Santa Fe Mysteries
| Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Series | Santa Fe Mysteries |
| Platform(s) | DOS, Macintosh, Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Santa Fe Mysteries: Sacred Ground | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Series | Santa Fe Mysteries |
| Platform(s) | DOS, Macintosh, Windows |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
Santa Fe Mysteries is a series of two adventure video games entitled The Elk Moon Murder (1996) and Sacred Ground (1997).
Gameplay
The series consists of full motion video adventure games, which use a point-and-click interface. The player has 5 days to solve the mystery, and 8 hours in each day; certain actions use up a portion of their time. The player must "listen to the usual suspects, order forensics and shoot photos", and create an arrest warrant by the end of the game.[1][2]
Plot
In The Elk Moon Murder, a famous Native American artist named Anna Elk Moon is murdered in the American South West. In Sacred Ground, the wife of a local business man named Randa Tasker is kidnapped.
Development
The original concept was co-created by Shannon Gilligan, developer of the Virtual Murder series, and Sam Egan, one of the writers of Northern Exposure.[3]
Programmer In Black wrote "I find it a pity that the game series didn't continue."[4]
Critical reception
The Elk Moon Murder
The game received mixed to positive reviews. Allgame found the game thrilling and enjoyed its strategic elements.[5] MacGamer thought the game was too short in length and too sparse of interactive options.[6] Though Just Adventure concluded that the game was crafted well, they also thought its lack of puzzles made it less of an adventure game.[7] Adventure Classic Gaming negatively compared the game to the "equally uninspiring Virtual Murder series" as a whodunit adventure, and the Police Quest series as a police procedural adventure simulation.[8] Programmer in Black recommended Under a Killing Moon, The Pandora Directive, The Dame Was Loaded, The Broken Sword, and Gabriel Knight as games with similar detective story elements.[9] PC World said the game is a "classic whodunnit with clever scripting and fine acting".[10] Just Adventure noted that the game was interesting, albeit a bit too complicated, especially at the beginning.[11] Coming Soon Magazine complimented the graphics, sounds, storyline, and reasonable price, while responding negatively to the rambling dialogue from suspects.[12]
Sacred Ground
The game received reviews ranging from negative to positive. JustAdventure thought the game was a "slight improvement" over The Elk Moon Murders, while noting "[it] is not entirely easy to classify - somewhere between an interactive movie and an adventure game".[13] In a 2001 retrospective, Programmer In Black wrote "For an older game, the game play here holds up well."[4] Just Adventure said "There is one thing that [the game] absolutely, positively isn't: unique".[14]
References
- ↑ "Santa Fe Mysteries: Sacred Ground for DOS (1997) - MobyGames". MobyGames.
- ↑ "Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder for DOS (1996) - MobyGames". MobyGames.
- ↑ "Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder". giantbomb.com.
- 1 2 http://www.pibweb.com/review/sacred.html
- ↑ Rovi Corporation. "Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder". allgame.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014.
- ↑ "MacGamer - Get In The Game". macgamer.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2007.
- ↑ "Elk Moon Murder - Just Adventure + Review". justadventure.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011.
- ↑ "Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder - Review - Adventure Classic Gaming - ACG - Adventure Games, Interactive Fiction Games - Reviews, Interviews, Features, Previews, Cheats, Galleries, Forums". adventureclassicgaming.com.
- ↑ http://www.pibweb.com/review/elkmoon.html
- ↑ "PC World". google.com.au.
- ↑ Michal Necasek. "Santa Fe Mysteries: The Elk Moon Murder". justadventure.com.
- ↑ "The Elk Moon Murder - PC Review - Coming Soon Magazine". csoon.com.
- ↑ "Sacred Ground - Just Adventure + Review". justadventure.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2009.
- ↑ Michal Necasek. "Sacred Ground". justadventure.com.