The Mystery of the Nautilus is a first person adventure game that I decided to pick up because I have this obsession with the book Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. I watched the Disney movie and thought that’s pretty good. I wonder if it’s like the book (not really but both are good in their own way). While watching the movie I looked up if there are any video games based on this and there aren’t many to my surprise. One stood out among the rest, a sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea in the style of a Myst-clone called The Mystery of the Nautilus (or Secrets of the Nautilus if you are outside the US.
The Mystery of the Nautilus was developed by Cryo Interactive in 2002. There isn’t that much out there about the game in fact if you wanna play it you’re gonna have to jump through some hoops. It’s currently on the GOG dream list so here’s hoping that by the time you are seeing this it’s easily accessible.
In the game you play as a marine archaeologist aboard the USS Shark, a military submarine doing some underwater research. The Shark encounters a large metallic object on the ocean floor. Your archaeologist decides to go AWOL and jump ship to check it out. Exploring the ship you find out that this is the long lost Nautilus but where is the crew? Where is Captain Nemo?
Throughout the game you will come across journal pages and holographic diary entries Nemo left that sorta explains what happened to everyone. As you explore the ship’s security system has decided that you are an intruder and tries to kill you at every slow point and click turn. You now must escape the ship but only after you find out what happened here because if you will get court martialed for going AWOL so the reason better be good.
The mouse alone is your control device and it can get a little nauseating at times trying to look around. You have a backpack to store all the objects you pick up but transition between parts of the ship will cause you to lose all your items. You won’t actually need items between transitions so you won’t have a single item in your bag the whole playthrough that makes you wonder what it’s for. In order to use an item you will have to equip it and to wear certain items you will have to place them on your character’s face in the upper corner of the screen. You also have a digital assistant that stores all the notes you pick up, all the nemo holograms, a map and a calculator that you will need for an overly complicated puzzle.
The sound effects, music and atmosphere are really spooky. When walking into a room there is a high chance you will get jump scared by Captain Nemo. When things seem all quiet and safe is when the security system decides to pitch in with threats. It seems like everybody suddenly just up and vanished on the ship, nothing was disturbed creating an eerie atmosphere. The mono-tone flat colors of the Nautilus not only give an unwelcoming vibe but also make finding objects in the room difficult. I’m not going to lie, I struggled with some of these puzzles.
Spoilers for the plot of the game, but most of the crew was killed off by the security system and a giant robot that Nemo made. It took control of the ship causing the remaining crew and Nemo to evacuate leaving the Nautilus to rot at the bottom of the sea. He tried to create basically a human-like AI to help around his ship, but realizing man is evil therefore the AI pretending to be man is bound to be evil too. He does not have the heart to destroy it so you must. And you do, I am impressed by this game’s cutscenes. I think they are very action-packed and well done (even though they are a little short).
You do get to fight the iconic squid and with Ned Lands harpoon no less, which Nemo kept in a glass case in his museum (cute). You also get a chance to pilot the Nautilus because remember that military ship you came on? They are shooting torpedoes at you. You also get to fight a giant murder robot. The robot puzzle and piloting the Nautilus were the puzzles I would say I had the most trouble with. I’m glad I could still find a single walkthrough online.
This was a fun little adventure game, I think if you are a big Jules Verne head or even just a fan of Myst you would probably enjoy it. I hope it becomes more easily obtainable in the future. It was the best game based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea that I have played. Which isn’t saying much because there are like two that I could find. If you know of any other Twenty Thousand League games I should check out please leave a comment below and I will try my darndest to check it out.
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