Scotland, 1926. The suicide of his father leads David Gordon to his family's ancestral home for the first time in his life. Soon his life is at stake, threatened by dark secrets that have already cost many Gordons before him their sanity. https://store.steampowered.com/app/581300/Black_Mirror/
“The worst game of my life!” was written in the Steam reviews, which I couldn't understand. I enjoyed a very entertaining and simple game that had some annoying elements.
And that was mainly the controls: WASD is always very imprecise for me, which is bad when you need to control precisely. I needed save games three times (https://www.adventurespiele.net/CmodsDow...d-2629.htm) because the constant deaths annoyed me. However, this also meant that I missed out on achievements, because you only get them by playing.
The puzzles were very easy, except for one. I'm quoting from the walkthrough (https://www.adventurespiele.net/9891/BlackMirror4.pdf)
TrPage 10
In the top drawer, you will find what you were looking for. It is a note.
Take a closer look at it in the inventory and turn it over to the front with the mouse button pressed. On it are
two equations with the symbols you saw above the combination lock. For simplicity's sake,
we assign letters to the symbols:
The two arrowheads pointing away from each other = a
The triangle standing on its tip = b
The symbol resembling an M = c
The hourglass lying on its side = d
The desk note now contains the following equations:
1. b + a + b = 5
2. d - c = 2
That won't get you very far, because you have four unknowns but only two equations. So take another look at your father's letter.
Examine it more closely in your inventory and then turn the piece of paper
with the mouse button pressed so that you can see the symbol equations on the back.
3. a + b = 4
4. 9 = c + a
With this information, you can now start calculating. Begin with the third equation:
a + b = 4 |(-b)
a + b - b = 4 - b
a = 4 - b
Insert this into the first equation.
b + (4 - b) + b = 5
b + 4 - b + b = 5
b + 4 = 5 | (-4)
b + 4 - 4 = 5 - 4
b=1
You then insert this into the third equation:
a + 1 = 4 |(-1)
a + 1 - 1 = 4 - 1
a = 3
Continue with the fourth equation:
c + a = 9
c + 3 = 9 | (-3)
c + 3 - 3 = 9 - 3
c = 6
Now insert the result for c into the second equation:
d - c = 2
d - 6 = 2 | (+6)
d - 6 + 6 = 2 + 6
d=8
You then insert this into the third equation:
a + 1 = 4 |(-1)
a + 1 - 1 = 4 - 1
a = 3
Continue with the fourth equation:
c + a = 9
c + 3 = 9 | (-3)
c + 3 - 3 = 9 - 3
c = 6
Now insert the result for c into the second equation:
d - c = 2
d - 6 = 2 | (+6)
d - 6 + 6 = 2 + 6
d = 8This gives us the following symbols:
The two arrowheads pointing away from each other = a = 3
The triangle standing on its tip = b = 1
The symbol resembling an M = c = 6
The hourglass lying on its side = d = 8
The order of the symbols was carved above the combination lock: a c b d. The code is therefore:
3 6 1 8"
For my part, I didn't even understand the solution, and why a puzzle is so out of the ordinary is beyond me.
The characters are all unsympathetic, but they are Gordon's, after all, and there is something about the way they all murder each other. And then there's Leah: a doctor in the 1920s, which is implausible. How she got to the castle without a car remains unclear. She doesn't behave like a doctor either: “Oh, I must help her, she's dying!” only to then run after David, acting at best as a living candlestick and at worst blocking the way. (Anyone who found Watson annoying in the Holmes games knows what I mean.)
The castle itself was not exactly built by a practical person, and I always felt sorry for the staff who had to carry the food across the entire hall to the dining room. Oh well.
Conclusion
A restrained game whose ghosts are not scary, but dangerous and require quick reactions.
“The worst game of my life!” was written in the Steam reviews, which I couldn't understand. I enjoyed a very entertaining and simple game that had some annoying elements.
And that was mainly the controls: WASD is always very imprecise for me, which is bad when you need to control precisely. I needed save games three times (https://www.adventurespiele.net/CmodsDow...d-2629.htm) because the constant deaths annoyed me. However, this also meant that I missed out on achievements, because you only get them by playing.
The puzzles were very easy, except for one. I'm quoting from the walkthrough (https://www.adventurespiele.net/9891/BlackMirror4.pdf)
TrPage 10
In the top drawer, you will find what you were looking for. It is a note.
Take a closer look at it in the inventory and turn it over to the front with the mouse button pressed. On it are
two equations with the symbols you saw above the combination lock. For simplicity's sake,
we assign letters to the symbols:
The two arrowheads pointing away from each other = a
The triangle standing on its tip = b
The symbol resembling an M = c
The hourglass lying on its side = d
The desk note now contains the following equations:
1. b + a + b = 5
2. d - c = 2
That won't get you very far, because you have four unknowns but only two equations. So take another look at your father's letter.
Examine it more closely in your inventory and then turn the piece of paper
with the mouse button pressed so that you can see the symbol equations on the back.
3. a + b = 4
4. 9 = c + a
With this information, you can now start calculating. Begin with the third equation:
a + b = 4 |(-b)
a + b - b = 4 - b
a = 4 - b
Insert this into the first equation.
b + (4 - b) + b = 5
b + 4 - b + b = 5
b + 4 = 5 | (-4)
b + 4 - 4 = 5 - 4
b=1
You then insert this into the third equation:
a + 1 = 4 |(-1)
a + 1 - 1 = 4 - 1
a = 3
Continue with the fourth equation:
c + a = 9
c + 3 = 9 | (-3)
c + 3 - 3 = 9 - 3
c = 6
Now insert the result for c into the second equation:
d - c = 2
d - 6 = 2 | (+6)
d - 6 + 6 = 2 + 6
d=8
You then insert this into the third equation:
a + 1 = 4 |(-1)
a + 1 - 1 = 4 - 1
a = 3
Continue with the fourth equation:
c + a = 9
c + 3 = 9 | (-3)
c + 3 - 3 = 9 - 3
c = 6
Now insert the result for c into the second equation:
d - c = 2
d - 6 = 2 | (+6)
d - 6 + 6 = 2 + 6
d = 8This gives us the following symbols:
The two arrowheads pointing away from each other = a = 3
The triangle standing on its tip = b = 1
The symbol resembling an M = c = 6
The hourglass lying on its side = d = 8
The order of the symbols was carved above the combination lock: a c b d. The code is therefore:
3 6 1 8"
For my part, I didn't even understand the solution, and why a puzzle is so out of the ordinary is beyond me.
The characters are all unsympathetic, but they are Gordon's, after all, and there is something about the way they all murder each other. And then there's Leah: a doctor in the 1920s, which is implausible. How she got to the castle without a car remains unclear. She doesn't behave like a doctor either: “Oh, I must help her, she's dying!” only to then run after David, acting at best as a living candlestick and at worst blocking the way. (Anyone who found Watson annoying in the Holmes games knows what I mean.)
The castle itself was not exactly built by a practical person, and I always felt sorry for the staff who had to carry the food across the entire hall to the dining room. Oh well.
Conclusion
A restrained game whose ghosts are not scary, but dangerous and require quick reactions.
Attached Files
This post was last modified: 11-16-2025, 02:52 PM by Wild Boar.
I really liked the first part of the series, apart from the fact that you die constantly and the game doesn't save beforehand.
I didn't like parts 2 and 3 as much, especially the last part, which I found too far-fetched. A castle couldn't possibly support a vault like that.
I would give the fourth part a chance. Apart from the puzzle I mentioned, the puzzles are very fair and you always have a clear task to complete. Especially since it's not expensive and the winter sale is just around the corner.
I didn't like parts 2 and 3 as much, especially the last part, which I found too far-fetched. A castle couldn't possibly support a vault like that.
I would give the fourth part a chance. Apart from the puzzle I mentioned, the puzzles are very fair and you always have a clear task to complete. Especially since it's not expensive and the winter sale is just around the corner.
(11-16-2025, 05:57 PM)Wild Boar Wrote: I really don't understand why the game is so hated. It has its annoying moments, and it's not a game you'll remember forever and ever.
But it's not as bad as many people make it out to be.
I was playing it back in 2017 and it was really bad game. My rating was 3/10. It was piggybacking on the name Black Mirror. It looked like they were not sure if they want to make an adventure game or interactive movie like Telltale, but it doesnt work in both way. Terrible control optimalised maybe for consoles, gameplay very boring with lot of walking for nothing, only very few good puzzles, but on the other hands nonsensical action sequences and "ghos visions". Story is very flat and tedious. I dont remember any positive thing about the game...
(11-16-2025, 07:00 PM)Pluto Wrote:Basically, you're right about all of those points. I also wrote that the encounters with ghosts sometimes got on my nerves. What was less enjoyable was that the ghosts were threatening and deadly, but not scary.(11-16-2025, 05:57 PM)Wild Boar Wrote: I really don't understand why the game is so hated. It has its annoying moments, and it's not a game you'll remember forever and ever.
But it's not as bad as many people make it out to be.
I was playing it back in 2017 and it was really bad game. My rating was 3/10. It was piggybacking on the name Black Mirror. It looked like they were not sure if they want to make an adventure game or interactive movie like Telltale, but it doesnt work in both way. Terrible control optimalised maybe for consoles, gameplay very boring with lot of walking for nothing, only very few good puzzles, but on the other hands nonsensical action sequences and "ghos visions". Story is very flat and tedious. I dont remember any positive thing about the game...
I didn't think the story of how David uncovers the family secrets was bad at all. It wasn't profound, but it was entertaining.
For the reasons mentioned, its predecessors were not the Holy Grail of adventure games either. Just as I don't consider Broken Sword to be the super game that many people make it out to be. The games came out at a time when there were few adventure games, so everyone liked them. But that doesn't mean they were good games, especially Black Mirror 1 and Broken Sword with their constant deaths without prior saving.
This post was last modified: 11-17-2025, 06:21 AM by Wild Boar.