Uninvited: MacVenture Series (PC) Review

Uninvited started as a major improvement to the first two games of the series, as the atmosphere of being trapped at a haunted house was much better, and the puzzles actually are possible, initially. Unfortunately, this rapidly goes the way of the previous games, not devolving into the luck-based gameplay that was prominent in them, but descending into a maddening realm of "How was I supposed to know that?" that leaves any player frustrated if they are used to any modern gaming conventions.

Take, for example, the first major puzzle: how to get around a ghost that kills the player. It seems impossible at first, forcing one to go a different way until finding an item called 'Ghost Away,' which is used on the ghost to proceed. It makes sense, and the game leads to it. If the rest of the game was like this, it'd be much better, and actually fun.

Consider the next major puzzle, and how rapidly nonsensical it becomes. After exploring, it becomes obvious a key is needed; there is a clue: 'The chair hides the key.' Okay, except that there are over 50 chairs in the house in different rooms. The chairs can be 'examined' - nothing. They can be 'hit' - nothing. Players can 'operate' the chair; they can 'open' the chair - nothing. They can move the chair (which hides things and is needed elsewhere) - nothing. How is the puzzle solved, then? By going to the kitchen and grabbing a knife, finding the right chair, and 'operating' the knife on the chair to cut it open. There is absolutely no hint the knife could do this, the chair could be cut, or even which chair has to be used.

Unfortunately, Uninvited only continues on this downward spiral. Early on, there is a book that contains words in it - a random selection of them. The player much later finds an inanimate doll, and to proceed has to 'speak' to the doll - never mind the 'speak' command has not been used once yet, and why it would be used on a doll - and type a very specific selection of words from this book. The player can't 'speak' and say hi, and the game doesn't give any clue that the doll can even be spoken to; there is no hint, like "Why do I get a feeling this doll can hear me?" or even a remote clue at all about the specific string of words (which are nonsense, by the way). Is all of this completely necessary to actually even proceed?