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Cursed MountainBy Chris Vavra - 09-08-09 Print  EmailCursed Mountain might seem like a cheap Resident Evil rip-off to the casual observer. And we’re talking old Resident Evil here. The kind with the puzzles and the exploration and the scare tactics that could hit you at every corner. As you delve deeper into this Mountain, you’ll find it is actually a realistic game that deals very much with the spiritual side of Buddhism along with the usual obstacles that you’ve come to expect in this kind of game. In the survival horror category, it has more in common with psychological thrillers like Silent Hill and Eternal Darkness than with blasting zombies and monsters. The cinematic air Deep Silver, the developer, provides makes up for some of the many gameplay hiccups you’ll encounter, but in the end it just isn’t enough. The problems might have been glossed over or forgiven several years ago, but not now. The story focuses on Dan Simmons, a young explorer who has come to a desolate village looking for his brother Frank, who disappeared while on an expedition. The prologue focuses a little on Frank and his disappearance before following Dan for the rest of the game. Much of the game focuses on Dan exploring the village, learning what he can about the village and the people close to Frank before he disappeared. The story is told in a straight-forward manner and there aren’t too many surprises. You’ll also pick up journals, notes, and letters along the way. Dan also encounters shadowy ghosts that come out and attack him. Eventually, with the help of a Buddhist Monk, he learns how to see into the spirit world with the “3rd eye.” This technique allows you to fight back against the spirit world and trap the spirits as you learn new techniques and tricks that will help you throughout your quest. Once you’ve weakened the ghosts, you can kill or trap them. You will have to do certain motions with the nunchuk and Wiimote during the ritual. This is a nice idea and it allows the gamer to do more than push buttons. The nunchuk tends to be a little inconsistent, but at least you aren’t thrusting forward with the Wiimote, which is very inconsistent and aggravating in the midst of combat. Your Wiimote might be doing one thing but the game picks up something else altogether. Even if you have the Wii Motion Plus you’re still going to have problems with consistency. The graphics strike just the right note in terms of realism and atmosphere. There are times when the games look beautiful and then less than thirty minutes later it’ll be foreboding and creepy. There seemed to be an awful lot of pixilation, though, and I wish the town had more detail work. The music is low-key and non-intrusive, which is just what you need for this type of game. The voice-over work is adequate. I thought Dan sounded too haggard and worn-out, but it’s not bad. The quest itself will take the average gamer about twelve hours. Probably less. The game is quite long and there is a lot to do and see. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t make the game more focused on exploration because Mountain seemed like the perfect kind of game to do that. The notes, journals, and diaries you find along the way are nice, but for the most part everything is in a straight line, which is disappointing. Once you play through the game once, there isn’t very much reason to play it again. There’s no real depth beyond playing through the main quest. The lack of a save option is also a bit frustrating. There is only the auto-save feature, and that appears in a sporadic manner. The fixed camera angles, which are designed to help build tension—and they do—can be a little frustrating because they might be in an awkward angle and some item or object you need to locate is in a difficult spot because of the camera. Cursed Mountain intrigued me, but the game is too inconsistent for me to recommend to anyone except for the ardent horror fans. They’ll enjoy the game because it is a more low-key action game dependent more on exploration and wits rather than blowing everything apart with a shotgun. Had the game received a polish, I think it would have been a really good third-party title—something the Wii has been lacking. Ratings |
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