My comments were aimed at the review and not the Site - so here is the review itself : -------
11 March 2011.
When we last left The Silver Lining, King Graham’s children were locked in a coma-like state, cursed by some unknown evil entity. Graham was searching the Green Isles for spell ingredients to help combat the unknown plague when all of a sudden problems started to occur with Valanice, the Queen of Daventry.
Honestly, I was never sure exactly what those problems were with Valance but it appeared her face had morphed somewhat, and this episode alluded to the fact that she tried to jump off the balcony. In Episode 3, the story picks up right where it left off. Graham starts searching for more ingredients while also trying to find out what happened to Valanice.
Focus on the Task at Hand
Graham decides to focus on finding the ingredients for his children instead of dealing with Valanice’s problems. This time four ingredients are available in the surrounding lands. He needs to find the strength of the male, the voice of the female, a silver crescent moon, and some shaken up salt.
Unfortunately, this episode opens up no new islands for you to explore, so you’re going to retrace a lot of old ground looking for new clues and ingredients. Unfortunately, this episode has taken a turn for the worse with both logistics and technical issues.
My Kingdom for a Hint
First, I’d like to talk about the logistical issues related to this game. The puzzles are obtuse at best. You’ll find yourself doing a lot of guessing, experimentation, and some of the random “click everything until something happens” that often pollute lesser adventure games. The hints to puzzles are obtuse, misleading, and confusing. That is when hints should exist. At least two puzzles leave you scrambling on your own with no hint in sight.
I realize it is a fine balance in adventure games to naturally lead players to their next goal without making the game so easy it has no challenge. Silver Lining 3 has solved that in the worst way possible, by not leading the user in any direction. It is up to you to create your own path. Discovery of one ingredient does not give the user clues to another one. All items can be discovered almost independently of each other.
This frustration reminded me of King’s Quest 6, a game also set in the Green Isles. Perhaps it was done on purpose. KQ6 was pitched as a challenge because there were fewer areas to explore, but my personal belief is that it just made the game less fun and more frustrating.
This game also decided to throw in an arcade sequence in the middle of the game. Unfortunately, they just throw you in with no instructions or prep on how to control your character through the sequence. I died three times trying to figure out how to control Graham, but once I had figured it out was able to easily bypass the sequence. This segment was, in actuality, the most enjoyable part of the game, which says a lot.
A Crash a Day
Second, I’ll talk about the technical issues. I could not play the game for more than 1 hr without it crashing. As a result, there were quite a few scenarios I had to play through multiple times. I got in the habit of saving often. Occasionally the game would experience issues with audio dropout. When this happened, a reboot of my computer was the only fix. And finally, I found two conversations that went into dead ends, meaning I couldn’t exit out of them and had to force quit the game.
I went back and forth multiple times with the developers and they provided me two upgrades along the way. The “conversation lock” bug was fixed completely. I’m assured they are working hard to address the issues in the underlying engine so that Episode 4 runs much more smoothly. I suspect that the Episode 4 game engine upgrade will help solve a lot of the Episode 3 problems too. I’ll give them a plus for customer service.
Mysteries Left Unsolved
This game includes a big reveal that has caused some controversy in the fan community. It is a bit of a retcon of some past facts and takes some liberties with some of the characters and events. I think this reveal will play an important part in the remaining plot of The Silver Lining. There are also allusions, both in this game and in Part 2, that the land of the green isles is moving back in time. Maps are fading at the mapmaker’s hut and the Smith is having trouble making his creations stick as they often revert back to their former states. I’m unsure if my interpretation of these events is correct, but it’ll be interesting to see how things play out.
I finished playing Episode 2 excited for Episode 3. Unfortunately, Episode 3 has left a poor taste in my mouth. The frustration I had in completing the game has depleted my passion for continuing. Perhaps in another month or two, when Episode 4 comes out, I’ll be refreshed and ready to take another chance.
Final Grade: C+ once they fix the crashing bugs; D if not.
(find out more about our grading system)
System Requirements:
Windows XP, Vista or 7
1GHz Intel or AMD Processor
512 MB RAM (1GB recommended for Vista and 7)
100% DirectX compatible video card with 256 MB video RAM
DirectX 9.0c+
