The Dig - LucasArts RRP œ39.99
          (Animated graphic adventure on CD only)

                      Reviewed by Sue

The Dig has got to win the award for most awaited adventure,
having been delayed for about 2 years, to the disappointment of
many adventurers. With a story concept by Steven Spielberg,
dialogue by Orson Scott Card and input from Brian Moriarty, the
game has an impressive pedigree but the acid test is - was it
worth the wait, and did it live up to our expectations?

Briefly, the answer is ... yes and no. Had it come out when
originally planned, it would have been a real blockbuster. As it
is, it is still an excellent game but has been left behind by many
developments over the last two years.

However, a bit about the plot and so forth first.  At the start of
the game, an asteroid is on a collision course for Earth. A team
of astronauts is sent up to detonate charges on it and change its
orbit. That task completed easily, three of them - you, the leader
Boston Low, archaeologist Brink and journalist Maggie Robbins -
set out to explore the asteroid and discover that it is, in fact,
a ship to transport them to an alien planet.  Their main task is 
to get home, but as you will imagine, that isn't a trivial task. 
No, they will have to operate (first fix, even) alien machinery 
and deal with alien life forms, as well as sort out the pecking 
order in their team.

Coming on a single CD, pretty good use has been made of the PC's
capabilities. No FMV here, all the art work is drawn (though I
suspect the characters have been rotoscoped) and all the better
for it.  FMV is all very well, but I would always prefer well
drawn graphics than someone walking against a blue screen. The
initial scene-setting in the introduction is excellent, with
breath-taking graphics and oodles of suspense. This standard is
maintained during the numerous cut scenes but the appearance of
the game itself is very much 2 years old, at least, in the style
of the Monkey Island games. The character movement is somewhat
jerky, with few predetermined movements - whenever Boston Low
operates alien machinery, he invariably uses the same movement ...
an airy wave of one hand ... which in real life would miss the
controls by a mile!  The backgrounds are mixed in quality,
generally I preferred those which were just ruggedly alien rather
than being coloured strangely to suggest 'otherworldliness'.

The speech is nice and clear. Boston's voice is provided by Robert
Patrick from the Terminator 2 movie.  Though I was quite happy
with his voice to start with, I found his style a bit annoying by
the end, though I couldn't really say what was wrong with it. Lack
of expression, maybe? Or a general air of world-weariness? Brink
is Germanic, very well acted with his character getting more
unbalanced as time goes on. Maggie was too acerbic for my liking,
taking the opposite tack from the usual heroine who falls and
twists her ankle, and being very self-contained.

I can't find any fault with the music which is stupendous,
Wagnerian, and very appropriate for a game (I almost said 'film'
then) which reminded me very much of 2001. That impressed the
hell out of me when I saw it in its original cinema release and
The Dig moved me in a similar way. Though not action-packed, being
more of an 'experience' than anything else, it has its moments
when the story just sweeps you away. If you are emotional, like
me, be prepared to grab a tissue towards the end!

Considering its background, it is hard not to compare The Dig to a
Spielberg film. I don't really see any big reasons why it couldn't
have been filmed which was Spielberg's original intention.  Look
at what they achieve with X Files et al. The special effects
technology could cope with it. The big shame is that it has been
so long delayed. Had it come out when originally planned, it would
have won any awards hands down.  As it is, it is still well worth
playing, but looks a bit dated.

Minimum recommended specs are a 486DX2-66 with 8 meg RAM and 256
colour VGA. That is my set-up and I found it okay, but I know of
others who have had speech break-up with a similar set-up.


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