Never mind that the ideal official Da Vinci Code game … would fall in the "alternate reality" genre, à la Perplex City or the A.I. promotional campaign: instead of tying the players to a console, it would have sent them looking for clues in real-world websites, phony classified ads, and dusty reference libraries, to convince them that the conspiracy is everywhere and only their decryption skills will reveal it. Instead, the Da Vinci empire settled for an action-adventure formula that tries to offer something for everyone—and only half of it works.
The dramatic cutscenes, crisp graphics, and satisfying, comics-page-style puzzles barely save the "action" side of the game, which is littered with trivial challenges: Do you dare open a window? Can you click a button fast enough to shove a bed two feet to the right? And the fight scenes employ a Byzantine control scheme so ugly that it almost ruins the game. You'll wind up avoiding every enemy you can, and wishing they'd leave you alone to work on your anagrams.