In Memoriam

In Memoriam (known 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.

The player is introduced to the antagonist as an initiate of sorts. The Phoenix dissembles about his plan and the fate of Jack and Karen while simultaneously bringing the player through "stages" of theological and philosophical thought, including many references to alchemy, numerology, demonology, cosmology, astrology, and other realms of esoteric thought. This is not entirely necessary, as the players objective when exposed to this material is to find the characteristic bit of information to complete the stage. The initial stage is more a familiarization with the game controls, whereupon the Phoenix the player worth of becoming a "disciple," then guides the player through four stages which are broken into the four alchemical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each stage has a varying number of puzzles which must all be completed before proceeding to the following stage.

The game centers around two main types of mini-games: information gathering and simple hand-eye coordination exercises.

After completing a particular puzzle, the player is usually shown a video clip, either one which had been made by Jack Lorski as a documentary of his and Karens search for the Phoenix, or, more rarely, one made by the Phoenix, usually shown stalking the main characters.

Sequel
An expansion, titled The 13th Victim, was produced and released in late 2005. A sequel, entitled In Memoriam 2: The Last Ritual was produced, and was released in France in September 2006. On July 14, 2006, The Adventure Company announced it was to bring the sequel to the US under the name Evidence: The Last Ritual. The game was released on October 17, 2006.