Murder in the Abbey

Regular readers and folks who know me know that I love all things medieval. I dabble in medieval cooking, think siege engines are cool, watch documentaries on the times, and take the odd medieval history course at the UW. Plus I recently finished reading A Book of Medieval Seasons.

And so I was quite pleased to see the release last month of a new videogame called Murder in the Abbey which leans heavily on one of my favorite books and films, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. In the game, one plays this guy, Brother Leonardo of Toledo.



The game begins with Brother Leonardo bringing his acolyte, Bruno, to the Nuestra Senora de la Natividad Abbey where he is to take up his studies. Upon arrival, Leonardo finds that one of the monks there has died under mysterious circumstances. And so the player is left to wander the abbey to interview his fellow monks, gather clues, and admire all the nice tonsures.



The Disneyesque cartoon style here seems at odds with a murder mystery but, heck, it may just work. It offers a soundtrack in Dolby Surround and an orchestral score by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra which will play as you wander around 20 locations in what is billed as "a complete reproduction of a medieval abbey". (I wonder if you get to hear the monks singing at compline.) To top things off, it looks like they've included the Venerable Jorge!

Laughter is a devilish wind which deforms, uh, the lineaments of the face and makes men look like monkeys!




I think Brother Leonardo is going to find his way into the Library here.

Murder in the Abbey looks to be fun. From the reviews I have read, it's not a groundbreaking title by any means. Rather it's familiar adventure gameplay but that's OK by me. I've been playing Lego Star Wars a bit lately and it'll be nice to sit down with a game that doesn't have stuff blowing up and moves along at a more gentle pace.