In Memoriam (video game)
| In Memoriam (UK) - Missing: Since January (US) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Lexis Numérique |
| Publisher(s) |
Ubisoft (UK/EU), The Adventure Company (US) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh |
| Release date(s) |
October 17, 2003 (UK, DE) June 29, 2004 (US) |
| Genre(s) | Adventure, Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single Player |
In Memoriam (released as Missing: Since January in the US) is an adventure video game for Windows and Macintosh. It uses alternate reality-style gameplay, in which the player receives e-mails from other in-game characters, including the game's main antagonist. The player needs to find information and clues to the games' puzzles on the Internet, both from real websites, and from specially-created websites that have been mixed in with other "real-world" domains.
Plot
The game centers around the disappearance of journalist Jack Lorski, and his young female companion, Karen Gijman, in Europe while investigating a series of bizarre murders. Some weeks later, the agency they work for receives a package containing a CD-ROM. On this CD-ROM is a mixture of disturbing footage and reports made by Jack, but also some other data including puzzles and messages, created by someone referring to themselves only as "The Phoenix."
The agency then decides to release the CD-ROM to the public in the hope of finding out what happened to Jack and Karen. This is where the player comes in.
In 1975, a beach goer accidentally witnesses the murder of Peter Volker, a German professor of epigraphy. Years later, Jack Lorski randomly purchases the video camera with the film still inside. He tracks down Karen, the daughter of the cameraman who went missing the same year, presumably in connection to the murder. The two decide to track down the killers. It turns out a group called Manus Domini, a solar cult, murdered Volker to prevent him from releasing the "cursed codex" of the Nag Hammadi. The Phoenix in turn, is murdering the members of Manus Domini, in order to fulfill the initiation ritual of Giordano Bruno, whom he claims to be the reincarnation of. After realizing he is being tracked by Karen and Jack, he kidnaps them both in order to bring attention to the murders, and reveal the existence of Manus Domini.
Upon completing the primary games, the player is given the opportunity to play a game with the Phoenix for Karen's and Jack's life. Regardless of the outcome, a member of SKL, the paper investigating Jack's disappearance, hacks the Phoenix's site and locate Jack and Karen, who are found and rescued.
Sequel
An expansion, titled The 13th Victim, was produced and released in late 2005. On July 14, 2006, The Adventure Company announced it was to bring the sequel, In Memoriam 2, to the US under the name Evidence: The Last Ritual, and it was released on October 17, 2006. In September 2006, the sequel was released in France under the title In Memoriam: Le Dernier Rituel.