Moebius : Empire Rising Review

By Mike de Leon  |  Posted: July 3, 2014

The much awaited paranormal mystery adventure game Moebius: Empire Rising is the latest title from acclaimed novelist and video game designer Jane Jensen. She is best known for her work with the classic adventure game Gabriel Knight. With the help of Phoenix Online publishing they were able to deliver a game with an elaborate storyline with complex characters and beautiful settings.

The story revolves around two main characters, an antiques dealer Malachi Rector and former Special Forces David Walker. Malachi aside from having arrogant characteristic has a photographic memory and has a great understanding of historical events. With his skills, he is approached by a secret government agency to investigate people who resembles people of historical figure. Over the course he flies to Venice, Paris, Cairo, among other places all over the world. During his travels, he crosses path with David Walker. The closer the unwitting duo comes to unveiling a secret the U.S. government is trying to protect, the more danger they encounter.

The beautiful backdrops and the intriguing story makes for a good game. The sarcastic humor of Malachi and the comedic banter with Walker keeps the game fun and entertaining. The ability to combine objects that you picked up from different locations gives the game a investigative feel. The puzzles in the game are not that complicated, barely offering a challenge to those familiar with the genre. After each chapter you are rewarded with some neatly created animated comic strips. There are some issues with the game, like the awkward way the characters walk, and the solutions for some of the puzzles required backtracking at times. I did chuckle when I put a piece of cake into my jacket (inventory) and kept it until it was needed. Adventure games, am I right?

Simply Put

Moebius has a solid story and decent characters as you would expect from Jane Jensen. The game missed out on the puzzles however and a solid reason to keep you playing to conclusion.