I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream Reviews

[h1]I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - A Disturbing 90's Point-and-Click Adventure Game[/h1] When I think of the point-and-click adventure genre, I think of endless frustration with cryptic puzzles, outdated graphics, and outlandish stories.[i] I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream[/i] is no exception - and I wouldn't want it any other way. [b]Why Wouldn't I Want it Any Other Way?[/b] I haven't read the source material, so I wasn't sure what to expect story wise (I was initially drawn in by the game cover art). Personally, I deeply value rich storytelling and immersive world-building, which this game partially delivers; more on this later. *** AM, a supercomputer, has reigned supreme and decimated humanity. For his own sick pleasure, he lets five people live - only to subject them to 109 years of torment. Throughout the game, players experience the harrowing pasts of the five survivors: a military commander, an engineer, a conman, a Nazi doctor, and a truck driver. Each character's story unfolds through distressing scenarios that challenge not only the character's morality, but the players as well. The game's outcome is directly influenced by player decisions, as there is a "spiritual barometer" game mechanism - I would highly suggest reading the game manual to better understand it as it's not made very clear in-game. Since the game is influenced by player decisions, there are several different endings that you can get based on your moral compass. As I mentioned earlier, I deeply value rich storytelling, and I believe this is one of two areas where the game falls short. Of the five playable characters, only three receive in-depth exploration. The others felt surface-level, and difficult to sympathise with, which left me wanting more. I'm unsure if having read the source material would enhance this aspect. In every case however, the story is enhanced by the music and (admittedly dated) visuals. I particularly enjoyed the full voice acting for every character in-game, and the surreal graphics enhanced the atmosphere and reinforced the underlying themes of despair. In true point-and-click fashion, the second area where the game falls short are the logic puzzles. Although the word "logic" is in the name, don't expect logic to get you through this one. Dear reader, I had to save myself from frustration and rely on a walk-through for the majority of the game. For those unfamiliar with this genre, I believe the puzzles could be frustrating enough to make someone play for five minutes, give up, and swear off the genre forever. *** Even with cryptic puzzles and dated graphics, [i]I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream [/i]embodies the spirit of the genre well. It's an old-school game with a high replayability factor and great atmosphere. If you're willing to look past the downfalls that mark the time period in which the game was released, you will find solace in the outcome. TL;DR: I have no mouth and I must scream

I honestly just can't recommend this game. It can be endlessly confusing and not tell you at all what the hell to do, and you HAVE TO follow a guide to get the good ending. It's an okay game, but I just didn't really enjoy it and I highly recommend reading the original story over this one.

I love the original story but the scenarios in this game are so oddly specific and convoluted that they are impossible to figure out if you don't use a guide, which kind of ruins the whole point of this being a game.

Iconic? yes. Fun or even intriguing to actually play? Hell no. I did like watching an old interview of Ellison, upon being asked why -- if he hates video games so much -- he went on to make a video game, he replied "well because someone asked me, stupid!" Anyway. Has all the jank you'd expect from a game of this era, and as little heart as you'd expect from a game by a guy who hates games

one of the best games i've played in a while!! i love puzzle games so the intricacies about this game is really enticing!!!!

I like this as a horror game and watching the story, but it has rather frustrating gameplay (even though I have played numerous point and click games). I wouldn't have minded a shorter experience and I would've loved to have been able to play this without looking a guides for some of the sections. It was frustrating, but I found the story intriguing enough to want it to move forward... and I overall enjoyed the game. I would like to see more 90s style point and click horror games.

When we take into account that this was made around 1995, it is really good. I really like the soundtrack and will probably read the book too...

Cool game, cool story. But soft-locks left and right, you're basically forced to use a walkthrough to avoid bugs. Watch a YouTube video instead.

Very confusing but interesting game. My main issue is that this game is completely unbeatable without a guide (if you want to get a good ending). I also wish it went into more details on who the characters are. Who even is Ted, the game didn't drop a single thing about him other than his love interest. I feel like Ellen's story was the only one explained properly.

The best way to describe this game in case of writing would be, ahead of it's time. From the story, to the characters to the voice acting, everything is revolutionary. It's not afraid to tackle sensitive topics that even to this day a lot of games find them difficult to approach and well, It makes sense because the story wasn't developed with the expectation that it would eventually be turned into a videogame. I would dare to say that the scene really wasn't ready for a game written like that. Unfortunately, game design wise it's age can be seem and it's understandable for a point and click 1996 game with the budget of one donut and a prayer to be a little dysfunctional, so I was prepared for the 2-3 bugs I encountered and the clunky controls. Overall, a very interesting experience.