If you’re anything like me, then you’re probably getting a little tired of shooting zombies and are really interested in a change of pace. Maybe you’d like something a little reminiscent of the adventure games of late 1900′s, where something isn’t going to chew your face off or explode if you take a second or two to actually look around and enjoy the environments that have been so painstakingly created. Well then maybe Travis Rogers’ latest installment in the Mind’s Eye of Jupiter series is just the ticket.

Gameplay

As a science fiction based adventure game this ones gameplay is exactly what you think it is. Reminiscent of many 1990′s adventure titles such as Myst, Return to Zork, and the like. You simply wander around, investigating the environment, inspecting objects, and more or less trying to figure out what the math is going on.

Similar to the aforementioned titles, this second installment of the Mind’s Eye of Jupiter series features some puzzle solving in a 3D environment. The puzzles themselves provide the main resistance to progression in the game. Unfortunately, the puzzles are impossibly simple. There is just simply no challenge present in the game other than pick up object x, place object x at location y. Considering their simplicity, the game was notably devoid of any sort of red herrings. For instance, in one room you need to figure out how to open a door to proceed to the next room. In this room there is literally only the objects you need to open the door. All the puzzles in the game seemed to be this way.

Also on the list of negatives is the completely linear layout of the game. There is absolutely zero branching and that is a bit strange for games of this genre. I would have liked to have seen some alternate means to an ends and maybe some outright wrong turns that reward your exploration with some interesting flavor or clues to plot intricacies.

All this complaining may give you the impression that I didn’t enjoy the game, as it turns out this is just not the case. I was quite pleased to be playing a game of this type on the XBLIG as it is quite an unusual offering. The game was short enough to play in a single sitting, which didn’t feel wrong in this particular instance as it felt a bit like reading the chapter of a book. Additionally, the transition for this typically mouse dominated genre to the console worked out pretty well with the use of a pretty solid menu system.

Audio/Visual

The Mind’s Eye of Jupiter series is in 3D. I would liken it to probably a very simplistic looking PlayStation 2 game. I say simplistic because there isn’t an awful lot of “stuff” in the game. Very few objects laying about, mostly large cavernous rooms with heavily geometric looking shaped items. The character models are a little bizarre, but not in a way that negatively effects the game since their presence is limited. As a pure adventure game the world is odd enough that it makes you want to look around, so in that category it does get bonus points. But, as previously mentioned, the lack of branching and additional areas to explore for explorations sake you do feel a little unfulfilled – which is something my girlfriends passed say is sometimes a deal breaker.

Musically the game is unmemorable, it has music and that’s about all I can say for it. It has a sort of a surrealistic scifi feel to it that doesn’t hurt the gameplay and adds to its atmosphere but you aren’t going to be trying to find the soundtrack.

Summary

If you played the first game of the series I think you probably know what to expect and whether you are interested in playing the second installment or not. To those of you interested in starting with the second game you can do so, as the game has an intro that catches you up to speed and doesn’t simply strand you in the middle of an already started narrative. I would say I enjoyed this game as it provided a bit of a breath of fresh air, its unnecessary simplicity may have even contributed to the overall positive experience. With all that said I can’t simply stamp a buy on the 240 MS Point  Mind’s Eye of Jupiter – 2, I think it would be best for those who are interested to pick up the game’s demo and see if its plot and world appeal to their tastes. For those who end up uninterested but still seek an adventure game you may want to check out Decay.