Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray

Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray (known as Crime Stories: From the Files of Martin Mystère in North America) is the only video game adaptation of the Italian sci-fi detective comic-book franchise called Martin Mystère, starring a detective and his assistant, Java. It is a point-and-click adventure game, published by Leader S.p.a. in Italy, The Adventure Company in North America, and GMX Media in Europe. A Macintosh version was planned, but was cancelled in the evaluation stage.^[2] Versions for PlayStation 2 and Xbox were also planned, but were also cancelled.^[3]

Martin Mystère: Operation Dorian Gray
Developer(s)	Artematica
Publisher(s)	ITA: Leader S.p.a. EU: GMX Media NA: The Adventure Company
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	ITA: December 2004 UK: June 24, 2005 FRA: August 26, 2005 NA: March 14, 2006[1]
Genre(s)	Adventure game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Plot

The player takes on the role of Martin Mystere, a young private eye who is looking into the brutal killing of Professor Eulemberg, a renowned scientist.

Gameplay

The gameplay is standard for graphic adventure games: search for items in order to solve logic puzzles.^[4]

Development

Development for the game began around 2002. Most of the time was invested on the storyboard, which was heavily based on the original comic strips of Martin Mystère.^[5] The models for the graphics started as layouts on paper. The models were output in Realtime 3D with octagonal views and pre-rendered backgrounds (similar to Druuna: Morbus Gravis and Syberia)^[3] and animated with 3DS Max.

Critical reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	45/100[6]

Review scores

Publication	Score
4Players	59%[7]
Adventure Gamers	[8][9]
Computer Games Magazine	[10]
GameSpot	4.1/10[11]
GameSpy	[12]
GameStar	51%[13]
GameZone	5.9/10[14]
IGN	5.2/10[15]
Jeuxvideo.com	11/20[16]
PC Gamer (US)	48%[17]
PC Games (DE)	66%[18]

The game received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[6]

Computer Games Magazine gave a scathing review describing the game as "tragic", adding that it was too over-enthusiastic.^[10] IGN deemed it "generic"^[15] and GameSpot called it "archaic".^[11] Game Chronicles thought the puzzles were illogical and the story didn't make sense.^[4]