The puzzle structure, iffy dialogue, and subject matter make this a hard recommendation to a general audience. As the score indicates, unless you’re a hardcore horror/adventure fan, it might be wise to first play the demo, or await a price-drop.

It is absolutely comical the depths that the game stoops to in order to hold your hand.

While Crystal Key II does have its charms, none of them are strong enough to save it from being average and lacklustre.

An incredible success in virtual tourism — truly brings the island of Capri to life, allowing the user to wander a real-life location at will. Far less successful as a coherent, playable game.

Generally a frustrating and unrewarding game, with the ultimate anti-payoff. I can't even sincerely recommend it to even the most ardent Ripper historian.

Sadly, the largely static emotion of the narrative and the inconsequential nature of the puzzles don’t flesh out the story to great effect, turning this game into just an average game, rather than a great one.

An unparalleled sucess at storytelling, and even the most stupefying crate puzzle can't overcome the ability to tell a great story.

Generally overpriced for the offline game, especially considering there's no actual game in the online "game."

The story behind Conspiracies is incredibly well executed, with enough twists and turns to satisfy just about any mystery enthusiast out there.

Possibly the worst adventure game of 2003, guaranteed to piss off both adventurers and twitchers.

This game has a suprising charm and beauty, with enough depth to keep you playing until the end. A solid pick that will surely satisfy.

It’s a murder mystery with a twist everyone will see coming from a mile away, and the puzzles and slowness don’t do it any service. This could have been a classic.

The best game so far in the Nancy Drew series.

It may be a conventional, paint-by-numbers murder mystery, but the resulting portrait is a rather generous one that provides two unique perspectives, a complex story, and hours of fun.

Various puzzles of seemingly frustrating insignificance litter the entire experience.

There's no way around it: Runaway is an instant classic, and an absolute must-own for all adventure game fans.

The game box touts 20+ hours of gameplay; for their target audience of preteen girls, I am sure this is true, but experienced gamers will finish it in significantly less time. Aside from that though, this game was still very enjoyable to play.

A very well-designed ghost story from a very promising developer, and well worth the purchase for suspense and first-person fans.

A long-winded Myst-like puzzle game that will likely appeal to the hardcore gamer only.

Not perfect, but still gorgeous and very enjoyable.

Fans of the show will enjoy it as a quick diversion; hardcore adventure fans will definitely not get their money's worth.

The graphics and interface are vastly improved and the puzzles more organically connected to the game world; the game as a whole is far more compelling.

Everything just falls all to pieces in the execution, specifically every element of character interaction (which is 80% of the game). It's frustrating to the point of bafflement at times, to want to care so much about the story, but feel so stifled by the atrocious dialogue and unfriendly interaction system.

This game is a quick snack, clocking in for me at about 15 hours. Though rough in a few spots, it has some very interesting puzzles and challenges that I really enjoyed.

I wouldn't say that the gameplay is the high point here. Controlling Eike will be tedious for some and if you weren't a fan of the 3D control in games like "Grim Fandango" or "Gabriel Knight 3," you should steer clear of this one.

Fans of the classic cartoon adventures will find their fix with this brilliantly traditional adventure.

While not supplying any complex game play design or innovation, one thing I appreciated about PC is its polish.

After wading through the technical problems, a solid murder mystery that's fun to play and worth the money.