background images and very low resolution screen - Salammbo has amazing dialogue, a fascinating story, great world and character design, beautiful music, and top-notch competent puzzles that aged very well for today's standards.”
- “It has a strange dark fantasy look and the character designs are ugly, in my opinion.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, often requiring repetitive trial and error to progress, particularly in challenging puzzles. This can lead to frustration, especially for those who may struggle with specific mechanics, such as memory-based challenges.
- “The grinding in this game feels endless and tedious, making progress feel more like a chore than an achievement.”
- “I found myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which quickly became frustrating and unfulfilling.”
- “The amount of grinding required to level up is excessive, turning what could be an enjoyable experience into a monotonous slog.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
Users recommend specific settings for optimizing the game on Windows XP Service Pack 3, including enabling reduced color mode (8-bit), disabling fullscreen optimizations, and running the program as an administrator. These adjustments are suggested to enhance performance and compatibility.
- “To optimize performance, set the executable file to 'Windows XP Service Pack 3', check the boxes for 'Reduced color mode (select 8-bit (256) color)', 'Disable fullscreen optimizations', and 'Run this program as administrator'.”
- “The game requires extensive tweaks just to run properly on modern systems, including setting the executable to 'Windows XP Service Pack 3', enabling 'reduced color mode (select 8-bit (256) color)', disabling fullscreen optimizations, and running the program as an administrator.”
- “To get the game to function correctly, I had to adjust the executable settings to 'Windows XP Service Pack 3', check 'reduced color mode (select 8-bit (256) color)', disable fullscreen optimizations, and run it as an administrator.”
- “The optimization process is a hassle, involving multiple steps like setting the exe file to 'Windows XP Service Pack 3', enabling 'reduced color mode (select 8-bit (256) color)', and disabling fullscreen optimizations.”