“Those who can not remember the past, are condemned to repeat it”,
George Santayana, 1905
There is something in History that makes it the perfect McGuffin for a good plot of suspense. The removal in the Past, the investigation into the corners of Time is what has been feeding stories and arguments for so long, whether forbidden books in
The Name of the Rose ; revelations that banish 2,000 years of established beliefs as in The Da Vinci Code – plagiarized from The Sacred Enigma , all must be said Mr. Brown; fabulous treasures as in the campy and entertaining The Search / National Treasureby Nicolas Cage. Become archaeologists / adventurers / journalists seeking knowledge is particularly delicious in the world of Graphic Adventure, since the genre strips the gameplay of the fireworks that a Tomb Raider,
Uncharted or Assassin’s Creed would employ in terms of action, shots, combats and platforms, and reduces them to what we all look for in the novels of Matilde Asensi or Javier Sierra : The meaning of research, of discovery, of finding out the truth for ourselves after solving a puzzle, after seeing something that nobody The more you see on a map, in a more verbal and direct way than through a mere cutscene.
Plots of conspiracies that involve secret societies and governments, thrillers with religious elements and / or paranormal-fantastic dyes, secrets of history that lie buried waiting. We can cite series such as Secret Files – Magnus Tunguska -, as Broken Sword so soon. Arguments like those that Robert Langdon, Guillermo de Baskerville or Ottavia Salinastar in.
That said, there was a desire, very much desire, that the new creature conceived by Jane Jensen , forever the signer of the masterpiece Gabriel Knight, would come at a time when that attempt to investigate the past seems increasingly relegated to the AAA action – we do not forget about Broken Sword 5, although it is still necessary to assess it as a whole after the condemned decision of its authors to split it without coming to mind.Moebius: Empire Rising has all the ingredients
for it, even a playable mechanics of analysis that should be the highlight of the proposal but ends up being tedious, although perhaps the desire to live a plot made in Jensen have played against, finding us with a little remarkable graphic adventure, with good things,
but shortcomings and irregularities that take it away from what was expected. But we will see that in the text. Now let’s meet its protagonist, by the name of nothing accidental Malachi.
Malachi Rector, researcher, gifted and enemy of the lies
Malachi
Cold Rector . Sparkly. Able. Brutally sincere Without fear and with a unique perception when analyzing something. Although with an air of self-sufficiency that gratifies a personality believed and an unpleasant point. This is Malachi Rector , a character that narratively is a pleasure to embody and carry.
And with him -which could be the brother of Doctor House or Brennan of the series Bones- we will go through the plot that composes the first independent work that Jane Jensen designs, signs and directs, and her new incursion after Gray Matter. In order not to spoil – the less we know about the better argument – we will only say that our examiner is required by one of those millionaire characters who entrust things to the protagonists. This time it consists of traveling to
Venice and examining the life of a woman of Italian society married to a diplomat much older than her. The discovery that the girl, Bianca, has lived a life equal to that of an outstanding female historical figure several centuries ago activates a plot that will take us all over the world in a constant game of shadows.
From here, the usual elements we see in a Dan Brown novel in terms of situations that are linked, revelations, script turns and historical surprises, but always from a more popular point of view than intellectual or scientific, will be happening in a plot that starts with great force, condensed in a development by chapters, each one self-conclusive in terms of objectives and at the same time
forming part of a larger story, but that can not stand the pull and will deflate until it reaches a part end in which the tension achieved disappears in a scenario that loads all the good ideas seen so far. The fact that the intention of its creator was to create an accessible game and of ‘casual’ difficulty makes that although the plot seeks its adult and dramatic moments –
that it has them, Although condensed into a protagonist who in the end opens up so much in his feelings that we have no choice but to empathize with him, disappearing that charming ironic and confident little bastard, the general tone of adventure through adventure makes seriousness diluted by lightness of the tone and the story. That is why some dramatic / violent moments – the moment of the knife – are dislodged by the fact that the tone does not finish being clear.
