Crime Stories, a.k.a. Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray, is an adventure/mystery game that has been out for over a year in Europe. It is based on an Italian comic book titled Martin Mystère, the name of the main character. After reading the official description of the game as a refresher, it clearly states that Martin is an FBI agent who is called in to investigate the murder of Professor Eulemberg. Problem one, the game and the information booklet--which says you are simply “a detective”--make no mention that you are working with the FBI. The following review will contain some spoilers because I cannot imagine that many people will be purchasing this game.

It all begins when your character, Martin, wakes up to a ringing telephone. After a bit of dabbling around you soon learn that Professor Eulemberg has been shot to death in his lavish villa across town. Eulemberg is a renowned archeologist/historian type and the NYPD has asked you to help with the investigation. It never seems like you’re working with the police however because you pocket and tamper with evidence. At a later point in the game, you will learn that the subject Eulemberg was working on at the time of his death involved ancient Aztec religious practices. He, and a professor you will later meet named Alexander Uben, had come upon a new discovery deep in the Mexican outback (even though the comic book reference in the booklet says South America).

Along the journey, you will have to deal with several different characters. Martin lives with his wife Diana, who you will later have the opportunity of playing, and some ape-like man named Java. The reason I say ape-like is because all he ever does is grunt when you talk to him. There is no mention of why he is living with the Mystères, and there is really no background information given on any of the characters. I guess Artematica assumes that everyone is familiar with the Italian comic book. It is obvious that Martin himself is s professor but what kind he is, is never mentioned. You get the impression that he is also into archeology by the books in his home office and art around the house. As I stated in the beginning, there is also no word on why you have been asked to help the police in-game. It was very unclear until I read the description a second time--after finishing the game--that Martin is working for the feds.

Crime Stories is a point-and-click adventure game that is played out in the third-person perspective. The controls are standard for this type of game but they don’t always function very well. Oftentimes, the main character will walk around in a small circle when you click on a point on the screen before reaching the desired destination. It’s also sometimes difficult to get the character to go to a location because of the camera angles. You’ll want Martin to go in one direction but will be forced to go in another first.

The game includes an inventory system as you will be collecting several items throughout it. This system is quite standard and easy to operate. My only complaint is the fact that every time you left-click on an item, Martin will describe the object (dialog and subtitles), which can be a long process.  I found myself accidentally left-clicking on the objects several times when I instead wanted to use them (a right-click). Now you’re probably thinking, “why not just change the controls?” Well, unfortunately the game does not allow you to change any settings, whether it be the graphics, sound, or controls.

I’m not sure if it was just my graphics, but every item that Martin or Diana would eventually use had a small black rectangle around it. This made it almost too easy in figuring out what objects you would need in the future.

One last thing with the inventory that I have to pick out is the way telephones operate in the game. There is a point at the beginning where you need to find a telephone number to call the car mechanic. When you find the number I figured you could just dial the number and Martin would make the call – why not, all the numbers on the phone are completely functional. But no, dial the number and Martin just says something dumb. You have to “use” the combined pieces of ripped paper to first get the number, and then combine the paper and the phone. Another similar situation was when I tried to operate Martin’s Ferrari (they’re not going to use any other type of car in an Italian story/game) for the first time. I had finally received the keys to the car but when I went up to it and clicked on it, I figured Martin would get in. It appeared that he did because I was then given a screen that showed a picture of the dash and steering wheel. I figured I’d just use the keys on the keyhole. Nope, you’re actually just looking through the window of the car – you have to “use” the car to go places – without holding the keys.

The next point I want to discuss is the difficulty level of the game, which of course cannot be changed. While most of the game is relatively simple after you get the hang of it, there are a few occasions when you won’t know what to do next. Crime Stories doesn’t include any type of hint system and doesn’t even include an objectives menu. This can be particularly frustrating if you take a break from the game for a day or two and are trying to recall what was going on when you had previously stopped. There is a journal that you can access but it is more or less useless.

A final thing that I want to mention, as far as the gameplay is concerned, is the incredibly slow pace of the game. Movement and dialog are just plain sloth-like. For example: when you are in the museum Martin is quite small compared to the large rooms. You have to venture across to large-sized floors on your way up to visit Erika Wallas. So, you click on the opposite side of the room and you just get to watch Martin slowly dawdle across. It would be nice time to check your email or something if you have a dual screen setup but I do not. Another thing that drove me crazy was the fact that whenever you visit Eulemberg’s villa, Martin parks his Ferrari about twenty yards from the front door. Again, more slow walking that is about as interesting to watch as MTV.

Crime Stories, as I mentioned at the top, has been out for over a year but the graphics look even more dated than that. While the characters do somewhat look like their comic book counterparts, there are strange pixel problems and the graphics overall are mediocre. Animations are not very good at all even though all the characters really do is walk around, open doors, and pick things up. Sometimes the environments looked nice, such as the scenes in Mexico and a few of the cut scenes, but nothing very extraordinary.

Sound is where the game just drives straight off the cliff. There are instances in the dialog where subtitles are spelled incorrectly and some of the wording is just strange. As an example, there is a point in the game towards the end where Martin’s soul is transported into the body of an old, sick, dying man. As you venture around and click on things you notice that he is doing a lot of coughing. When you click on a forklift, your character says something along the lines that “it won’t work” and a “coff… coff” dialog appears. Misspelled words and the sloppy English translation show a complete lack of professionalism. It doesn’t end there; the dialog itself has a HUGE problem. Every time a character says something there is about a two second pause from one bit of it to the next during the same sentence. I think the root of the problem comes from the subtitles but that’s just a guess. All of it sounds extremely choppy making it hard to follow and ends up sounding like William Shatner’s lines in Star Trek. There is an earlier point in the game where you get stuck in an Aztec temple and get into a stone boat… you end up leaving your body with Alexander Uben’s help and your soul visits Diana in a dream. I absolutely burst out laughing at how bad Martin’s voice sounded during the beginning of this sequence.

The music isn’t bad but it certainly won’t have you on the edge of your seat as the official description puts forth; it has more of a relaxing feel to it. There is one thing I absolutely have to rip apart, though. While in Mexico, the music changes around because you have to find a record for a storekeeper. Most of it is an attempt at something authentic to the region but at one point, which was inside Professor Uben’s apartment if I remember correctly, I definitely heard a sitar playing in the background. I’m sorry; sitars in Mexico just don’t work!

As you can see, there are a lot of problems with Crime Stories. I consider myself to be a fan of the adventure genre and I can guarantee that most of the adventure community wouldn’t be happy playing this game. The story might have a flicker of potential but everything else causes the game to fall flat on its face.