The Final Cut

An adventure game based around the works of Alfred Hitchcock sounds like an intriguing proposition, until you realise the developer is French/ Slovenian and the fat director’s influence amounts to stolen scenes and familiar settings.

The concept is ingenious enough: you're a PI hired to investigate the disappearance of a millionaire who is obsessed with Hitchcock, and who had been shooting a film based on the director's works on his estate. His house is straight out of Psycho and the film sets are from the likes of Tom Curtain and Vertigo. But there is a fundamental difference between the celebrated director’s work and this game that is apparent from the beginning. The script -what little there is of it - is pisspoor, and the acting just a notch above abominable (just wait until you hear the awful screeching of the talking bird). In common with other notorious European adventure titles, the main character is a total tit who thinks he’s Sam Spade.

The few good ideas here are sabotaged by talentless execution. You do get glimpses of extracts from Hitchcock's films, thanks to the Pl’s psychic powers, but the rest is too ham-fisted to work. The puzzles range from obvious to ridiculous and you hardly ever interact with other characters, making it all very heavy going and immediately boring. Still, I confess it does mean the dreadful dialogue is kept to a minimum. For puzzle-starved gamers only.