I'm not really all that interested in adventure games for the PC, to be honest. I was really into them on the Commodore 64 back in the 80s, which is weird considering how much more visual and dynamic they are these days. The Black Mirror does have some gorgeous graphics and an impressively Gothic atmosphere, but it's ruined by perpetual slowness and many, many scenes of long, long conversations.
Samuel Gordon (the most arrogant man in a video-game ever) is the wayward heir to the Gordon Manor (Black Mirror Castle) who returns to his rural England roots when his grandfather is killed in suspicious circumstances. It's up to you to guide him around the Manor and village, talking to people and investigating.
Typical 'adventure' gameplay mechanics are involved in progressing through the chapters. Which is fine, but when the game makes you wait for other characters to do stuff for you, boy does it make you WAIT. I've had the game running for over 6 hours while other characters waste you're time doing stuff for you (or not doing it rather). And there's nothing else for YOU do to when this is going on. It's infuriating.
The ending to the game is profoundly weak. A lame twist I should have seen coming is capped-off with dull, whogivesadamn cut-scene and then the end credits. When I play a game for so long I expect more than that! It also leaves many questions unanswered. Who EXACTLY killed William Gordon? Where did Uncle Robert really go? What's the deal with Samuel's long-dead lover? How did the Priest not find the secret crypt halfway through the game? Why is it set in 1981?
I was impressed with the game at first but in the last third it got pretty damn tiresome and the end is no real pay-off. For serious adventure gamers ONLY.
