RAMA:

I said I would post small reviews of games as I finished them, but I 
almost wish I could skip this one.  I enjoyed the book, so I tried to 
like Rama, I really did, but it just didn't work for me.  So instead 
of a full review, I will try to nail down the reasons why I felt Rama 
was a failure.  I won't cover any of the story here, since there are 
lots of reviews that will do that for you.

Navigation was node-based, and well lit screens.  In spite of all 
that, I had a really hard time getting to where I wanted to go within 
the game, especially in some of the large plazas.  Either more nodes 
were needed, or they needed to be placed in more intuitive locations.

Screen graphics were OK, but they just had to have that big, clunky 
control panel take up about half of the screen.  Made me feel I was 
looking through a small window instead of immersing me in the game.

Puzzles were either banal, or amazingly hard.  The banal ones were 
all number based, and being a computer scientist, I found them less 
than inspiring.  Boring or frustrating, take your pick.

Inventory consisted of picking up all these plaques, most of which 
you never used anyway, and when you needed one you had to search 
through your inventory for the one you wanted.  To add insult to 
injury, the silly inventory screen was in black and white, and you 
had to find the correct coloured plaque.  Grrr...

Whenever I died (and sometimes it was intentional), I had to put up 
with Clarke popping up and going "tut tut".  Do you know how 
irritating that is?

A plot line that was too thin to be believed.  A team expedition to 
an alien artifact, and there is all this silly political/security 
bickering going on.  I would have been happier if they had just 
skipped the story entirely; the one they presented was just too much 
for me to stomach.

A team that never acted like one.  Interaction with other characters 
was minimal, and what little there was usually meant you were to be 
given another clue or direction.

What should have been a fun romp through an alien landscape, turned 
out to be nothing more than a boring walk through a silly plot line.  
In the end, my wife and I finished the game, but it turned out to be 
a waste of our time.

Conclusion:
I don't keep a "Worst 10" list, but if I did, this one would be a 
contender.  Definitely goes back to the used game store.