Violence in videogames has been blamed for a lot of pain and suffering in the world. Any time a young person commits a violent offence, all the 'experts' are out in force blaming the latest violent game. [The expression "an ex is a has-been and a spurt is a drip under pressure" comes to mind... Ed]. Personally I don't agree with it, as I've never been harmed by a violent game. I have however been badly hurt by one particular non-violent game: Safecracker. Specifically, my brain is in agony! It's only fair you're given this opportunity to escape now, while your mind is still unharmed - don't say I didn't warn you!

Safecracker is a puzzle-based game published by the aptly named The Adventure Company. The plot is simple; armed not with plasma bombs but only with your mind, you enter the mansion of the late Duncan W. Adams - oil baron, billionaire and eccentric safe aficionado. His family has hired you to search the house for his will, and from the very beginning you can tell that Mr. Adams was never going to make it easy for you. Almost forty fiendish safes spread throughout the mansion hide keys, secrets and ultimately the final wishes of of the deceased. Only you (yes you!) can solve the puzzles and crack the safes to uncover the destiny of the late oil baron's multi-billion dollar fortune.

It should be made very clear to you from the start that this is a puzzle game, from start to finish. There are no role-playing elements, no adventure elements, there's no action and no risk of death. There is however a significant risk of brain meltdown, as the puzzles range from moderately challenging to agonisingly gruelling. The very first safe encounter requires you to rotate coloured interlocking balls to form identical groups; if that sounds tricky, be warned that this is the first and easiest of the puzzles. From here it's all downhill, or uphill, depending on how you see it.

From a technical standpoint, Safecracker is fine. Don't expect any mind-blowing innovations in graphics or design, but everything plays its part by not getting in the way of the central focus, which is of course on the puzzles. The graphics are attractive enough and easy on the eye, which is important as it stops the player from being distracted by visual junk. Unlike most adventure games, there is no pixel hunting required here; anything you have to click on is usually quite noticeable, standing out from all the regular clutter in the mansion. Likewise, the music sits comfortably in the background without being annoying, providing a nice backdrop to enhance the experience of the game itself.

The controls are very simple too; as you move the mouse, the cursor stays in the centre of the screen while your view scans around the room. The cursor changes contextually, clearly indicating when you can interact with an object. When the cursor turns into a straight arrow, this is an indication that you can click to move forward. It's all nice and simple, allowing your to focus on the important stuff - cracking those safes!

The safes themselves unlock only once their respective puzzles are solved - there are almost forty of them, and almost as many different types of puzzles. Some involve path finding, others are sliding puzzles, or mathematical logic… each puzzle is unique and presents a different brain-bending challenge. Many of the puzzles are incredibly difficult, and with this in mind I can only recommend this game to hardcore puzzle fans. Prepare to spend hours, if not days, trying to solve a single puzzle. If you have patience and enjoy a hefty mental workout then this game is definitely for you.

Unfortunately, being primarily puzzle-based, once you've solved the puzzles and reached the end, you can't really go back and do it again and expect the same challenge; there are no difficulty levels and the puzzles are always the same. Unless you have the ability to instantly forget everything you just did over the past few days [You could play whilst really drunk... Ed.], this game is a bit of a one-hit wonder. The sheer length of the game, drawn out as it is by the difficulty of the puzzles, will keep even the most dedicated of puzzlers busy for a long time though.

The difficulty of the puzzles aside, there can be frustrating moments that even puzzle geniuses will encounter. For example, many times you'll be confronted by a puzzle you can't solve, without knowing whether you're missing a vital part or clue, or you're just too dumb. I spent hours on some puzzles before reading a hint guide to discover it's all quite easy if you just picked up a piece of paper from downstairs. Since the safes aren't in any particular order and you have relatively free roam of the house, this creates a significant problem. Do you need to solve safe X to get a clue or part before you can open safe Y, or is it the other way around? When you have safes A through Z of course, it just becomes mind numbing. The hints given by your avatar rarely help either, usually being limited to brilliant remarks such as "this is very tricky, perhaps I should try again". Gee whiz, thanks.

Before playing Safecracker, you should realise that just because it has intellectual puzzles doesn't mean that it has an intellectual plot. There appears to be a very bare attempt at a plot, something involving different family members who want the late Mr. Adams' money, as a number of diaries and letters strewn throughout the house attest to. It doesn't work however, and merely acts as a distraction to the puzzles themselves - was Duncan's diary entry mentioning how his cousin dropped a bottle of 1953 wine a clever hint for a safe, or just a sorry attempt to humanise the absent characters and provide you more impetus to recover the will quickly? Here's my hint - it's never the former.

Qualms about plots and frustrating moments aside however, Safecracker has undoubtedly achieved what it set out to do. For people who either don't like or can't play fast action games, Safecracker offers a challenge that will tax the brains of even the most dedicated puzzlers. If you enjoy puzzles and have a keen mind and plenty of patience, this is one game I can thoroughly recommend you crack open.

Reviewed by Steve Rosenthal for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).