(PC) The Shivah
THE SHIVAH
Produced by: Wadjet Eye Games
Platform: PC (Windows)
Year: 2006
Genre: Old school graphical adventure game
The word “Shivah” means “mourning” in yiddish. And in this adventure game the mourning is pretty a central theme, indeed.
The game is a curious and very bizzarre mix of noir, yiddish humor,
witty conversations, drama and comedy. The game puts the player in the
role of Rabbi Stone, a rabbi in the middle of a financial and vocational
crisis. One day, after a deserted oration, Stone receives the visit of a
policeman, who is asking him about a man who has been murdered. The man
belonged to the Stone’s congregation eight years ago and it was kicked
out from it by Stone himself. Without a reason he left a lot of money to
Stone. Stone decides to investigate and solve the riddle of his strange
postmortem benefactor. And so it begins.
The game is a whirlwind, a kaleidoscope of situations and emotions:
we go from the bluesy nitty-gritty noir atmosphere of the beginning of
the game, to more relaxed and woodyallen-esque witty comedic moments.
The dialogue system is pretty original, since it focuses more on the
psychological side of the conversation than the actual exact phrase: in
the majority of the conversations the player can select a tone like
“honest answer” “negational answer” “rabbinical answer” (this one often
offers moments of remarkable witty humor) instead of the actual exact
phrase to say.
This is a very nice idea, along with the clue tab: you can combine the
different clues in a tab next to the inventory one and progress in the
investigation.
The game also puts the player in the middle of ethical choices, which
can lead to different situations and endings. What is the right thing to
do? This is coherent with the plot of the game and it’s focus on the
personal crisis which Stone is facing.
The only strong downside that this game has is that it’s really too
short. I completed it without using a guide or other help in less than
TWO HOURS. It’s definitively too short, even if it’s really good. In a
very short game the author mixes coherently and wisely a lot of very
different themes and situations, without being banal or naive. This is a
remarkable clue of talent.
If you like old-school point and click adventure games, you should
definitevely give it a try, at least to encourage the author to produce
other (and hopefully longer) adventure games. It surely deserves it.