Platform: Xbox
Genre: Survival Horror
Publisher: Dreamcatcher
Developer: Dreamcatcher
ESRB: M (Mature)
Released: Q4 2003

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Pros:

- Good Graphics
- Above Average Sound

Cons:

- Terrible control layout
- Unresponsive controls
- Horrible camera
- Frustrating gameplay

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"...it seems to only be good for a laugh, because lets face it, what else can you do but laugh at something so horrendous?"

Survival Horror tends to be a hit or miss genre, and while Curse attempts to be a contender in the genre, it just falls flat on its face.  Curse: The Eye of Isis is Dreamcatcher’s debut into the world of horror gaming; unfortunately it has not one ounce of ability to compete with the likes of Resident Evil or even the Silent Hill series. What we have here is a budget horror title with some of the most horrific controls ever since Crave’s Kabuki Warriors accident.

Curse: The Eye of Isis follows the cue card from the B-film industry, at least as far as the generic story line goes. An Egyptian statuette called “The Eye Of Isis” disappears mysteriously from the museum prison it had come to call “home.”  The statuette is protected by an ageless curse that will cause madness and violent death to all who come in contact with it. The curse must have been a fan of 80’s horror films, or at least of their content, because it takes no time in deciding to manifest hordes of diabolically disturbing (boring) mummified undead to extract revenge on the statuette’s desecraters – and, of course, anyone else who might get in the way. Your objective is simple: recover the missing statue and return it the heart of the pyramid from where it was removed.  Of course the pyramid is half way across the world and you will have take a train and board a spooky steam-ship in order to get there.

The player takes the roll of Darien Dane, who, with his close friend and associate Verity, is dropped into a heart-pounding-death-is-everywhere game world where mystery, horror, and evil are around every turn.  Did I just say heart-pounding? Ok, I lied!  What we really have here is a great concept that just doesn’t deliver an ounce of fun due to the alienation of the unresponsive controls, poor layout, and “Encyclopedia Brown on crack” puzzles. The player’s main objective is to solve the obvious puzzle, kill the obvious undead, look for the obvious clues, repeat, repeat, repeat, then throw through window.

I’m sure everyone reading this has dealt with at least one bad camera plagued title in his or her life, some of us more than one. To say that Curse: The Eye of Isis has a bad camera is an understatement; the bad camera doesn’t even follow the normal rules of conduct, instead it acts like it’s possessed or more appropriately “cursed.” Let me explain: when you run down a hallway you are left without any view of what is in front of your character, so just pray it’s nothing sharp or dangerous because you will never be able to avoid it. The camera also doesn’t change views fast enough, and my poor character found himself bouncing around objects like medieval version of bumper cars.

The combat system within Curse: The Eye of Isis is lackluster and simple, to put it bluntly.  Combat works like this: see the zombie, hit buttons to kill the zombie, say to yourself “that was it?” and repeat. The AI is so terrible that Stevie Wonder could whoop its ass with one hand.  Zombies and other animated evil dead come at you like they are on a production line.  Just line up and run circles around them; they don’t fight back, and they are too stupid to corner you.  It’s amusing at first (and second and third); in fact it seems to only be good for a laugh, because lets face it, what else can you do but laugh at something so horrendous?

As you can imagine, replay factor is very limited.

Fortunately, the graphics in the game are better designed than the flawed gameplay. In fact, I might even have to change the tone I’ve set forth and admit they are slightly above average. Textures are sharp, clean, and crisp, and there are some great uses of lighting.  Level design is also pretty neat if you ignore the gameplay aspect of it. The graphics engine does a tremendous job of making you believe you are truly in the game world, and that is what it is suppose to do; so kudos to the graphics team.

Character models are detailed in their unique and spooky sort of way.  Graphic effects, like spurting blood, are very well done (not to mention downright convincing). I didn’t experience one iota of frame rate problems as everything runs pretty smooth and proper.  The only area that falls a bit short in the form of graphics, is the very stiff animations, not to mention some very repetitive, uninspired combat animations. Other than the few flaws in the animation, the graphics are the best part of this game.

The sound department should also get some kudos because they provide an excellent soundtrack to fit the backdrop of the game, immersing the player into a creepy host of audio treats. Voice acting in Curse: The Eye of Isis is also slightly above average, and the characters fit well together with their assigned speech. The sound team also made good use of Dolby Digital 5.1, rear channels come to life when you are running (unfortunately blindly) down a hall or anywhere else for that matter.  When you turn your back on a sound effect, it echoes in the rear speakers, making it very pleasing and realistic to the ears.

Curse: Eye of Isis had a lot of potential – graphics are great and the sound is just as good; however, the terrible controls and camera ruin any real fun that could be experienced. Even at its $19.99 price tag, I’d have a hard time recommending this title to anyone, even die-hard fans of the horror genre.

- Sylivia Gallardo

(February 5, 2004)

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