Murder In The Abbey (released in some countries as The Abbey) is an adventure video game, developed by the Spanish studio Alcachofa Soft and released in 2008.[1][2] The game is inspired by the 1987 title La Abadía del Crimen.
The majority of the gameplay involves interrogating monks using the standard gameplay of a detective-themed adventure game. In addition, players collect an inventory of useful items, and have to complete logic puzzles.[3] The game has a 3D-character-in-2D-backdrop art environment.[4]
The game is set in the Middle Ages, and its storyline is inspired by the historical 1980 murder mystery novel The Name of the Rose. When a monk named Leonardo of Toledo is ordered to deliver the young Bruno to the Nuestra Señora de la Natividad Abbey for study with the local monks, a "dark, dastardly murder interferes with this kiddie drop-off".[3]
Games4women observed that the "credits were heavily populated by German and Spanish names which most likely accounted for the authentic feel of the game".[5] GameWatcher noted: "As a game set in a Christian monastery it deals with Christian themes of morality and right and wrong".[6]
Around 70 minutes of music was written for the game, composed and directed by chief developer Emilio de Paz himself, and recorded by the Prague Symphony Orchestra.[7]
Adventure Classic Gaming gave the game a glowing review, writing it had "an exceptional production of an outstanding story, accompanied by fun, intuitive puzzles that seldom bog down the plot's progression".[8] Similarly, Tap Repeatedly said the game had "a delightful, pleasantly surprising medieval mystery featuring colorful graphics, stiring music and excellent voice acting".[9] Multiplayer.it likened the game's art style to that of Disney.[10]
GameSpot said "Murder in the Abbey may not be entirely original, but it's an adventure with a lot of personality".[3] IGN concluded: "Between the could've-been-awesome art, the never-could've-been-awesome-in-a-million-years voice acting, and the fact that monastery intrigue is a very niche proposition to begin with...Murder in the Abbey utterly fails to be something I can recommend to anyone".[4] The Adrenaline Vault acknowledges the game is "populated by a cast of quirky characters".[11] The Escapist reasoned that "we barely ever get to feel like we're participating in the investigation, just witnessing it. That's a big failing".[12] DieHardGameFan deemed the title a "poorly done video game rip off" of The Name of the Rose.[13] LeftStickRight noted the game has "relatively dark material...while the art style is a little cartoony", resulting in something that is "as disturbing as Missing but not as absurd and irreverent as The Curse of Monkey Island".[14] Gamewatcher concluded that "fans of pure adventure games should really enjoy this title".[15]
