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THE 7TH GUEST is widely cited as the first interactive movie.Well, it may have been the first but it is certainly not the best.I have to admit that the plot of the game is fantastic. A crazy toymaker who disappeared for years invited 6 guests to an old mansion. The player assumes the role of an unidentified person who comes along years later to investigate their disappearances. It transpires that the 6 guests each died and their spirits haunt the mansion. Evidence of a mysterious 7th guest also surfaces, hence the title.THE 7TH GUEST begins with an absolutely stunning pictorial introduction telling us the background of the toymaker. I love watching this part over and over again.The music for this game is incredible as well, blending perfectly with the horrific theme of the game.And the graphics are very good for the time the game was made, building superb atmosphere to set the scene.Unfortunately, the good aspects of the game stop here.Gameplay itself is very cumbersome with puzzles so difficult to solve that it would frustrate the average gamer to the point where he or she would give up quickly. So I would recommend that anyone wishing to play the game have a walk-through ready - or a hint sheet at the very least.The game programming is notoriously unstable - it frequently crashes the whole PC (even on the older PCs it was built for!).The acting in the game is almost entirely mediocre and the characters are among the blandest I've seen in the genre. And believe me, I've played plenty of interactive movie games.The only exception to the acting is Robert Hirschboeck, who has a superb time playing the toymaker - the only interesting character to be found. Most of his scenes only feature a voice-over, but he delivers many superb puns to taunt the player. I wish the actor had more scenes in person. And I would say that he would be a superb choice for the role if the game were adapted to film.Having used a walk-through to trawl through this endurance of a game, I expected the story to be wrapped up by a superb intelligently written ending that would explain the toymaker's motives.I was wrong again!The ending of the game is so laughable that you have to see it to believe it!Maybe the sequel, THE 11TH HOUR, built on the weakness of its predecessor. Having felt so let down by THE 7TH GUEST, I have lost motivation to track down the sequel.The game may have inspired the interactive movie genre of the 1990s but that's all.It would be interesting to see if a movie adaptation is made. Most adaptations of games are hideous abominations that have little resemblance to the game. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these movies are a debauchery of the source material in question.Surely an adaptation of THE 7TH GUEST couldn't be worse. Could it?Overall, I do not recommend this game to anyone. If you want some decent interactive movies, try GABRIEL KNIGHT: THE BEAST WITHIN, RIPPER, BLACK DAHLIA, Dracula UNLEASHED, PHANTASMAGORIA (and its sequel) or the Tex Murphy series (UNDER A KILLING MOON, THE PANDORA DIRECTIVE, TEX MURPHY: OVERSEER). All of these games are infinitely superior and immediately dispel the myth that THE 7TH GUEST is anything but merely "the first one" of the genre.
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