Ths Mystique series of atmospheric episodic 3D games are among the most popular titles available on the Android Market.  The latest episode, Chapter 3: Obitus, has just been released by Bendroid and will undoubtedly sell well if the first two games are anything to go by.  I’ve been giving the new episode a thorough playthrough and thought it was time to post a review.

Obitus sees the Mystique plotline continue further – Chapter 1 saw you wake up in a bathroom you didn’t recognise with no idea how you got there.  Worse still there didn’t seem to be any way out.  Upon eventually escaping from the bathroom, the next chapter The Child, involved exploring a creepy hospital, again trying to find a way out.  It turned out the only way was down, in to the hospital basement, which is where Chapter 3 starts off.

Here’s the description of Mystique Chapter 3: Obitus from the Android Market:-

Obitus is here.  The new challenge has come–let the eternal struggle begin.

Beware of “Mystique Ch3: Obitus” by Bendroid.

• New gameplay
• Improved graphics & animations
• New locations
• 3D characters
• Explore world & underworld
• Kill or be killed
• Solve puzzles
• Escape!

Wil you win the final battle…is it final?

You control your character as he (or she) explores the dark corners of the basement via the touchscreen – swiping your finger around the touchscreen moves your viewpoint in the same way that “mouse-look” does in PC games.  Forward and backward movement are acheived via two arrows at the left hand side of the screen and objects can be interacted with by tapping them on screen.  The controls work and are very responsive, but they are occasionally a little clumsy to use – I found myself longing for a button that would let me strafe left or right to maneuver round obstacles, rather than having to turn and move forward, then turn and move forward again.

Graphically, the game looks good, undeniably better looking than the first two and the 3D engine is light years ahead of most of the marketplace.  I didn’t notice any camera or gameplay lag as I played (on an HTC Hero).

The puzzles are challenging, and I have a suspicion a walkthrough may be needed at some point (at least by me!), but they’re not blood-pressure raisingly frustrating.  The game engine is set up with your character able to move freely around each area, because of this Obitus feels more like a first person shooter that’s heavy on the puzzles than an escape-the-room game. It’s an escape-the-room game on steroids.

The real strength of the Mystique series though, is atmosphere – this game is all about atmosphere, it’s dark, there are all sorts of spooky background sounds and there are a host of dour and grimy looking interiors spattered with the odd blood stain to give them a pinch of colour.  It’s obvious the creators have spent a good while trying to get the ambience just right to create a mood of fear and tension.  And to my mind they’ve nailed it.  After playing through for just a short while, I found myself feeling a flutter of  tense excitement upon examining things or open doors/cupboards, just in case something unexpected jumped out.  The camera sweep as you activate objects in the environment probably adds to this – as a gamer, on some subconscious level, I’m pre-programmed to see the sudden loss of control and change in viewpoint as a pre-cursor to a cutscene.  And in a horror title like Mystique, your mind is anticipating the worst when a cutscene appears.

Overall, there’s plenty here to recommend and the only real gripe I have is the lack of a strafe option, which is something that I daresay could be added in a later update.  If you love horror or challenging puzzle titles, then this should be right up your street.  It looks good, the gameplay is smooth and the puzzles should keep the grey cells ticking away.  Above all though, this game is undeniably creepy.  Best not to play it with the lights off…

Mystique Chapter 3: Obitus is available now on the Android Market for $2.99.  It’s worth noting that a couple of users have mentioned problems with the game on the G1 – I’ve spoken to Bendroid and they have confirmed there are issues, but only on G1s that are running an unofficial version of the firmware. 

*UPDATE- Bendroid have a fix in place for some of the custom rom G1 issues, but there are still some issues on some configurations.  Check the game description in the Android Market for more information.

Some selected user comments from the Android Market:-

This game rocks!!!! – (5 out of 5 stars)

Yeah…been waiting for this for months…the best by far…. – (5 out of 5 stars)

I never thought the 2 chapter could be beaten, how wrong I was, awesome game, thank you again for some battery draining messing pants fun – (5 out of 5 stars)

I get a force close on my G1 right after I start to hear the sound as I start the game, Whyyyyy? – (3 out of 5 stars)