Shadows on the Vatican - Act I: Greed Demo

In order for an adventure game to be memorable and worthy of a complete playthrough, it must feature an intriguing story, solid characters to drive the action, and challenging puzzles that require logic and reason to solve, not luck. Hence, not many titles come very close to this goal, which is why it can be quite difficult to find something worthy of playing.

Shadows on the Vatican - Act I: Greed appears to be different at a first glance, mostly because it features some rather big names when it comes to the development team and the artistic direction. Not only that, but the story itself seems inviting, not to mention somewhat unique when it comes to setting and the plot that unfolds in front of you the whole time.

Hence, the story centers around an ex-priest by the name of James Murphy, who happens to be visiting a friend in Rome. However, his friend gets into some trouble when his briefcase containing sensitive documents vanishes one day, with the implication being that the Vatican is somewhat involved. Along the way, the two characters stumble upon many revelations and secrets, which shape their beliefs and personalities.

Playing the game should come natural to anyone who’s familiar with the genre, since all you have to do is click around the environment and direct the characters. You can interact with objects and use them to solve various puzzles, although many of these riddles require much more than a bit of pondering, especially those that address slightly more philosophical aspects.

Visually, the artwork is sublime in most cases, even if the backgrounds are all in two dimensions and you may sometimes feel a tad claustrophobic. The characters are three-dimensional, on the other hand, so they can move around creating the 3D illusion quite convincingly. The soundtrack is more than decent as well, as is the voice acting for most of the characters.

All things considered, Shadows on the Vatican - Act I: Greed may not be your typical adventure game when you consider the setting and the plot, but the developers managed to make the experience worthwhile anyway. Hence, if you are in the mood for something new, then this can easily be good starting point.