The Da Vinci Code (video Game) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The game was generally received rather poorly, criticized for poor implementation and buggy gameplay, with BBC News referring to it as a "frustrating movie tie-in, with endless cut scenes and patchy gameplay. The vast majority of play involves aimlessly wandering around churches, art galleries and stately homes hoping to stumble across an object of interest." GameSpy called it a "bland and uninspiring attempt to cash in on a successful franchise", with poor presentation and a frustrating combat system, awarding it 3 out of 5. IGN gave the game 4.8 out of 10, concluding that "as a videogame, The Da Vinci Code captures a fraction of the intrigue from the best-selling novel. It weaves an interesting tale of conspiracy and corruption, but the gameplay simply doesn't back it up. It doesn't offer enough puzzle variety for serious adventure fans, and the combat will irritate or bore most action aficionados. Sure, a few of the puzzles work well, but in the end it just doesn't amount to much." GameSpot awarded the game 6.5 out of 10, arguing that "The biggest fault of The Da Vinci Code is the overall presentation. The voice actors sound completely flat and disinterested in the dialogue, the character animations are all jerky and unnatural looking, and there are even a few frustrating bugs that make the game feel unfinished." GameSpot was highly critical of the combat system. Game Revolution ranked the game with a D; "Except for a few clever puzzles, a strong story, and a handful of pretty pictures, this licensed mess is mostly a failure."

However, some critics did commend the game's intuitive puzzles and strong storyline. The game's music was also praised by several reviewers. For example, Jeff Hall of the music review site ScreenSounds called it a "a fine piece of contemporary action scoring", while Jonathan Fildes of BBC News wrote, "The accompanying music lends a suitably ethereal atmosphere to proceedings." Juan Castro of IGN described the music as "moody, atmospheric and decidedly creepy. It's the right kind of music for slow-paced puzzle solving."