The Odyssey HD Lite - cyclops vs odysseus 12+

Having read "The Odyssey" (not to mention "The Iliad" & "The Birds") when young (we'll leave my age out of it, though, haha!), along with all the Greek & Roman myths (note: the Romans "borrowed" & repackaged everthing the Greeks did with newly-minted Roman names -- think Chekov on the ORIGINAL Star Trek always proclaiming EVERYTHING a Russian invention), I found this a fun way to relive a literary classic.

Going in, I knew what to expect as far as the 'bold strokes" would go -- but the real challenge was in figuring out how to advance the story & actually solve every puzzle. As with all Point & Click adventures, there was plenty of exploration (which I absolutely LOVE!), lots of trial & error (with plenty of chiding from the game for making wrong choices -- but I enjoy that too, as I'm not satisfied until I've clicked everywhere to see what happens, lest I miss some little nugget that could just be there to amuse the curious like me), and little bits of humor.

The game played a lot longer than I initially expected. I erroneously expected the smaller file size (about 180MB) meant a short game. But, I discovered the game was kept lean but still packed in a lot of game play. Animation was minimal, but that was OK -- I don't play Point & Click games for animation, I do it for the thrill of discovery. The art, although looking cartoonish, actually matched up with some of the art styles of the ancient Greeks (I'm also into art, history, archaeology, and love learning about different cultures -- just call me a Renaissance Gal!), which added a dash of period authenticity. There were also a lot of anachronisms -- but that's OK, as myth can take you anywhere, anytime.

The English grammar & syntax could have been better (much, much better). Being familiar with "The Odyssey" I still knew what was going on & could fill in the blanks -- although some turns of phrasing still have me scratching my head. I would have preferred to NOT engage in arcade style challenges -- I prefer using my head. Besides, the more physical actions are difficult as I'm physically disabled & have painful, nerve damaged hands that impact such activity. One thing I'd drop is the "Eye" -- it really wasn't necessary and I stopped using it.

I think I got a lot more bang for my buck with "The Odyssey" than I've gotten with larger & more expensive games. Thankfully, you can try the Lite version before deciding to buy (I always appreciate that, although I still ended up with horrible games AFTER purchasing the Full version) -- and I recommend giving this a a shot: you just might be pleasantly surprised!

Enjoy!

If I could, I'd give this game 2.5 stars. I am a huge fan of puzzle/adventure games, and this one does a good job of turning The Odyssey into a game. You play as Odysseus, who faces trial after trial while attempting to get home after the Trojan war. Pros: tells the fantastic story of The Odyssey and the puzzles in this game can be quite challenging. Cons: 1) Only does an okay job of telling the story (this is more of a personal pet peeve than a real complaint); 2) the graphics are really basic; 3) whoever wrote the game was obviously not a native English speaker and if somebody helped with the translation, they did a pretty poor job. The writing is pretty bad and should really be revised by somebody who is fluent in English. 4) Even though I love challenging puzzles, parts of this game seemed impossible without hints. This wouldn't be a huge subtractor, except that there is no "hint" button or guide. The only way to get hints is to go to the game's facebook page and scroll through all of the posts to either find a walkthrough that the developers have posted, or to find a posting from somebody who was stuck at the same spot as you that the developers have answered. I think this was the biggest draw back of the game for me - facebook is a really ineffective way of providing hints! The game closes every single time you need a hint, and there is absolutely no organization to the Facebook posts so it's hard to find what you're looking for and takes a while.

Honestly, while this game is okay, I feel like it could have been done much much better. The Odyssey is one of the greatest stories ever told, there is so much potential to make a fantastic game. While the story gets across and the puzzles can be challenging, this game did not measured up to my expectations.