I'm just waiting for some theorist to read over my review here on AceGamez and discover The Dexter Code, which I have cleverly woven into every review I've ever written. What's my code? Well, that'd be telling - and I wouldn't want to spoil or unveil the code for that theorist that I know is just going to walk in here any second and maybe write a book about it, and that book will be spun off by other authors maybe, and then it could even be turned into a film, and then a game - Tom Hanks could even play a more toned, older version of me. And I could cop it off with a redheaded French tart. The Dexter Code, coming soon!

But before that, let me tell you about the game spun from the film spun from the book, all with same title - The Da Vinci Code. While the book has received copious amounts of hype and the film has been engulfed in good press, the game doesn't seem to have quite received as much hype or good press as any of us puzzle lovers would have hoped for. This is a game that very few of us can fully appreciate, but for those who can appreciate what's on offer, and there's quite a lot on offer in the way of mind twistingly hard puzzles, The Da Vinci Code is a godsend.

It's rare thing when a game can captivate you with puzzles alone. Resident Evil has some great puzzles, but would it be the same without the zombie combat? I don't think it would be. Although Da Vinci Code has some form of combat, and you will be fighting a fair few things, the combat system isn't all that great, but we'll cover this later - its main focus, and that's clear from the start, are the problems you'll encounter on a minute to minute basis. I think that the secret behind the Code is that the puzzles in this game are supported by some degree of history. I'm not a history freak, but it's nice to go through a game based on alleged fact, learning of these facts along your puzzle-solving route.

Some people might be put off by the high difficulty of some of the puzzles on offer; I've heard various people tell me that this game is too hard, especially if you haven't read the book. To some degree, they're right - some puzzles might require you to know your religious history already, but none of the puzzles are impossible, not if you look for clues and talk to people. My only complaint where difficulty is concerned is that the puzzles seem to be either too easy, or really hard, a happy medium rarely making an appearance. One of the easy puzzles, which should have been a hard puzzle, is the clock puzzle for example, one where you have to change the time. You can easily just turn the hands around the clock until you trigger a cut scene - and the same goes for many of these selection based puzzles; there should be a better system in place to prevent this. Fortunately, however, there aren't many of these moments where I think, "Wow, that was a breeze."

When you get to a great puzzle, it can take you ages to solve it. Some problems might span the entire level, requiring you to go back with newly acquired pieces, fitting them in slots and solving mini problems to contribute to the one that runs through the entire level. One puzzle that I solved on the first level was some kind of code; English letters were masked by symbols and I basically had to guess which symbol represented each letter in this coded sentence. There were a lot of one symbol, that must be an 'E' - then there was a symbol that appeared at the beginning and the end of this four letter word, and as I doubt Da Vinci swore, the word must be 'THAT' - and before you know it, those educated guesses form a sentence, or a clue, which leads you on.

The puzzles are complimented by two things. The first is a cracking storyline, with what sounds like Tom Hanks voicing the main character. The story, which follows the film carefully, is all animated, and very well done in cut scenes. The animation looks really good in the cut scenes; I'm glad the developer didn't use film scenes, as that would have spoilt it for me. As it is, it feels like you're playing a standalone game and not some poor film conversion. The other thing is the combat system. The combat is really simple. If you're unseen by the enemy then you can crouch and sneak up on your foe, then perform a sneak attack by rapidly tapping a button on the controller. If you are seen, then you go into a combat sequence. If your enemy gets the jump on you then you have to dodge (or take) his attacks like a man. Dodging his attacks is easy enough; just quickly tap the random buttons that appear on screen. Successfully dodging his attacks gives you the upper hand now, so if you choose to attack him as opposed to throwing him, you're presented with a string of buttons to press. Getting the buttons right gives your enemy more pain and less chance of him being able to retaliate.

While the combat system does what it does well, it doesn't really seem to fit in with the nature of the game. I don't really want to have a big battle using this method, with three monks. If I have to have a battle, can't I have a gun? But better still Mr. Monk and friends, can we not have this battle at all? The combat does add something else to the game, but when I'm deep in thought, running to the next destination, trying to find a vital clue, and then I have to fight, well, it's a little irritating. Still, if these monks will stop at nothing to protect their secret, then I suppose we can't criticise the developers too much for implementing an important aspect of the story.

The Da Vinci Code does well with its graphics. The cut scenes look great, even in the game; the camera seems to stay close to your character - and you'll be playing different characters along your journey too, so you can see the realistic shapes and expressions on your character's body and face. The characters don't quite look spitting image of the ones on the big screen, instead they seem to be a little toned down; however, I thinkthis is intentional and the more animated style works really well. The environments, courtyards, churches, houses and gardens, all look great- quite gothic and scary, even though you know there are no zombies lurking around the corner. The shadows that your character casts is about the only graphical glitch I have come across - the shadow sometimes spins around your character for no reason - but apart from this, the graphics in this game are really great.

The sound department gets my thumbs up purely for having Tom Hanks' voice in the videogame. He talks to you about loads of history and speaks out loud about puzzles and hints that might help you on your way. The other voice talents are good too, French men and women seem to be the main focus here, and it all sounds, well, French, and authentically so, rather than those caricature accents you so often get in games [Midtown Madness 3 is a prime offender on that front!! Ed]. Gothic music loops around and around in certain rooms, and if you spend a lot of time in a specific place then you'll hear the same loop over and over, and you'll become tired of the same old ambience too. The music does change from place to place; sometimes silence falls, which canbe a good thing and a nice break from the repetition. Loops aside though, the sound in this game is pretty heavenly.

I had a chat to God tonight. He and I both agree that The Da Vinci Code game is more polished than the Holy Grail, more miraculous than Moses, more fun than riding shotgun with Noah and holier than a lump of mouse-nibbled stilton cheese. Fans of the film and the book should definitely play The Da Vinci Code, but, on this rare occasion, I will say that it can be enjoyed immensely by anybody who hasn't read the book, or seen the film. It's either a good compliment to a good read or a good watch, or a great standalone adventure game with puzzles and history galore. It could have been a bit longer, maybe lasting more than fourteen days to represent The Fourteen Stations of the Cross, and the combat system could have been better, like the outstanding fight between Jesus and temptation for forty days and forty nights in the desert - but this game could be the closest thing to witnessing the turning a good film into a good game miracle, much like Jesus turned water into wine. Maybe a new commandment, the eleventh, is in order then - Thou shalt play this game!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).