80
The beautifully detailed graphics make exploration a sheer pleasure and the music and ambient sounds combine well to heighten the sense of something evil waiting, patiently, watching your every move.
46
Frustrating array of random pointing and clicking.
55
It's true that the game has some real strengths, too, but the lousy voice-overs, clumsy writing, and glacial pace make it too hard to appreciate them most of the time.
7
An above average mysterious adventure game with a very intriguing story that falls somewhat flat in the end. The puzzles are mostly logical, but marred by incessant pixel-hunting, items/places in plain sight becoming usable only after enough story development and some annoying things like slow movement of the main character, slow animations overall, no sense of guidance and the possibility of the main character dying. As the game nears the end, these things worsen and become a real nuisance. The last few puzzles were just annoing and more of a trial-and-error kind of type. Although the graphics have aged poorly, the game still has a dark charm and the voiceover is mostly great.
5
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
10
The best game of this genre, even after many years, even though I know the story, at times I had chills all over my body. Fantastic story, great locations and the voice of the main character.
The Black Mirror
Released On:
Oct 20, 2003
Metascore
Mixed or Average
58
User score
Generally Favorable
8.4
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
19% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
57% Mixed
12 Reviews
12 Reviews
24% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
80
The beautifully detailed graphics make exploration a sheer pleasure and the music and ambient sounds combine well to heighten the sense of something evil waiting, patiently, watching your every move.
75
Did you enjoy “Sanitarium” and Agatha Christie's first mystery? If you can answer "yes" to these questions, then I highly recommend The Black Mirror as a "journey into darkness" well worth your time and effort.
User score
Generally Favorable
77% Positive
88 Ratings
88 Ratings
17% Mixed
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
6% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Oct 11, 2024
10
The best game of this genre, even after many years, even though I know the story, at times I had chills all over my body. Fantastic story, great locations and the voice of the main character.
Feb 11, 2021
10
The best adventure I've ever played. The brilliant story, great acting, voice over in Czech language is just awesome.
72
It offers roughly 20 hours of compelling play, with a mystery that's genuinely worth solving. [Feb 2004, p.81]
60
This game is terribly flawed, but it has really pretty graphics, excellent voice acting, and great sound. I tried to like this game. I really did. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. I suffered through the cliched puzzles, game-killing bugs, and constant crashing, because the story is actually fairly interesting.
52
The heart of a point and click adventure is its puzzles and Black Mirror does this badly forcing players to go backwards and forwards in seemingly pointless treks and it all adds up to a feeling that you are simply playing a role in a very boring movie, you don’t control your character, just guide him through the motions.
45
Even the most patient gamers will be bored to tears for the first few hours of this adventure. [Jan 2004, p.157]
30
One long exercise in frustration.
Dec 12, 2017
10
Firstly everyone complains about voice acting. I played Posel Smrti as a Czech version and the voice acting was top notch. The 2nd and 3rd game in the series are flawed but this 1st is a masterpiece.
Mar 2, 2026
7
An above average mysterious adventure game with a very intriguing story that falls somewhat flat in the end. The puzzles are mostly logical, but marred by incessant pixel-hunting, items/places in plain sight becoming usable only after enough story development and some annoying things like slow movement of the main character, slow animations overall, no sense of guidance and the possibility of the main character dying. As the game nears the end, these things worsen and become a real nuisance. The last few puzzles were just annoing and more of a trial-and-error kind of type. Although the graphics have aged poorly, the game still has a dark charm and the voiceover is mostly great.
Jul 20, 2013
7
The Black Mirror is a decent horror point and click adventure game and is the first game in a series of three. This game nails horror, and by horror I don't mean jump scares. I mean creepy and unsettling environments and events that are occurring throughout this game. This game is my favorite in the series despite its few glaringly obvious flaws. There are some big plot holes in this game and while I still enjoyed it despite of its plot holes, they really stood out as problems. Also there are 2-3 points in the game where you simply have to wait a given amount of time (20 minutes 1 hour) until certain items or events are ready for your character. In my opinion this is some pretty needless game padding simply used to extend the game. In the sequels they slightly address or hint at some of the problems with the plot holes of the first game and completely do away with these 'waiting segments'. This is a great game, I recommend this to anyone who loves horror. Make sure to play this game first and continue the series following with The Black Mirror 2 and 3.
Dec 13, 2017
3
Everyone around is talking about this abhorrent game as a "point & click" adventure, but, alas, it is not! This IS NOT a point & click adventure, this is an adventure game plagued by a terrible navigation, tons of glitches and infinite loading times whenever you open a door.
SummaryBritish nobleman, Samuel Gordon, has just returned to his homeland after a self-imposed twelve year absence. Reluctantly returning to his magnificent home, Black Mirror Manor, he is desperate to prove that the untimely death of his ancestor, William Gordon, was not just an ?unfortunate incident.? Samuel reads William?s private diary and ... Read More
Rated Mfor Mature
