Regardless of whether you think God or an afterlife exists, there is no denying that religion will continue forever. The reason that religion can and will last so long is the undying belief that people have in the truth it holds. However, what if this truth is twisted and not based on truth at all, but a lie? This is definitely a question that Artematica Entertainment has considered, because in their new game, Belief & Betrayal, religion is hiding a dark secret that could destroy humanity if unveiled.

The most promising element of the game, and the one that could fool you into believing that it's worthy of praise, is the memorable story. The story begins in 2006 at journalist Jonathan Danter's New York apartment. He's sent to Miami by his editor (why can't my editor ever send me to Miami?!), but he never gets there, because before he leaves a policeman informs him that his uncle is dead. Working to discover the reason behind someone's death might seem as unoriginal as you can get for a point and click adventure, but when you learn that Jonathan's uncle was supposed to have died ten years ago, the mystery deepens. Did his uncle fake his death to live in solitude for the rest of his life or have the police made a mistake? Playing the role of Jonathan, you soon find yourself embroiled in a huge plot that involves the police, the Vatican and the church. All this mystery surrounding the history of religion is very much like the The Da Vinci Code - not a bad thing, considering its popularity.

In the same way that The Da Vinci Code had multiple main protagonists, so too does Belief & Betrayal. These extra characters are all playable when you encounter them and you can switch between them at any point by clicking on their portrait in the top-right corner of the screen. Switching between characters usually gives you a new area to explore, as each character has their own mission or task to accomplish, such as finding a means of escape or recovering a digital camera. Completing this mission transfers you to another character and the portrait of the previous character is greyed out so you can't select them any more - a useful feature so you don't spend hours wandering around with a character who has already achieved all that he or she can for the time being. When all the characters have completed their individual missions, the current chapter (level) ends and the next one commences.

Playing as multiple characters who each have tasks to complete is a welcome addition to the genre but I would have liked to see more use of the concept. The problem is, the system is very linear; one character has one task and another character has another task, making the characters feel very disjointed and not really part of a group. It's not a case of characters helping each other out or co-operating to achieve a singular goal - for example, one character squeezing through a gap and unlocking a door from the other side, allowing the second character to progress. Something along these lines would have breathed much more life into the mechanic.

Moving around each location is achieved with the standard point and click method, but there are two handy additions to the movement; you can double click to run and right clicking on an exit from the current area, like an unlocked door or a flight of stairs, instantly takes you to the next area, which is handy if you're the impatient sort and don't like watching your character plod all the way through each current location. There are also plenty of puzzles to solve on your travels, and thankfully they're not mind-bogglingly impossible or too obscure; most can actually be solved relatively easily once a particular item is found. Items can be found in the usual way; click on an object such as a bookcase and if there is anything of interest then your character automatically finds it or you are shown a close-up of the bookcase where you can move the mouse over any items of interest to examine them. Once you have picked up several items you can combine them via an inventory or move them into the game world to see if they have any effect. If items don't work then puzzles sometimes require talking to people to gain clues - and you sure to meet an elaborate cast in Belief & Betrayal, ranging from well-dressed British police officers to dishevelled, drunken tramps.

Everything about the puzzles and items works well enough, but my major criticism about this section is that you are rarely told what to do; you rarely have a specific goal. A good example of this is right at the beginning of the game, just after the introductory cut scene where a phone conversation with Jonathon's bossy editor (the joys of journalism) simply ends without offering any clues as to what to do next, leaving you to aimlessly wander around your apartment clicking on things until you find something that gives you some direction. With no knowledge of how to progress you would surely get bored and quit playing but, helpfully, a walkthrough of this opening level is provided in the manual. Although necessary, this walkthrough shouldn't be needed at all - I wanted to play a game, not be lead through the opening section!

Before I get too involved with the betrayal of what I believed could be a high quality game, the excellent sound and music does deserve a mention. The sound effects are largely heard during the cut scenes and when you talk to another character, but there are other creditable and slightly eerie effects too, like a hacker typing away on a keyboard or a train screeching past. These ambient background sounds aren't used too frequently either, so you'll never become annoyed by the same continuously looping effect. The music does loop over and over within a chapter, but every chapter has its own music, and each piece is of the same high quality, making for a soundtrack that adds atmosphere to the proceedings.

The main problem with the presentation comes in the form of constant graphical glitches. Don't get me wrong, the static backgrounds are all highly detailed and polished, but the game really struggles with animated objects. You would not expect a game to struggle with anything on a machine that is well above the recommended system requirements, but it was plagued by graphical errors, such as stuttering animations and slightly grainy visuals, including one severe glitch where the playable character flickers and seems to "explode" only to be reformed later!

Having an above average system can't make this game last any longer though, because with only six chapters and puzzles that aren't too taxing, it's all over very quickly. Multiplayer or co-operative play with the multiple characters could have been added to increase its lifespan, but sadly it's single-player only. With no random elements, a fairly linear story and no multiplayer there is absolutely nothing to draw you back after the short adventure comes to an end - unless you enjoyed it enough to play through again, which I doubt!

Belief & Betrayal is a complex game to sum up; to damn it as a waste of space would be blasphemy against the Pixel Gods, but to praise it as a great game would be equally misleading. It could have been a fantastic adventure game with the intriguing idea of using multiple characters simultaneously and its engaging story. However, the many flaws, including its glitch-riddled graphics, short length, and lack of direction, keep it from the adventure gaming hall of fame. It's not one for newcomers, but if you're an ardent adventure fan then if you can make it past the dismal opening and forgive the graphical glitches, you'll find an above average tale to enjoy.

Reviewed by Tom Clark for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).