Memento Mori

Memento Mori is a point-and-click detective adventure in which you control art professor Max Durand and Russian police captain Lara Svetlova. They investigate paintings stolen from the Hermitage, following clues through several countries as the case draws Max toward strange deaths, secret signs and increasingly disturbing behaviour from his brother André.

The investigation

Colonel Ostankovich, commander of a special police department in St Petersburg, receives a report that the Hermitage’s alarm failed briefly. Having sworn that nothing would go missing under his command, he suspects a theft and fears for his reputation. Through Larisa Svetlova, he contacts Max, who is obliged to help because of his past.

Max and Lara investigate mostly on their own. They visit the Hermitage, an old library, Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, a residence in Scotland and other locations. You interrogate suspects, search for data, break codes and uncover forgeries. Their journeys eventually lead Max, accompanied by André, to a Finnish cloister. Strange deaths, secret signs and the increasingly strange behaviour of André and those around him push Max to the edge of sanity.

Max and Lara

Max is a young French professor who lectures on art history. To pay for his wife’s surgery, he began a criminal career, forging and selling several paintings by old masters. He is the main character and is controlled by the player.

Lara is the second controllable character and a supporting figure. A young Russian woman, she rose to the rank of captain in the Russian militia before transferring to Lyon, where she represents Russia at Interpol headquarters and promotes Russian interests in the department of art theft.

Gameplay and choices

The game uses a real-time 3D environment, with graphics-card effects used to create its atmosphere. You play as both Max and Lara, and decisions made throughout the story determine the ending.

The Steam version uses an enhanced version of the game engine and includes the original soundtrack.