AMBER: Journeys Beyond (PC) (1996)
Developer: Hue Forest
Minimum System Requirements:
- 486 DX266
- 8 MB RAM
- 45 MB hard disk space
- High color 16-bit video card
- Windows compatible sound card
- CD-ROM drive

Review by Faididi and Co.

Giving pseudoscience a chance

Story: Average

Roxy, your parapsychologist friend, has created a device called the AMBER, which can detect and reveal paranormal phenomena. When she can't be contacted after her recent equipment tests, one of her colleagues asks you to check up on her, so later that night you drive to her house. Alone. In the remote parts of a forest.

The story begins with a great atmosphere, when you are searching Roxy's dark, seemingly deserted home and discovering the AMBER. Unfortunately, when you actually start using the device, things dial down to tragic but not very scary tales about the lives of the ghosts who are haunting the premises. The brief, anticlimactic ending is also unsatisfying.

Gameplay: Above Average

Hue Forest's AMBER: Journeys Beyond is a lenient graphic adventure that's played from the first person. You make progress by searching for useful items and by manipulating various objects at Roxy's house, the exterior garage, and a limited section of the nearby forests and lake. Without spoiling too much here, you'll enter the minds of three ghosts as well, in any order. By solving the puzzles in their worlds, you'll help them move on, bringing yourself closer to finding your friend. Despite the spooky mood, there are no lethal hazards, and your progress can be saved at any time.

Avoiding the obtuse nonsense that characterizes Myst, the puzzle design often encourages careful investigation over random experimentation. The puzzles come in a large variety, too. They range from mundane tasks, such as finding a power switch and reassembling the broken pieces of an object, to more abstract challenges, like using glass panels as a key and applying temporal elements to open a gateway.

Alas, certain sections of the ice lake scene stand out sharply from the rest of the game. They're made needlessly difficult by the unclear terrain and navigation points, and their absurd appearance invites giggles instead of horror. If not for these odd exceptions, the puzzles would've been perfectly fine.

Controls: Above Average

Aside from the problematic spots at the ice lake scene, the controls are intuitive, and moving across areas and manipulating objects are easy to do.

Graphics: Above Average

AMBER is a beautiful-looking game, especially where its lighting and shadowing work is concerned. Interactive objects blend neatly into the photo-realistic scenery (with special indicators seldom given for the cursor). The many animated sequences flow seamlessly with the rest of the graphics.

The best part of all is the atmosphere, at least for the earlier scenes. AMBER delivers a fantastic sense of horror without resorting to excessive gore, and the bit with the magic eight ball toy gives a scare not easily forgotten. However, when you pick up the AMBER, messing with the freaky stuff head-on isn't that much more terrifying as you might hope.

Audio: Above Average

Just as impressive are the audio effects, the ambience ones being the best among them. You can hear the water splashing against the shore as you near the lake, the hidden shadows chirping quietly among the forests outside, and the eerie silence being broken only by the hum of machinery within the rooms of Roxy's house. The music, be it the suspenseful tune of the intro or the cold jingle of the ice lake scene, completes the mood wherever it's used.

Overall: Above Average

AMBER: Journeys Beyond is the kind of graphic adventure that's meant to be played late at night, with the lights turned off. Although its horror aspect decreases over the course of the game, it still has mostly solid puzzle design and nice visual and audio effects that should please any fans of the genre.