PixlBit

Let's go back to the 90's for a second, because that's about as much as I  can remember of Diabolik. Diabolik was created as far back as 1962 in Italy. I haven't read the comics and the only reason I know about it is because of the cartoon series on Fox Kids with Batman and stuff. So what in the world would a game be like? Well that's why we review this sin of a game today!

So for the record before I begin, this game did not receive a U.S. release. That's right. We're reviewing a special European PAL game! To put into perspective how bad this game is...I bought it on Ebay for a whopping .99 cent bid. As far as I was concerned if it wasn't for the absurd royal air mail shipping (about $4.99 too much) that still would have been too much. Anyways let's start with the plot.

The plot focuses on Diabolik in his attempt to rescue his girlfriend Eva Kant who has been kidnapped. He is to steal a painting or some such nonsense. The plot would have been intriguing if the overall game wasn't so goddamn boring.

Stealth master Diabolik and his quest to raid someone's home

You see you'll control one of three characters in this third person point & click puzzle adventure. Your options are limited based on what Diabolik decides is right to do. As a master of stealth you can't go around just gunning down bad guys.  And also as a point and click puzzle game you are forced to solve convoluted puzzles.

Where is the nail!? good luck finding it!

Let's start off with one of the very first moments of the game. You'll control Eva Kant in a search for a pin point accurate nail in a wall. This would be alright, but it's so hard to find said small nail in an ugly brown coated mess. Even when consulting a walkthrough and going to the specific area that is determined, the point of interest where you must click is so spot on that you'll still have a hard time as you point all along the corner like a dumbass.

Wii point and click puzzle adventures were very much hit or miss. Well mostly miss. I think my experience with Zack & Wiki had something to do with it. It was built up and specifically designed for the Wii and utilized the remote wonderfully. A game like Diabolik or any other game that was a PC or heck PS2 port, was more or less sloppily translated.

I'll admit I like the way the cutscenes are presented, kind of like the comic book.  But the gameplay is so uneven. You'll often go off finding a key, only to have to go find another key and so on. It's like that joke in Zelda games in which you use a key to enter a room to open a chest, only to find yet another key. A lot of the puzzles are inventory based, if the game allows you to use them that is. I'm not bad at point and click puzzle adventures, but I can't quite follow the logic as to why I can't quite use a knife and go up behind a bad guy to dispose of him. Instead I need a more convoluted plan of luring the guard away using a Macguyver like setup of laser pens, mission impossible like masks, and sleeping darts.

Examine the gate or be stuck forever!

The fixed camera angles are clumsy. They make you lose even the slightest sense of direction you had guarenteeing disorientation. I shouldn't have this much trouble just finding the exit door! And if finding things wasn't hard enough, the interface in which you select items is equally as frustrating. Simply using an item is a tedious collection of scrolling and multiple clicks, which is far too cumbersome for such a basic task that you need to do so often. Diabolik also refuses to pick up anything if he hasn’t examined it first, forcing the player to click two times to grab even a perfectly recognizable item. Take for instance a door in a power plant later on in the game...because I failed to simply look at the door, I couldn't progress. Only until I examined it did Diabolik declare "I need a key" at which point you can then do so and open the door. And that is why I hate games like this. There are also bugs that can stop your game, so prepare to start over the process of unlocking doors from the beginning.

You can also play an incredibly laughable "action" mode. This would have made interesting if the game recognized the input of my controls. Often time you'll be in a QTE or on a countdown. This forces you to rush in a game that requires such pin point accuracy in examining doors, that I failed the very first train level. That's what I call quality folks!

Review: This game is a sin

Anyways, what is up next?

Oh boy...