The Cameron Files: Secret at Loch Ness

The Good
The game set a great scene, the actors who supplied the voices were superb, the music, was also good. The interface was quite easy to use, and the 3-D rendering was quite good as well. The initial plot was well set, and for the most part, keeps ones interest.

The Bad
First, I don't know if it was just me, but I got a headache and rather dizzy from this game, not from the rather obtuse puzzles, but the way the scenes switched prevented me from playing this game for more than 30 min. at a time. Even so, I managed to finish this game rather quickly. There were some frustrating gameplay issues, for example, to enter the attic, which you have a key for, you have to find another object, wholly unrelated to the task at hand to trigger your entrance.

The Bottom Line
In the game Loch Ness you play Alan P. Cameron, A Private Detective who is summoned back to his ancestral homeland of Scotland, by a family friend who wants him to investigate some 'strange goings-on.' The game is interesting, however short, and sometimes frustrating. All things considered, I would say that it is worth playing, but my advice is not to spend more than 20,00$US on it, it's just not that remarkable.

The Good
The story in Loch Ness is intriguing and gradually evolves as you get deeper into the case. There's more to it than meets the eye, and Cameron eventually learns of a much deeper, evil plot which makes it interesting. It has nothing to do with the real fable about the Loch Ness monster, though, other than to provide another explanation about its sightings.

The point-and-click interface is easy to learn and use. The graphics were fairly good and, although the landscape was dreary in winter, the inside of the Manor was realistic enough. Some of the rooms (especially the attic) were a bit too dark for my liking. The characters were drawn creatively and a bit uniquely, but were not blocky or unrealistic. Lip-sync was done very well, their lips moving well with their words.

Nothing moves in the scenery, not even the water, even though you can hear water sounds when you are near the lake. There were a few other sound effects which were appropriate (the creaking of an old door opening, for instance). The music was distinctly Scottish and in keeping with the location and the overall theme of the game. It was nothing unusual, though, and did not break any new ground. You are given a few rewarding music clips when something important is accomplished, though. Voice acting was great! Cameron's voice was always a pleasure to listen to, and other Scotland "locals" had just the right amount of accent.

Some people complain about having "hot spots" when nothing can be done until much later in the game. Well, this game has plenty of that but all of them are needed to keep you on track. The story is divided into days and all of the hot spots you find during each particular day will eventually be done that day. All you have to do is accomplish them in a particular order, so the game is very linear.

Puzzles were almost too easy, as puzzles go, especially since Cameron almost comes out and tells you what to do next - either verbally or written in his journal. Picking up and using objects from inventory, solving cryptic puzzles (clues for which are in books and other documents) and, unfortunately, an underwater maze are all part of the questing. Some of the puzzles require a combination of objects in inventory to be solved.

The in-game map was nice to have. When specific actions were done and appropriate triggers occurred, you were able to hop to and from each location. Some of those triggers only happen when you are walking around, though, so you had to be careful not to use the map too often.

The Bad
What I found irritating about this game (and, I might add, others made by the same company during the last couple of years) mostly involve the basic interface:
1. There are only 8 game save slots and no way to save a description
2. You must listen carefully because there are no subtitles (One of my pet peeves.)
3. No adjustable options for anything (video, audio etc.)
4. You must always start the game from CD1 even though there are 2 CDs

Everything you do is in or around the Manor itself and those locations are very few and mostly empty of people. I would have liked more places to travel and many more people to question. The landscape is somewhat drab in its winter blanket of snow.

And, lastly, I dislike mazes that are inserted simply to lengthened playing time, which is what the one in this game seemed to be.

The Bottom Line
Once you get used to the game's shortcomings, Loch Ness is a pretty good adventure game, but definitely not a great one. The story kept me interested enough to finish it, and the ending was satisfactory enough to conclude the questions that were left hanging.

The Good
Chicago private investigator, Alan Parker Cameron, is called by his old Scottish friend, Allister MacFarley, to investigate what's really going on in and around Devil's Ridge Manor. When he gets there, he finds out that he is left on his own as MacFarley is nowhere to be found and believed kidnapped. Later, he is asked to retrieve three crystals that hold the key to the mystery.

Secret at Loch Ness is a point-and-click adventure with a single cursor used to examine, pick up, and manipulate objects. Gold arrows appear, meaning that you can travel to that area. What makes this game different from other adventure games is the fact that the scene rotates as you move the cursor. This took me some getting used to because I am really used to those games where the scene remains stationery as you move the cursor to any spot that make it transform to something else, and arrows appear as you move it to the edge of the screen.

Loch Ness takes place over five days. The first day is a bit boring because you are stuck in Devil's Ridge all the time, but this is worth it as you can walk around the manor and explore most of its rooms, but not all. (Some rooms are accessed later in the game.) I was amazed at how everything is cleaned and tidy and how the rooms are organized – bookcases on one side of the room, couches in another, double queen-sized beds. This organization is repeated in every room. Fortunately from day two onwards, you are also free to walk around outside. You'll be glad you did as there are a few more places you can explore, including the chapel and the greenhouse. And later on in the game, you get to explore underwater searching for something. It is so beautiful down there. The water is crystal clear and the ground is scattered with broken remains of ships that had tried and failed to search for the mysterious Loch Ness.

I enjoyed the game's theme music, as well as in some parts of the game. These pieces are played with bagpipes, the instrument famous with Scots. Other parts contain music that was popular in the 1930's, and these pieces are heard when events occur. I am glad that Loch Ness has a little bit of consistency, in terms of the location and era.

There are some puzzles in the game, and they range from finding some difficult way to open things to getting out of the location as quickly as you can. A few of them are timed puzzles, that is you have to complete a task within a strict time limit. If you don't, you die and the game is over. But as with any adventure games, it is always interesting to see how your character dies. You can save or load a game anytime you like, except when you are faced with timed puzzles.

The characters are interesting to listen to. They are good-natured and their looks reflect their personality. Cameron, for example, looks and acts like a crusty old P.I., while Ursula (the old lady that you meet on the first day) is like a mother who is also a worry-wort. The Indian butler is what he should look and act like: with black skin and an Indian accent (“I'll have a curry in a hurry”)

The Bad
On the first day, I ended up getting lost in the manor, walking into rooms that I didn't want to be. This caused confusion, as all doors that lead to them have the same coat-of-arms above it. It is hard to memorize which door lead to which room. As a result, I wasted a lot of time doing that.

I had the same problems that Jeanne had. It was not so much for the CD changing, but the way that you save games. You are limited to eight slots, and you are unable to give each one a description. When I play many adventure games, I like to save in a whole heap of slots and give each one a meaningful name, rather than overwriting an existing saved game.

Loch Ness doesn't support subtitles that are displayed with dialogue, and I felt that the game needed it. In some situations, I find it hard to follow what they are saying, it goes in one ear and out the other.

The introduction to the game is basically what Cameron did in his investigation, and really doesn't give us any more information that isn't covered in the manual. The ending is also too short.

The Bottom Line
In The Secret of Loch Ness, you play Alan Cameron who is called to investigate the events in and around Devil's Ridge Manor. Cameron's investigation lasts for five days. During this time, he is faced with a variety of puzzles, some of them needing to be done quickly. This game is a simple point-and-click adventure with greatly detailed graphics and music that is either from Scottish folk-lore or the ones that were famous during the 30's. The biggest problem is that you are restricted to only eight save slots, which makes it hard for users who are new to the series to go back to an event on any day of the game without having to overwrite.