Okay not really a phantom game. Today’s game review is for another XBOX Live Community Games trial called Mithra: Episode 1, Chapter 1 – by Afiction Games – Not sure why it’s only the first chapter of the first episode. I kind of got the impression that there were chapters in each episode, as this game is supposed to be spanning 5 total episodes.
It’s a 3d episodic adventure that is reminiscent of the old computer point’n’click games for the PC. Except it’s a gamepad and it’s for the XBOX 360. It’s actually been pretty adventurey which is good– and no adventurey is not a real word, I just made that up. Like just now. You play Tag, some alien guy who’s trying to find his way out of some prison cell somewhere. And then you come across another littler alien named Vee which helps you try to escape. Okay granted that’s not much of a description, but the story is supposed to unfold as game play progresses. 
The control configuration is a little odd, although it starts simple enough. Move with the left thumb stick, camera control with the right. Use the right trigger to jump. Click the left thumb stick to crouch, release to get up again. Left bumper accesses your inventory. You have a currently selected item in hand, and you can select the inventory item by going into your inventory and selecting something else. Apparently however you can only carry three items at a time. There’s a picture of what is presumably Tag’s girlfriend, and then there is Vee, which when you pick up another object in the game hops to your shoulder. However if you select him on the inventory screen, then he drops whatever he had in his hand. When you’re near an item you can interact with it, and usually it tells you what button to press which is good. You can also skip animations while they’re playing. 
The graphics are actually pretty top notch for an indie outing such as this, probably belongs on XBOX live arcade. The music has a floaty, again another made up word, by me, right now, quality which makes it a bit intangible, however it does have a professional air about it as well – Think cable TV mini-series pro. By the way floaty means that it’s abstract and makes you feel like you’re floating. It plagues a lot of made for TV movies, shows, and mini-series. The sound effects are fine, and the voice acting is not that bad. The animations are adequate although the transition from standing to walking is a little bit jarring but overall servicable. 
Now for the bad news. For all that it has going for it, it’s trial is very, very, very short. Extremely short in fact. Okay granted if you don’t know what you’re doing it could take you 5 minutes tops, but if you just do a few things (and you don’t even get to get out of the cell) then the trial is over. You don’t even get any story. Even the trial time period is 8 minutes. They should have at least gave you enough game play that if you played via a walkthrough you could have spent a full 8 minutes and then some before calling the trial quits. I can’t whole-heartedly recommend a game that you can’t at least get an idea of it. Sure I was able to get a feel for the controls with that trial, but since an adventure game is mostly about story, I would have thought they would have allowed you to get to a part where it could tell some of the story. Even if that story wasted 8 minutes of game playing time. That said people will probably buy it anyway, and it is probably a good game. The trial just doesn’t give you much to go on.
Name: Mithra, Episode 1
Developer: Afiction Games
Price: 400 MS Points / about $5.00
Final Analysis: Top notch production values, but not enough in the trial to go by.
Where you can get it: XBOX Live Community Games on the XBOX 360
Tags: Adventure, Afiction Games, game, games, independent, Indie, point'n'click, review, reviews, xbla, xblig, xbox, xbox live, xbox live community games