The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief Hits PS3

Back when our crew was at GoozerNation, I was able to review The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief for PC. As much as I was intrigued by the storyline and overarching character development, I really wasn't able to play through it at all. I've never been a PC gamer, and have never put much cash into my system. The entire game chugged, often taking fifteen seconds for a single character to load a single line. In a dialog based video game, this was a lesson in tedium. What I got to play I enjoyed. Now, along comes a home console release, perfect for my style of play. I love consoles, because even if they may not be as powerful as your average everyday computer, it simply works. You buy a game, plug it in, and if anything goes wrong, it's the developer's fault.

I was given the opportunity to review the game again, this time on a machine that liked me. The PS3 edition of the game is currently available as a download for $29.99. This includes all three chapters of the game in one convenient package. To add to the ease, it even allows you to pick each individual chapter from the beginning, rather than force you through chapter one, if you were like me and got to mess with chapter one before deciding the rest wasn't playable on your system.

The Raven follows a classic mystery novel, in the vein of an Agatha Christie tale. Your protagonist isn't your average superhero: in fact, it's a portly old officer who starts the story by pushing his nose in where almost everyone feels it doesn't belong. A basic point-and-click style adventure of the most basic sense, you'll find yourself immersed in an interesting storyline with simple interactive bits. Although Traveller's Tales has redefined point-and-click, The Raven gives you the basic traditional gameplay style. Task A needs to be completed, so you look for Part A to complete it, sometimes needing to go back to Area C in order to find it, using crafty combinations of items in your inventory to make things happen. It does have handy bonuses, such as a notebook, that is meticulously updated to make sure you don't stray too far off the beaten path.

The Raven has an engrossing storyline, only held back by the limitations of the point-and-click genre. Each character's lines and moves must stay fairly basic in order to ensure they make sense among each other, and gameplay can sometimes turn into "move around and click everything" if you get stuck. During loading screens, it even has a suggestion of taking a break if you can't find your way. The story is welcome fare, though, and would be enjoyed as a theatrical movie or TV miniseries. 

Controls feel a bit clunky, as our hero doesn't exactly move with any swiftness, and as stated before, finding exactly what you are supposed to do can be tedious at times as well. A quick click of a help button can help with both issues, though, as it instantly highlights all accessible items within a screen. 

If you are walking into this game thinking you will find a console experience of hunting down a master thief, with a hardcore Metal Gear level of interactivity with it's engrossing storyline, you may need to look elsewhere. The Raven doesn't exactly call for twitch gameplay. But if you're the kind of gamer who loves a good book, and is thrilled at a mystery requiring more brains than instant hand-eye coordination, The Raven offers an excellent adventure that makes up for it's flaws.