Let me start by telling you what Legacy: Dark Shadows is not. It's not a game about vampires. The title doesn't have much to do with the game itself, let alone with the 1970's TV show it brings to mind. Legacy: Dark Shadows is also not a game about time travel. Not really about international espionage, either. Oh, and those similarities to The Longest Journey you keep hearing about? Legacy does have its fair share of those, but it's certainly not "this year's TLJ."

Still with me? Good, because you'll probably be glad to hear what Legacy: Dark Shadows is—a brand new, old-fashioned adventure game. We're talking good clean point & click fun. The main character carries a gun and occasionally shoots it, but Legacy is not an action/adventure hybrid. There are some mutant monsters roaming around underground, but this isn't an RPG. If you still have dreams about Daventry or you cried when Kate Walker jumped the train to Syberia, Legacy: Dark Shadows is well worth a look.

After reading Razbor Studios' lengthy synopsis, you may be under the impression that Legacy is a game about international corruption and bioterrorism spanning from World War II to the 22nd century. It's not. Aside from a short, virtually irrelevant prologue that takes place during WWII, the epic mystery Razbor is touting has little to do with the game's actual plot. From a player's perspective, the story is this: Ren Silver, a private investigator of sorts, must find her missing colleague Ted, who has been kidnapped because of some information he's uncovered. Her search takes her from a grim futuristic Earth to a colony on Mars, a cargo ship, an asteroid, back to Earth, and finally to an old military base in Stalingrad. So while you will engage in an interplanetary journey, if you're expecting time travel or the chance to play multiple characters with different roles in the plot, you'll be disappointed. The story told in Razbor's overview is eventually revealed to our heroine, but not until the end of the game, and then only passively through the diary entries of a character we never even meet.

Maybe you're looking forward to this game because of its "strong" female protagonist? I hate to burst your bubble, but Ren's no April Ryan. Okay, so she has a nice body and a couple of tattoos, and she knows how to carry a gun. On the other hand, Ren is one of the game's only female characters. The few others make only brief appearances—one a jealous girlfriend who whines that she's been engaged to a cheating boyfriend for eight years with no trip down the aisle, another a secretary who blubbers and begs when Ren waves a gun in her face. I guess, by comparison, Ren is a strong woman. I'm not complaining; I love an adventure game with a female lead. But I wouldn't say that girls (or guys, for that matter) should be lining up to play the game for that reason alone.

Okay, then. Why should you play Legacy: Dark Shadows? The easy answer: It's entertaining. This game has a lot of failings, but there was no point where I found myself bored or wanting to turn it off. That should count for something.

Legacy's interface is pretty easy to figure out. When you move your mouse over a hotspot, the cursor changes. You can then left-click for a description of the hotspot. If the hotspot represents a person or item that Ren can interact with, you're given options to Look, Talk, or Take. The hotspot cursor looks the same whether you can interact with an item or just hear what Ren has to say about it, so the only way to know if you can add an item to your inventory is by clicking every hotspot you encounter. In a few places the interface is inconsistent—one scene in particular where you have to click in areas that aren't indicated by hotspots—so if you find yourself horribly stuck, clicking madly on the screen may just be the solution.

The cursor turns green to indicate exits and areas where a close-up view is available. Single-click a green hotspot and Ren walks to it. In most cases, double-clicking will make her run. Occasionally the cursor will indicate that you can go somewhere, such as down a hallway or into an elevator, but Ren won't go, with no explanation other than "Can't do that" or "Nope." (These are some of the same stock answers she gives when you try to combine inventory items that can't be combined, or use them in ways they can't be used.) I assumed these locations would open up later in the game—and sure enough, they did—but a simple explanation along the lines of "I don't think I need to go there yet" would have helped.

Right-click at any point to bring up the inventory window. You can then left-click on an item to select it, or right-click for a brief description. In addition to the items you pick up, the inventory window also contains Ren's "tools of the trade"—a camera, a vial for collecting evidence samples, and an electronic code descrambler that she describes as a computerized crowbar. Ren's journal, which is also accessible in this window, can help you catch up if you're having trouble following the story.

Descriptions and hotspots become increasingly few and far between as the game progresses, almost as if the designers got tired of them or ran out of time for implementation. It's too bad; I would have liked to hear more of Ren's observations, particularly when she had the long-awaited experience of exploring an asteroid's surface. Some revealing voiceover could have taken this scene from mere eye-candy to a truly memorable and immersive experience.

Article continues on the next page...