Jumping through time is our jumping-off point for this month's column. First, we have a much awaited sequel with a time-travel theme -- The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time. Then Dust, perhaps the best interactive movie to date, takes us back to the Old West. Finally, we go back to the future with Johnny Mnemonic, an interactive movie that its nonstar (Keanu Reeves, who stars in the motion picture but not in this version) might characterize as "totally bogus, dude."
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time
Worlds of Wonder
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time (JP2 hereafter) is a totally engrossing photo-realistic adventure game with seamlessly integrated live-action video. Its challenging plot and puzzles provide dozens of hours of play.
You play Agent 5, falsely accused of altering history. To find proof of your innocence, you must travel through time to seven worlds -- worlds that include historically accurate re-creations of Richard the Lionhearted's medieval castle, da Vinci's studio, a Mayan catacomb, and more. During your journey, you'll confront a handful of devilishly difficult puzzles.
JP2 is both beautiful and well designed. It features over 30,000 exquisitely rendered images, a great stereo sound track, and eerie sound effects. Thoughtful interface touches include a walk-through mode, in which you receive guidance as you play; a Try Again button for when you die; and the ability to save a game at any time.
Game players with itchy trigger fingers may get impatient watching the hour or so of video clips that introduce JP2, but I loved comedic touches such as the fake commercials on INN (Interactive News Network). Overall, I found JP2 a joy to play -- and play, and play . . . .
Dust: A Tale of the Wired West
Cowboys and Interactivity
Dust is that rare phenomenon, an interactive story that really works. It takes place in the fictional town of Diamondback, New Mexico, circa 1882. You play a stranger in town who has no money, no gun, and no clue. During five days, you explore 20 buildings, converse with over 30 interactive characters, solve puzzles, battle gunfighters, gamble, help a schoolteacher on a quest, and discover many secrets about Diamondback's inhabitants.
Dust is the first title to use CyberFlix's way-cool Dream Factory technology. Dream Factory characters go about their activities whether or not you talk to them; the ones you do talk to remember previous conversations and adjust their future behavior accordingly -- so be polite and talk to everyone. You control the action by using the arrow keys (your feet) and the mouse (your hands), except when beautifully rendered cinematic scenes pop up to move the story along.
As with a good novel, I couldn't put Dust down. In fact, I plan to play some more as soon as I finish this column.
Johnny Mnemonic
A Big-Budget Bust
It's obvious that Sony spent big bucks on Johnny Mnemonic. It contains over 120 minutes of full-screen video, and its cast includes former M.A.N.T.I.S. star Christopher Russel Gartin (as Johnny, the Keanu Reeves role in the film) and Isaac "Shaft" Hayes. Unfortunately, all that money didn't buy much fun.
Basically, Johnny Mnemonic feels like a cheesy movie with a few game elements unsuccessfully tacked on. It's presented entirely in full-motion video, so most of the scenes are dimly lit and hard to look at. When the picture switches to letter-box format (black bars above and below the picture), you have a "window of opportunity" to look around or use an item -- but often, you press keys and nothing happens or stuff happens even though you haven't pressed a key. Similarly, when you enter Fight mode to kick or punch opponents, you keep wondering if your last keystroke actually did anything.
After far too many hours of Johnny Mnemonic, I'd gladly download it from my brain.
Bob LeVitus is a MacUser contributing editor and Power Computing's director of evangelism.
Game Point
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time is everything an adventure game should be. If you liked the first one (or if you're a Myst fan), you'll love it. Dust is a nifty new kind of interactive story that lets you savor it like a good book -- I recommend it highly too. As for Johnny Mnemonic, the two CD-ROMs would be more useful as drink coasters.
The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time
Rating: Very Good/Outstanding (4.5 of 5 mice)
Price: $65 (estimated street).
Company: Sanctuary Woods, San Mateo, CA; 800-943-3664 or 415-286-6000.
Dust
Rating: Very Good/Outstanding (4.5 of 5 mice)
Price: $49.95 (list).
Company: CyberFlix, Knoxville, TN; 800-483-8632 or 615-546-1157.
Johnny Mnemonic
Rating: Seriously Flawed (1 of 5 mice)
Price: $69.95 (list).
Company: Sony Computer Entertainment, Foster City, CA; 415-655-8000.
