Maestro Music of Death is an intriguing puzzle adventure game that takes place in the 19th century Paris. The city is being affected by a epidemic with deathly consequences. People in town blame the dark music coming from the theater as the possible origin of the epidemic, so all entrances to the town have been blocked by military forces. You, as the investigator, head to the city outskirts to help find the cause of this plague. In the way, you are also asked to rescue a little girl, Emily, that is trapped in the city.
The first thing you should do before venturing into the cursed town is slip past the guards that watch the entrance. As you advance you learn that a dark and supposedly cursed discordant music shows up in the form of a wind, aging people and causing death upon touching them. You move on, nonetheless, towards the now abandoned town to find Emily and also to collect any clues that may help you uncover the mystery.
The object hunt begins right away as you start. You need to inspect the environment carefully to identify areas of importance; these may comprise a puzzle, a hidden-object scene, or a piece of useful information. Collecting pieces to restore a nameplate of a statue, or looking for a trowel that can help you dig out an object, while also solving a variety of mini games are the type of puzzles you need to solve. As is often the case in most HOGs, great part of the game consists in getting access to locked areas; for that you need to find special items or keys to unlock doors that can, in turn, lead you to secret passages, tunnels, and catacombs to continue exploring.
The town is huge, which guarantee quite a few gameplay hours. The locations are so extensive that sometimes going back and forth from one scene to the other can be a bit tricky. But it is admittedly nice to go all over the game scenes, as they have been beautifully illustrated. An interactive map would really make it easier to browse through the numerous locations, but I guess that difficulty is part of the fun.
Overall, it is an entertaining and satisfying HO adventure for all levels of expertise; it has beautiful graphics, fitting music, and a captivating story that will appeal to most casual gamers.
Comments