Empress of the Deep is a fun puzzle-adventure game from local indie developer Silverback Productions. You play as amnesiac Anna who finds herself in a mysterious underwater archive of human accomplishment. You have to put the pieces together to find out who you are and why you’re there. If you’ve ever played point-and-click adventures or Myst games, this will feel familiar and fun, for noobs it takes a little getting used to, but it’s worth it. Some aspects of the game design can feel repetitive as you are forced to backtrack to the same areas again and again as more things are unlocked. The still-frame scenes are gorgeous and the art really shines as you travel the world—but the music and voice acting tend to feel a bit lacklustre. It lacks some of the polish a bigger title would receive but the fun puzzles and gorgeous art make this an easy buy.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2011.