Schizm: Mysterious Journey - PC

Detalion knows its stuff when it comes to those beautiful pre-rendered 'Myst-em-ups', and Schizm is a fine example of what the Polish development company is capable of. It’s a graphical, first-person perspective, 3D pre-rendered adventure game with a compelling non-violent story combined with non-linear gameplay, where the player chooses the order in which most of the puzzles are solved.

Schizm offers a mix of puzzles of varied type, including mechanical, logical, sound and inventory-based, seamlessly integrated with the fascinating story created in collaboration with award-winning Australian science fiction writer Terry Dowling, appealing to everyone from newcomers to the field to die-hard adventure gamers. The story itself unfolds as an intriguing puzzle waiting to be solved.

The player simultaneously controls two protagonists who can explore the game independently, further expanding the game's non-linearity and freeing the player from the annoying situation of being stuck at a particular puzzle. Both protagonists can solve puzzles independently, but their co-operation is required at certain points in the game. The story involves interaction with several live characters and information interchange between the protagonists. The player won't feel left alone on a deserted planet.

All in all, Schizm offers more of the same, but is just a little more polished than any of its gorgeous predecessors. We can’t complain with that.
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