The Da Vinci Code

The phenomenon known as The Da Vinci Code is much bigger, and has been around much longer than most people realize. For starters, Dan Brown’s novel spent more than three years on the New York Times bestseller list, and just recently, the movie enjoyed a comfortable perch at the top also by ringing up record-breaking sales at the box office during its opening weekend. So like any cash cow worth milking, the powers at be unwisely thought that a video-game translation was in order as well. But, like many other movie-based titles before it that hoped to make the cross-over from silver screen to … well … the big black box, 2K Games and developer The Collective will find out, if they haven’t already, that success in one medium doesn’t necessarily guarantee it in another. Behind that blockbuster-implied name on the package you need several key ingredients; one of these being a good story, and while The Da Vinci Code certainly has this, the fashion in which it’s represented just isn’t up to par with the Franchise’s other efforts.

For those of you that have somehow gone unexposed to the madness over the past several years, you’re probably wondering what all the excitement, controversy, and hoopla is all about. The Da Vinci Code centers itself around the events that betake Robert Langdon, a Symbology Professor at Harvard University, and Sophia Neveu, a Cryptologist at the DCPJ (Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire) in France. Their paths intervene when a major Symbology figurehead is murdered, where an intricate set of clues are left behind, and it’s up to Langdon and Neveu to solve the mystery behind his sudden death. Of course, nothing about the events above seems very controversial, especially not enough to convince religious fanatics everywhere to boycott and picket the movie’s opening. So what’s the big problem? Well, without ruining too much of the story, the upcoming events take a turn for the religious, and before it’s all over some of the most prominent figures in Christianity, along with their Church and book of choice, take a serious hit in the credibility department.

However, the story isn’t the video game’s main problem; in fact, it could’ve been the savior if implemented correctly. The real problem has to do with the game’s cast of characters; sure both Langdon and Neveu are present, but do to what was probably an overwhelming amount of money to purchase the licenses of the movie’s cast (Hanks, McKellen, Tautou, Bettany, Reno,) we are instead left with some generic, stereotypical adventure types as our playable characters. To make matters worse, both Langdon and Neveu look and handle exactly the same in their animations, not to mention their identical fighting abilities. Considering that both characters are playable at certain points in the story, it would’ve been wise to give them separate skill sets, or at least make it seem like each one is needed or is capable of something that the other isn’t. But as it stands, nothing separates Langdon and Neveu from each other besides their looks, and even those are very poorly done.

The game features roughly 11 missions to partake in, and just as you would imagine, solving puzzles play a major part in whether or not you advance through the storyline. Fans of the book will recognize some of the puzzles immediately, and will have absolutely no problem figuring them out. Likewise, for those of you that are new to the Da Vinci Code scene, these same puzzles will likely be the death of you. I’m not sure if anyone who hasn’t read the book will ever solve them. One problem is that the game does very little to help you along, but when it does it goes completely overboard. So oftentimes you are stuck on what seems like to be a sadistic joke aimed solely at you, or you’re too busy laughing about the developers decision to actually include that last scenario as a puzzle. For instance, one of the first dilemmas you face as Langdon is figuring out how to scrap a homing device that you find hidden in your coat pocket. How about attach it to a bar of soap and throw it out the window? Seriously, clever huh?

When you’re not busy solving the riddles hidden deep inside the Mona Lisa, you may or not be glad to know that the game has tons of fighting in it. Of course, when you take a movie and hope to stretch it into a 10-hour video game, some filler has to be added somewhere, right? I’m not sure that having the game’s two main characters, which are probably the most unheroic duo in history, battle their way through countless police officers and cloak-laden religious folk was the right idea, but nonetheless, it happened. It’s not that the fighting system is completely boring or anything, but it just seems overly out of place in the Da Vinci Code, and really takes away from what the premise behind the book and movie was all about.

When combat first initiates players will have the option to either hit, push, or throw their enemy, where depending on your choice a series of button prompts will flash on screen. It’s up to the player to input these correctly in order to successfully defeat the said enemy. Thinking along the line of Indigo Prophecy or RE4 wouldn’t be too far off, but stopping the comparisons there would definitely be justified. When the time is right Langdon and Neveu can even fight together for a little tag-team action, and are utterly unstoppable together. They often times resemble the Bushwackers more than they do a pair of Rhodes Scholars. Maybe I’m being too hard on the enemy A.I., or lack thereof. Asking the Police Officers and secret society of Illuminati look-alikes to actually be able to fight is probably going to far, after all these are the same people who somehow forget you entered a shadow after chasing you all the way to it. They do however know how to team up on you when only one character is around, and with no real way to defend yourself this becomes frustrating very quickly.

Problems aside, one thing the game has going for it is a superb soundtrack. I’m not sure if it stands out only because of the rest of games inability to offer anything positive, but nonetheless it sounds appropriately moody and mysterious, often carrying the onscreen action when nothing else can. The visuals are nearly in the same boat as well, but resemble the puzzle system more than they do anything else. Some of the locations and graphical effects look pretty nice, but the character models and their uncoordinated animations really hurt the overall experience. For every one aspect that works, it seems like there are countless more that do not. In short, this is the main problem with The Da Vinci Code video game. Throw in the fact that the game’s story and presentation do very little to capture the overall phenomenon brought on by the book and recent movie release, and you’re left with a sub-par effort. Serious Code fanatics may be willing to solve the mystery once more, but everyone else will probably be happy with what they already know.

Gameplay: 5.4
Clunky animations and a poorly designed fighting engine quickly wash away what little satisfaction the unbalanced puzzle-solving system offers.

Graphics: 6.0
On the surface everything seems to be just fine, but after playing for several hours problems start to rear their ugly head all over the place. Some of the locations look extremely nice, but when the main characters look and control poorly while navigating them, it seems all for naught. Not having the likenesses of Hanks and Tautou don’t help either, not to mention Reno, McKellen, and Bettany.

Sound: 7.0
The soundtrack is perfectly moody and fits the overall theme of the game nicely. There were some times when I could distinctly tell that the tracks had begun re-looping, and the editing job in between the loops was very poorly done. The voice acting was for the most part very good, but nothing jumped out to me as being extraordinary or great.

Difficulty: Medium
Most of the puzzles will seem either completely simple, or downright impossible. The fighting system is pretty much the same, but really gets out of hand when multiple enemies are present.

Concept: 5.0
The idea of taking the phenomenon that is The Da Vinci Code and turning it into a video game is certainly a touchy one. If done right it could’ve served as an ingenious adventure game, but when it leaves out most of the subject matter that made the book and movie so intriguing, the execution is going to suffer. This version definitely falls in the latter.

Overall: 5.9
Serious fans of The Da Vinci Code will probably want to try this version, if only to extend the overall experience. However, be warned, the video-game translation offers just a scrap of the mystery and intrigue brought on by the book and film, and will most likely frustrate you more often than it rewards you. Everyone else will probably want to leave this version of the mystery unsolved.