Salammbo: Battle for Carthage (PC) Review

A first-person adventure akin to the Myst series, Salammbo: Battle for Carthage follows the misadventures of Spendius, a slave that, while trying to escape from the Carthaginians, gets entangled in a bigger, and far more complex game. Caught in the act by Salammbo, the dazzling high priestess of the city, he must reach Matho, one of the mercenary captains, and deliver a message of passionate love, or otherwise face the blade of the executioner. Ah, life and its variety of choices can be so much fun at times.

This couldn't happen at a worse time, though, because it only takes a single spark for war between Carthage and its mercenaries to break out; and that spark is none other than the fact that the money that was supposed to be given to these soldiers gets stolen by - who else? - Spendius. The unfortunate protagonist must now choose between Scylla (feed the fires of war and remain under Matho's protection), and Charybdis (escape Carthage and face certain death in the desert, or the treacherous waters of the south Mediterranean Sea).

Salammbo's world is a morbidly violent one, the people are mostly greedy, hostile, and usually unhelpful, and the visuals surely add to this dark atmosphere, with a sky that is almost post-apocalyptic, characters with angry, crimson eyes, and an architecture that fuses together Aztec aesthetics with… Conan. Strangely enough, the "centrepiece" of the show, the beautiful Salammbo, turns out to be the least otherworldly thing here, and, luckily, the least dressed - although she only makes two - not that exciting - appearances.

As epic as this quest might seem, however, it's not exactly that interesting - or immersive, for that matter. The dialogue sequences are well-written, and the voiceovers nothing sort of professionally performed, yet the actual events that take place in-game are not that great. In fact, Spendius' adventure can simply be described as a long series of puzzles and nothing more, with the occasional conversation between characters offering little to no lore - but at least the voice actors have done an exceptional job, and the moody music fits perfectly with the bleak atmosphere of the various indoor and outdoor locations. The otherwise magnificent, grandiose full orchestral OST that plays in cut-scenes, however, is a bit out of place, since it feels as if it was borrowed from a swords and sandals movie.

Are these puzzles of any worth, though? When it comes to variety they are very good, especially when compared with most adventure titles, which either focus on inventory item-mixing, or "pure" puzzles similar to Myst. Unfortunately, when quality enters the picture, things don't look so good. For starters, every single problem's solution is easy and predictable, and when it isn't, all it takes is a bit of talking with the few NPCs that inhabit each small area to find out what to do. The only real "challenge" is actually the fact that key items and hotspots are sometimes hard to see - first, because the game is quite dark (especially in the first couple of chapters), and, second, due to the pixellation and not exactly very diverse colour palette, which means that everything pretty much blends together.

It should be pointed out that, unlike most adventures, Spendius can die, yet most hazards are easy to identify. The rule is simple: never get too cocky in conversations, never approach hostile creatures, and always be careful when in the village of the cannibalistic Pariahs. Despite being predictable, though, death will surely show his bony face once in a while, but does this makes things more challenging or entertaining? Not really. It just makes this quest a few minutes longer. Final word: Besides its interesting concept, and unique aesthetics, Salammbo: Battle for Carthage just doesn't have what it takes to really be enjoyable.