The Experiment (2007)

 PC
The Experiment (2007) Image
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

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  • Summary: (Also known as "Experience 112") Over sweeping cliffs and across scenic coastlines, this innovative shared adventure be gins in the bowels of an old, dilapidated ship grounded ashore. Mysteriously, you find yourself in the ship’s operations room faced with a highly advanced panel of(Also known as "Experience 112") Over sweeping cliffs and across scenic coastlines, this innovative shared adventure be gins in the bowels of an old, dilapidated ship grounded ashore. Mysteriously, you find yourself in the ship’s operations room faced with a highly advanced panel of controls, surveillance monitors, and a wide array of sophisticated technology. As you watch the monitors for other signs of life, you discover a woman. Unable to find a way to communicate with her directly, you realize that you are her only hope. She needs your help. The problem is, you too are being held prisoner by an unseen captor. Soon you come to realize that the only way to escape is to help one another. But... who are you? Who is she? Why do you control both your fates? Is escape from this floating prison your only goal, or is there a more cryptic scheme? [The Adventure Company]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18
  1. Cheat Code Central
    84
    The game manages to hit every one of the requisite bases to satisfy the core audience that eats, breathes, and sleeps this stuff, yet it does so in a way that's creative and enticing.
  2. Play (Poland)
    80
    Switching the views and the lights, opening the doors, figuring out the puzzles and watching as doctor Lea Nichols solves the mystery of an abandoned secret lab - that's all it takes to get into the mood and experience one of the most remarkable adventures. [July 2008]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. Game Chronicles
    80
    The cryptic and eerie story adds to the title's appeal and will draw you in almost immediately. If you are looking for the next step in innovation, look no further than The Experiment.
  4. Game Almighty
    68
    So while this game puts up a valiant effort to inject some life into the sometimes mundane adventure genre, it falters with a complex interface and a certain sense of hatred you will develop for the female lead.
  5. GameShark
    67
    Given the low $30 street price it’s worth a look for anybody feeling the pure adventure-game genre is dead. I truly hope the developers are encouraged to develop a sequel to the title with some added refinements. The game deserves it.
  6. Adventure Gamers
    60
    Although it remains a formula with tremendous potential, this is one experiment that needs to go back to the drawing board.
  7. Just Adventure
    25
    Now I realize that this review seems to have degenerated into a bitch-fest, but I just can’t seem to find any redeeming values in this game.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 4 out of 5
  1. MaggieCho
    Feb 21, 2008
    5
    I really liked the idea... and as the game began, I was already getting that "better run to the kitchen to stock up on snacks and drinksI really liked the idea... and as the game began, I was already getting that "better run to the kitchen to stock up on snacks and drinks because I think I'll be addicted to this for a while" feeling.

    Until it crashed after I managed to play an enthralling ten minutes. Could be my computer... who knows. But whatever this glitch is which does not let me get back my second mission... i hope it's fixed soon.    … Expand
  2. Voyou
    Mar 15, 2016
    4
    I feel bad about giving a low rate to this one, because the concept is excellent and the makers took risks to make something different.I feel bad about giving a low rate to this one, because the concept is excellent and the makers took risks to make something different.

    However, the interface, which is in fact the game screen, is so unpleasant and tedious that you feel like you are at work in some office instead of playing. These graphics via cameras are, unfortunately, non-immersive.

    A great idea ends up implemented as a truly boring game.    … Expand
  4. runner
    Apr 24, 2016
    4
    You've got to be very original and creative to think about the concepts and ideas that are shown in The Experiment. You've got to be even moreYou've got to be very original and creative to think about the concepts and ideas that are shown in The Experiment. You've got to be even more original and creative in order to actually make them work. Seeing that I gave this game the score of 4 out of 10, you may guess how well it worked for me.

    The Good: In The Experiment you're not controlling your main character directly, but you communicate with her via the security cameras in the building. This is clearly meant to be an adventure game, but not your same old stuff - something rather new, as you'll have to guide your protagonist and help her out in various ways using only the cameras and access to the files of different people who were the main character's colleagues, until something apparently went wrong. The story is slowly revealed as you're exposed to the different documents&emails of the employees and advancing with Lea throughout the base. The developers did manage to make SOME enthusiastic puzzles during the game just enough to make you feel that you're doing some more than just turning on and off security cameras.

    The Bad: What seems to be an intriguing new kind of adventure, simply does not work. It seems the devs really have tried to give you a diverse experience but eventually it all starts to feel extremely repetitive. For a big part of the game I felt I was doing more research and "office" jobs as I ran through documents and stuff of the kind, looking for information and mainly passwords. You'll rarely encounter any more characters, or any sense of danger or excitement. As I waited for Lea to slowly move from spot to spot, while not letting her get out of my sight by switching on and off another security camera every few seconds, I started to lose my patience and just wanted this to end already. And the gameplay was not the only reason, as much as is hurts to say.

    The Ugly: All that was mentioned above I could forgive if the game offered anything to drive me forward and make me WANT to go on. That didn't happen much. The story does have a potential of being a good one, but ends up feeling tedious and annoying altogether with the gameplay.
    The main character is the one you'll see and hear most of the game, and, she is quite annoying to say the least, with clunky animations and monotonous voice which seemed to lack any sort of emotion even in the most "dramatic" moments of the game (not too many).
    The soundtrack was very rich, yet somewhat bizarre, and ranged from acceptable to slightly annoying at times, but rarely felt like it actually fit the events of the game.
    The graphics also ranged from OK to plain ugly, even in the "exotic" parts of the game (there are some) which ended up looking dead and blunt, and not too interesting to look at.
    All these fact summarize to a very tedious experience, BUT, join the fact that the game is rather buggy in almost every aspect - The interface which is not too friendly and comfortable anyway, will sometimes not yield to your will as you'll beg for Lea to do what you meant her to do while she goes around and does something completely different. That is, IF she moves at all, because at times she'll simply stop moving, and you'll have no idea if that is because of a bug which made her freeze, because she simply "can't" see your signals, or because something just interrupts her actions. And all that may happen just before the game would randomly crush (although to me that happened rarely).
    The lack of friendly interface makes it tough to enjoy even the sections where the gameplay gets some diversity, e.g. you're going to control a robot, you're going to control a sort of submarine, you're going to "communicate" with some sort of alien species in their own language using a language pack, but all these would feel extremely buggy and unpolished like the rest of the game.

    The game rather disappointed me as it COULD be so good, but it simply didn't manage to be any good in almost any aspect. It ended up being a very tiring and time consuming experience for me, and it really felt like the real Experiment here is to figure out how many players would actually get through this game.    … Expand
  5. DaveTocados
    Sep 23, 2008
    4
    It could have been the game of the year but the interface is awful. How can I play a game when I can't see the main character among allIt could have been the game of the year but the interface is awful. How can I play a game when I can't see the main character among all these cameras, which are overimposed each other. The gameplay is monotonous and the most important thing : nobody can tell me that this game is replayable. I am in the middle of the game and i don't know if i will be able to finish it.… Expand
  6. Broyax
    Mar 9, 2021
    1
    Un jeu d’aventure moins débile que d’habitude et assurément assez… original puisqu’on y contrôle des caméras afin d’aider une cocotte enUn jeu d’aventure moins débile que d’habitude et assurément assez… original puisqu’on y contrôle des caméras afin d’aider une cocotte en détresse suite à une « expérience » qui a mal tourné…

    Elle n’hésite pas d’ailleurs à vous donner rapidement des ordres et des objectifs, ce qui énerve un brin à force. Il faut en effet tout faire, activer les caméras, gérer chaque fenêtre, repérer des codes ou mots de passe, consulter les dossiers du personnel, taper chaque code ou mot de passe dans une fenêtre de dialogue et même activer et diriger un robot con comme ses pieds…

    D’ailleurs, c’est là que le « robot m’a tuer » si je puis dire… il m’a soûlé à mort, tout comme -d’ailleurs- tout le jeu lui-même qui ressemble tout-à-coup davantage à un boulot de surveillance et de paperasse qu’à un véritable jeu ! il faut dire que toute l’interface est à se tirer une balle et qu’on passe son temps à se débattre et se battre avec : difficile en effet d’avoir à sa disposition quelque chose de plus mal fait et… de moins intuitif que ce truc-là !

    Dommage, car le principe est certainement intéressant mais il aurait fallu repenser entièrement sa mise en oeuvre… Si graphiquement aujourd’hui, il tient encore à peu près la route, je me souviens qu’en 2007, toutes ces fenêtres taxaient lourdement les machines de l’époque : ça ramait bien ce bordel ! Mais… quoi qu’il en soit, l’expérience a échoué…

    A noter que si le jeu s’installe et fonctionne très bien sur Win7-64, il refuse inopinément de se désinstaller ! il se trouve apparemment que l’installeur ne trouve pas le désinstalleur… faut-il le résinstaller pour le désinstaller ? bon enfin, je l’ai broyé. Quand même.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Best PC Game of 2008
98
#98 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
46
#46 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

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