The Black Mirror



Black Mirror is a point-and-click horror adventure game developed in 2003 by Future Games. The name refers to the ancestral manor of the Gordon family located in England.

After the mysterious death of his grandfather, Samuel Gordon is forced to return to his home Black Mirror Castle after twelve years. Everyone believes his grandfather committed suicide, but Samuel isn't so sure about that and wants to find out what really happened. It doesn't help that Samuel suddenly gets a lot of vivid nightmares and excruciating headaches. Soon, strange and unexpected deaths occur in the nearby village Willow Creek and Samuel gets closer and closer to a dark secret.

Some years after the original, Black Mirror 2 and Black Mirror 3 were developed by Cranberry Production. They take place in the 1990s, twelve years after the first game. The college student Darren Michaels is working at the local photo shop in Biddeford, a small town in New England. One afternoon, he meets the beautiful Angelina who promptly gets accused of murdering Darren's boss Fuller. While trying to help her, he realizes things aren't what they seem to be: a mysterious stranger is following Angelina around and Darren himself gets involved in a series of strange events that eventually lead him to the small English village of Willow Creek. He learns about the Gordon family and a century-old curse that is connected with them.

The original is loved by fans for its dense, eerie atmosphere and story, the sequels have more humour, better graphics, and not quite the same depth, but all in all most fans agree they are in the spirit of the original.

This game series provides examples of:

 * Aborted Arc: In Black Mirror II, there is talk early in the game of a woman name Kerry who committed suicide in the small Maine town. You never hear of her again once you leave the town.
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer
 * American Accent: Darren has a pretty thick Boston accent.
 * And Now for Someone Completely Different:
 * Arbitrary Skepticism: Darren believes absolutely everything he is told about the Gordon family but he won't believe a Fortune Teller even when there's proof that she can predict the future.
 * Ax Crazy: Mordred.
 * Big Bad:
 * Black Eyes of Evil:
 * By the Book Cop: Constable Zack
 * Cain and Abel: Marcus and Mordred, the founders of the castle
 * Consulting Mister Puppet: Poor Ralph and his "best friend" Mr Bubby.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Samuel
 * Deadpan Snarker: Darren
 * Dirty Old Man: Darren's boss Fuller
 * Domestic Abuse: Mr Biba beats his wife
 * The Dragon:
 * :  and  in the third, he almost succeeds.
 * Dying Town: Willow Creek
 * Evil Me Scares Me:
 * Evil Twin
 * Grand Theft Me:
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Hipster: Darren is of the 1993, grunge variety.
 * I Can't Use These Things Together
 * Infallible Babble: In the second game there's the drunk who approaches Darren and in the third there's Madame Fortuna
 * Infant Immortality:
 * In the Blood
 * Jerkass: Fuller, Murray, Tom, Phil.. Also Darren to an extent in the beginning.
 * Kill It With Fire:
 * Locking MacGyver in The Store Cupboard: At one point Darren is locked in a cell, how does he escape?
 * Love At First Sight: Darren for Angelina
 * Orphans Ordeal:
 * Playing Drunk: Darren was pretending to be drinking along with Tom to get information from him.
 * Police Are Useless
 * Shoot Out the Lock: Required by Samuel at one point while trapped in an abandoned mine.
 * Smug Snake: Murray, the owner of the Willow Creek hotel.
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge:
 * The Shrink: Dr Winterbottom in the third game. Definetely well-meaning, but to call her awesome would be too much.
 * Police Are Useless
 * Shoot Out the Lock: Required by Samuel at one point while trapped in an abandoned mine.
 * Smug Snake: Murray, the owner of the Willow Creek hotel.
 * Stuffed Into the Fridge:
 * The Shrink: Dr Winterbottom in the third game. Definetely well-meaning, but to call her awesome would be too much.