The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle - PC announcement trailer TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle - PC announcement trailer <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_tqpwdfUIT0?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle - PC announcement trailer TRAILER

The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle - PC announcement trailer  TRAILER

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NERO announcement trailer TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> NERO announcement trailer <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OQiXZNsiQ2A?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

NERO announcement trailer TRAILER

NERO announcement trailer  TRAILER

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Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/POQQMO-bkJs?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness TRAILER

Nancy Drew: Sea of Darkness  TRAILER

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Shadowgate (2014) Halloween update TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Shadowgate (2014) Halloween update <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x3ti-jwNDNM?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

Shadowgate (2014) Halloween update TRAILER

Shadowgate (2014) Halloween update  TRAILER

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ASA: A Space Adventure - Remastered Edition TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> ASA: A Space Adventure - Remastered Edition <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JVj9O_Jr74o?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

ASA: A Space Adventure - Remastered Edition TRAILER

ASA: A Space Adventure - Remastered Edition  TRAILER

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Kholat - The Path trailer TRAILER

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Kholat - The Path trailer <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7HOBYIEoh5I?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

Kholat - The Path trailer TRAILER

Kholat - The Path trailer  TRAILER

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Steampunker - Indiegogo trailer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Steampunker - Indiegogo trailer <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/znwxmSFBJSc?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe></div>

Steampunker - Indiegogo trailer

Steampunker - Indiegogo trailer  TRAILER

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The Talos Principle - Public Test trailer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="page_title" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #394128; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> The Talos Principle - Public Test trailer <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">TRAILER</span></div> <br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="501" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5WvYcJo62gU?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" width="890"></iframe><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" /></div>

The Talos Principle - Public Test trailer

The Talos Principle - Public Test trailer  TRAILER

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Murdered: Soul Suspect

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/26706/mss-fp1__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Murdered: Soul Suspect <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> It can be fun playing as a ghost; town of Salem is dark, sinister, and echoes with past horrors; voice actors are marvelous; graphics are incredible.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> Brutal stealth-action sequences; story and characters are uninspired and clichéd; investigation puzzles don’t offer any challenge; brevity of main storyline allows little narrative or character development.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /> <a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_2_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /> <h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <i>Murdered: Soul Suspect</i> is the newest addition to the small field of triple AAA adventure titles and offers some pleasant new surprises but an uneven storyline, poorly developed characters and unfocused gameplay keeps this game from rising above mediocrity.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/4587" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scott Bruner</a> — July 2, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>Murdered: Soul Suspect</i> is a game with an identity crisis. Throughout its 6-8 hour experience, the game is never entirely sure what it wants to be. It’s the story of a ghost detective who must solve his own murder, and the journey through a fog-shrouded town with horrors in the shadows often reminded me of the <i>Silent Hill series</i>, while at other times the quest to uncover the modern day mystery of a serial killer was heavily reminiscent of <i>Heavy Rain</i>. Investigating clues at a crime scene to piece together conclusions felt eerily derivative of <i>LA Noire</i>, though the main character’s hardcore edge, ex-con past, and devil-may-care attitude was evocative of characters from the <i>Grand Theft Auto</i>s.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The problem, of course, is that while juggling these disparate game styles,<i>Murdered</i> never really succeeds at any of them. The game does introduce a number of intriguing ideas, but they are never fully realized, and while it certainly does a have its moments – especially in building a tense, dark, and foreboding game world – in the end this supernatural thriller is mostly just a hot mess.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> To be perfectly honest, I did enjoy playing through the game. For one thing, it was the first game I’ve played on my new PS4, and despite not being at the cutting edge of next-gen graphic capability, it looks terrific. PC mileage may vary based on your set-up, but it looks equally impressive on decent systems. Second, the game does have a certain narrative charm, mostly because of its unique premise, but don’t get me wrong – just like the gameplay, the story is unfocused and rambling.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The game begins with the death of the character whose spectral shoes you’re about to jump into. You play as Ronan O’Connor, an Irish police detective in Salem, Massachusetts, who has just moments before been pushed out of a third story window and then pumped full of lead. Shortly after the opening cinematic, his ghostly form rises from his still body, and the hunt to find out the identify of his shadowy, hooded killer (known cryptically as The Bell Killer) begins, a resolution necessary for Ronan to move on to the next world.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Ronan comes off a bit comical – despite being a policeman, he’s covered in tattoos, wears a chain hanging from his jeans, and chain smokes cigarettes throughout the entire game. In many ways, he’s the anti-Cole Phelps, a non-conformist cop who isn’t a fan of playing things by the book (although, like <i>LA Noire</i>’s Cole, he’s trying to move on from a past he doesn’t necessarily want to think too much about).</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> As a ghost, Ronan finds he has a number of new abilities to help him on his way. He’s invisible to (most of) the living, of course, but he now has the ability to possess and influence people as well as being able to access powerful moments in time, either as memories or as spectral shadows. He also gains a few additional talents throughout the game, including the ability to teleport short distances and to disrupt electrical devices as a poltergeist.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> As exciting as the proposition of poking around in other people’s heads is, the execution is terribly underwhelming. Nearly every person only has two trivial short lines of dialogue, which at best provide a little color into Ronan’s world, but usually just disappoint. In addition, Ronan’s ability to influence people while possessing them is inexplicably limited to a few people, and even then, the most Ronan can do is get them to move a piece of paper or open a computer file. In addition, although he can’t enter buildings without someone opening a door, Ronan can move through many walls at will, which can be somewhat disconcerting without traditional boundaries to follow. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy being incorporeal, but it ended up being a novelty that wore off faster than I would have expected.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The gameplay in <i>Murdered</i> takes a very uneven approach to utilizing Ronan’s phantom traits. You control him in the third-person, guiding him either with the keyboard/mouse or analog stick, and the challenges come in three flavors: investigation and environment navigation puzzles, which aren’t uncommon to the adventure genre, and stealth sequences, which are not. You don’t have an inventory (you’re a ghost) and generally won’t need to manipulate any items (ghost again).</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The investigation puzzles are extremely easy, and their only challenge is locating the proper clues to discover the solution. Just like in <i>LA Noire</i>, you have to bumble around until you find the correct hotspot to examine a new clue – basically a new kind of pixel-hunting which I found as welcome as the old kind. Such puzzles can include piecing together the Bell Killer’s trail, or discovering what items in a room could be helpful when possessing and influencing a character.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Once you’ve uncovered all the necessary clues, you’ll need to select the ones most relevant to the current quandary. These can be completed through trial and error – which I did too many times to count, because many of the clues are rather obtuse – but you’ll be docked points. In <i>Murdered</i>, each challenge offers a top score of three badges, and each incorrect guess loses you a badge. However, there’s no permanent penalty for guessing incorrectly (the game will advance when you finally get it) except perhaps losing trophies or achievements for a perfect score.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>Murdered</i> definitely seems to be designed with the completionist in mind. Another notable gameplay element in <i>Murdered</i> is locating random items along the way. Hidden throughout the world are a number of collectable items. Some are historical notes that provide information on Salem, others provide exposition into Ronan’s troubled past or news items about the killer, and a third type – if you collect the complete set (they might be ghostly rifles or cans of gasoline) – results in a narrated ghost story.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> At any point, you can pause the game to take a look at your collection. As a gamer who is much more interested in developing narrative, I never really bothered. I did collect the first series of ghost items about the discovery of corpses in an apartment building, but the payoff wasn’t compelling enough to make me search the nooks and crannies of each location to discover the remaining seven. The other collectibles that offer clues about Ronan’s journey from a criminal past to meeting his wife provide intriguing color, but aren’t essential to the story or solving any challenge.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Ronan has a few opportunities to help other ghosts with their own particular difficulties in reaching the glowing white warmth of the afterlife. This usually involves hunting down additional clues to uncover a side mystery. These side quests include assisting a suicidal ghost come to terms with her living ex-lover, and helping a young victim learn why she was killed. I only ran into three side quests; I’m sure there are more, but like collecting the myriad clues hidden around the world, I didn’t find the side quests nearly as compelling as the main story.</div> <div class="padding" style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> It can be fun playing as a ghost; town of Salem is dark, sinister, and echoes with past horrors; voice actors are marvelous; graphics are incredible.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> Brutal stealth-action sequences; story and characters are uninspired and clichéd; investigation puzzles don’t offer any challenge; brevity of main storyline allows little narrative or character development.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); line-height: 17px; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /> <a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_2_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /> <h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><br /> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <i>Murdered: Soul Suspect</i> is the newest addition to the small field of triple AAA adventure titles and offers some pleasant new surprises but an uneven storyline, poorly developed characters and unfocused gameplay keeps this game from rising above mediocrity.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by adventure gamers — July 2, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <br /> The other most common puzzle is figuring out how to reach inaccessible locations, and for the most part, these are intuitive and modestly enjoyable. Despite being able to move through walls and furniture, there are still some obstacles (including consecrated walls) which block Ronan’s way. There are also a number of sequences where he has to assist someone out of a building, or past armed police, and this provides an enjoyable, if not particularly taxing, challenge.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> While investigation and location puzzles are mostly child’s play, the other major gameplay element in <i>Murdered</i> is not. There are a number of demons – which incidentally look nearly identical to dementors in the <i>Harry Potter</i> movies – who wander the Earth, looking for ghosts such as Ronan to hungrily devour. They move much quicker than dementors, and once they’ve spotted Ronan, even if he finds a reasonable hiding location or creates a distraction, he doesn’t have much hope. There is an option to sneak up behind them and kill them by correctly following a brief button prompt, but it’s just as difficult as hiding.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Once you’re caught by a demon, you’re forced to re-load your game. This can happen over and over again in one location if the demons are clustered together. I got so sick of seeing that loading screen, I found myself debating quitting the game altogether. The inclusion of a challenge this difficult is hard to understand. I might be more forgiving if they were fun, but I kept dreading running into another one, and they kept interrupting the game’s interesting (if uneven) storyline. You don’t have the option to skip them either. Sadly, like many of the other gameplay elements, these stealth sequences felt like a tacked-on feature added simply to extend the game’s length. In that they succeeded, but to me they were a total waste of time.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> One thing that isn’t a waste of time is exploring the second most important character of <i>Murdered</i>: its location, Salem. While the game map is rather small for a AAA release, the use of the town’s infamous history plays major narrative, thematic, and aesthetic roles during the experience.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The Salem Witch Trials are a pivotal element of the story. The town itself reflects the darkness of its past – the game seems to only take place over the course of one very long evening, but storms come and go with lightning on the horizon, shadowed clouds roll over the breaking waters of the town’s harbor, and the sparse population of Salem plod through the concrete streets, having isolated, whispered conversations about mysterious killers in the dark.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> While the game is never entirely sure if it wants to commit itself as a “true” adventure game or a survival-stealth horror game, it does a good job of presenting a world whose past is troublingly encroaching on its present, and the lives of those living within it. The locations are somewhat clichéd for a title that wants to create such a creepy atmosphere – prepare yourself for a cemetery and (yet another) mental institution – but each is relatively compelling.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> While Ronan’s journey through Salem is mostly solo, he does team up with a young juvenile delinquent (with a piercing to balance Ronan’s ink) named Joy. Joy has the power so see and talk to the dead, and for a portion of the game she provides Ronan with an opportunity to interact with the living and even open a door or two. She’s a fun, if a bit stereotypical, teenager who provides additional emotional anchors as she searches for her missing mother – the next target of the Bell Killer.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> There’s also a pair of policemen from Ronan’s district who feature notably in<i>Murdered</i>, but like Joy, they aren’t really characters so much as caricatures, fulfilling their roles dutifully but without much imagination. Beyond that, Ronan’s story is mostly a solitary one, which serves to provide insight into his motivation to reunite with his dead wife in the great beyond.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> I was very impressed with the game’s visual style and technical graphic fidelity, which combine to create an environment that truly bleeds dread. The designers also provided a number of details that are welcome and creepy. In the distance, there are often apparitions of the distant past, which vanish as Ronan approaches. They don’t have any effect on the game, but for the player it reinforces the amount of “living” past in Salem, as well as a reminder of all the dark secrets that are buried there.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> However, despite the many hints of a darker underworld, the actual story is disappointing. The quest to discover The Bell Killer’s identity has none of the same nuance, tension, or real urgency as <i>Heavy Rain’s</i> search for The Origami Killer. The promise of discovering the murderer’s dark purpose, and the source of his power, is nicely integrated within Salem’s lore, but handled rather clumsily during a surprise twist which feels forced. In addition, player agency for identifying the actual killer is trivial – the final denouement goes by so fast, and ties up all the loose ends so quickly, that there’s barely any room for emotional resonance or opportunity for the player to feel invested. There are some moments of brilliance – meeting the ghost of a woman who was buried alive gave me shivers – but they’re so few and far between that they only augment the sense of what could have been for <i>Murdered</i>.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Adventure games have begun to push the boundaries of how to provide players with new ways to explore locations, solve riddles, and uncover fascinating, developing stories. These new canvasses for experimentation have yielded a number of inspiring successes, which is what makes <i>Murdered: Soul Suspect</i> such a disappointment. It feels like a Dr. Frankenstein’s monster of other games, pulling in gameplay or character elements from each, but completely neglecting to build its own soul that is so essential to making a game feel alive. From limited locations and lackluster narrative to an uninspired cast of characters and the frustrating, monotonous stealth sequences, this is a game that is much more interesting as an experiment than as an experience.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>Murdered: Soul  Suspect</i> isn’t entirely without charm – you may enjoy slowly revealing Salem’s dark secrets and getting to know Ronan and Joy, but be prepared for an experience that is never really sure exactly what it wants to be. It starts out full of vibrancy and life, but like Ronan himself, meets an untimely demise under the weight of its own ambitions.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered: Soul Suspect  REVIEW The Good: It can be fun playing as a ghost; town of Salem is dark, sinister, and echoes with past ho...

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Valiant Hearts: The Great War

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/26980/vh-fp6__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Valiant Hearts: The Great War <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Set in a rich historical period that’s rarely explored in games; varied gameplay relies on logic, pattern recognition, and stealth rather than reflexes; great co-op puzzles involving dog/person teamwork; touching story with a powerful, tearjerker ending.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Repeated deaths during car chases and battles can be frustrating; side-scrolling format and active gameplay may feel too platformy for some adventure game fans.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /><a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /><h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Although far from a traditional adventure,<i>Valiant Hearts</i> has a strong setting and story that exposes the worst aspects of war and the best of human relationships.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/37" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Emily Morganti</a> — August 22, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> One hundred years ago, a shot heard round the world kicked off the bloody conflict then known as the Great War—a war that would go on to involve more than thirty countries, kill 16 million soldiers and civilians, and wound 20 million while devastating much of Europe. These now-distant events are the focus of<i>Valiant Hearts: The Great War</i>, a game firmly entrenched in history but with universal themes and a message that, as violent conflicts rage in the Middle East and unrest simmers around the world, are still painfully relevant a century later.<br /><br />Not usually attracted to stories about war, I was drawn to <i>Valiant Hearts</i> for an admittedly superficial reason: it has a dog in it. Of five playable characters, one is a scruffy Red Cross dog named Walt. I have a weird affinity for games that make me cry, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVTmrymNeAM" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">as Ubisoft’s marketing suggested</a>, dog plus war would inevitably end in tears.<br /><br />Set during 1914-1917 in Western Europe, <i>Valiant Hearts</i> is a side-scrolling game that looks an awful lot like a puzzle-platformer, but has all the elements of a great adventure game once you dig in. Its playable characters represent different perspectives on the global conflict, with their intertwined stories informed by real letters sent to and from the fronts. It turns out Walt is not as central as I expected; this is a game about war and the people caught up in it, that happens to have a dog in a prominent supporting role. Even so, Walt’s presence—from the clever co-op puzzles he facilitates to his unfailing loyalty to the people he befriends—has a lot to do with what makes <i>Valiant Hearts</i> special.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> In a narrated opening sequence accompanied by stills and sparse animation,<i>Valiant Hearts</i> begins with the fateful assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand. As you may remember from history class, this assassination leads to unrest throughout Europe, including Germany declaring war on Russia. Because France is aligned with Russia, all Germans living in France are asked to leave. As a result, Karl, one of the game’s playable characters, is led away from his farm by soldiers, forced to leave his French wife Marie and baby Victor behind. Soon after, his father-in-law Emile meets a similar fate when he’s drafted into the French army. These two men—related by marriage, separated by nationality—will spend much of <i>Valiant Hearts</i> trying to find each other on the front and to make it home to their family in Saint Mihiel.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Meanwhile, Freddie, an African American, has voluntarily enlisted to fight for the French so he can seek revenge against a German commander who ruined his life (the United States didn’t get mixed up in WWI until 1917). His character is loosely based on Freddie Stowers, the only African American to receive a Medal of Honor for duty in this conflict. Fighting together and saving each other’s lives more than once, Freddie and Emile forge a friendship that lasts the duration of the war. The final playable human is Anna, a Belgian veterinarian-turned-Red Cross nurse who’s looking for her abducted father, a scientist whose expertise is in demand by the German army. Though each of these backstories drive the characters’ motivations and come into play in various ways during the game, <i>Valiant Hearts</i>’ story is more about the war itself and how it impacts these four people moment to moment—their attempts to survive, their triumphant victories, their harrowing near misses.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Then there’s Walt, who travels with each of them at some point. We first meet him in the company of the Germans, but when he and his handler are separated during battle, Walt and Emile quickly bond. Gameplay-wise, Walt’s best moments are as a co-op partner of sorts, assisting with puzzle solutions that require more than one set of hands, squeezing into tight spaces, or distracting enemy soldiers so his human companion can sneak past. (No matter what uniform they’re in, everyone likes to stop and pet a dog!) From a story perspective, Walt is the common thread that links these characters throughout the war.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The simple, almost allegorical storytelling keeps an otherwise heavy plotline entertaining and at times incredibly moving, telling us just what we need to know and letting our emotions fill in the blanks. Most of the big story beats are communicated via narration between scenes, with playable sequences presenting logic puzzles and other gameplay in the context of a specific battle, barracks, POW camp, or other area somehow related to the war. Spanning three years in its four chapters, with many historical events playing into its narrative, much of <i>Valiant Hearts</i>’ story is necessarily told through shorthand. In the game’s first playable scene, for example, Emile enters the barracks—now he’s in his underwear being sized up with all the other new recruits—he exits the barracks and now he’s in uniform—a bugle plays and the walk becomes a run as he and the other soldiers rush to the front.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Another example of narrative shorthand comes in the rebus-style exchanges that take place between the multi-national cast of characters. When two characters talk to each other, speech bubbles appear over their heads with pictograms representing their conversation (often a simple command the character must follow such as “go find this item”). Besides simplifying the localization task, this format reinforces the culture clash experienced by soldiers fighting among men with whom they can barely communicate. Appropriately, this stripped-down depiction of language also symbolizes our tenuous communication with dogs.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>Valiant Hearts</i>’ graphic novel aesthetic supports the storytelling well, showing us only what we need to see with simple hand-drawn artwork and animations that leave much to the imagination. Backgrounds are mostly muted browns, grays, and tans, with primary colors used to emphasize people and objects in the foreground (e.g. yellow gunfire, Anna’s red car). The characters are consistently designed with hair or hats that hide their eyes and jerky limbs that behave like paper cutouts hinged to their torsos. In many scenes, you’ll find yourself in a group of soldiers all wearing the same uniforms, but the game does a good job of visually differentiating the protagonists from supporting characters and also of distinguishing important supporting characters from the rest of the crowd, with features like a different helmet, big glasses, or a beard. Important historical tidbits are sometimes tucked into the artwork, too, like in one scene where Freddie leads a regiment of Black soldiers.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The artwork and storytelling may be intentionally sparse, but the soundtrack and particularly the ambient sound effects do a great job of bringing this two-dimensional world to life. The music is a mix of original, often quiet piano themes and recognizable classical music that blends perfectly with the action happening on screen. Sound effects range from collective cheers as the regiment advances to the groans of the dying, from phrases the player characters utter in their native tongues to dog sounds so spot-on my own dog was running around looking for Walt in our house.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Unlike many adventure games where you wander unsure how to proceed, <i>Valiant Hearts</i> keeps you moving forward most of the time. The characters walk only right and left across a 2D plane. At points you go through a door to emerge in another side-scrolling scene, but you never walk toward or away from the camera. On a gamepad, character movement is intuitively handled with the left stick, while face buttons are used to hit an opponent, knock down obstacles in the way, and pick up items. Some combo controls mimic contextual movements, such as pressing a button while simultaneously rotating the left stick to turn a gear. You learn all of this during a tutorial as Emile goes through basic training, and though there’s much more to remember than with a point-and-click control scheme, for the most part I found <i>Valiant Hearts</i>’ controls easy to master. (I played on PlayStation 3; keyboard controls are available on PC as well as gamepad support.)</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> I did consistently have trouble with digging, however, which requires holding down the PS3 controller’s Square button while pushing the left stick in the direction you want to dig. It’s not always clear when you can dig and when you can’t, so sometimes I’d try it only to have Emile flail his arms around in “hit” mode. Other times I’d try to dig by pushing left when the game wanted me to push down, and my character wouldn’t advance. This wasn’t a show-stopping problem and may well have been due to human error, but I never felt like I got the hang of it, and this pulled me out of the game whenever digging was required.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The game dictates which human character you control when, but when Walt is in the scene you can switch to him at will with the press of a button. Playing off the myth that dogs can’t see colors, the screen turns black and white when you’re in Walt’s shoes—err, paws. Though Walt’s presence is crucial to much of this game, he’s more of a sidekick than a distinct player character, with far less freedom than the humans. If he can do anything for you in the immediate area, icons appear near certain hotspots (a doorway, a lever, etc.) to indicate which button you should push to make Walt interact. He can also carry an item in his mouth, which is handy for avoiding backtracking when you’re not sure what you’ll need up ahead.</div> </div> </div> </div>

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Valiant Hearts: The Great War  REVIEW The Good: Set in a rich historical period that’s rarely explored in games; varied gameplay rel...

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Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27412/shcap-fp1__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Stunning presentation is a triumph of visual and sound design; strong story in each individual case; multiple endings add additional replay value; multiple game mechanics offer a lot of variety; fun deducing the culprits as Sherlock.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Adventure lite, with a lot of hand-holding and little challenge; replay limited to final accusations; certain cases leave more questions than they answer; weak overarching storyline.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /><a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /><h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Sherlock has never looked better, and<i>Crimes & Punishments</i> is an enjoyable anthology that should bring in new fans, but there’s little challenge for a seasoned adventurer.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/1398" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Rob Franklin</a> — October 8, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> In my mind, 2012's <i>The Testament of Sherlock Holmes</i> was Frogwares’ finest hour in their long history with the Great Detective, so they now have their work cut out trying to match it. But the Ukrainian developers have never been ones to shy away from reinventing their games, and in <i>Crimes & Punishments</i> they’ve taken a radically different approach from those that preceded it. This time around, not only have they overhauled the game engine (again), they’ve overhauled the very nature of their successful sleuthing franchise. The changes are numerous: gone are the tricky brainteasers and traditional point-and-click adventuring, and in their place we have a more narrative- and investigation-based adventure à la <i>L.A. Noire</i> or <i>The Walking Dead</i>. The result is another entertaining offering that for the most part addresses the small issues with <i>Testament</i>, but in so doing creates some new ones that haven’t been seen before.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Instead of just one story to play through, <i>Crimes & Punishments</i> is presented as six separate cases with only a token storyline running throughout to vaguely tie them together. In fact, if you didn’t know better you’d swear this game had been released episodically. Yet after firing up the first case, even with all the changes you’ll find yourself on very familiar ground: namely Baker Street. The mystery kicks off with the sound of gunfire and, assuming the role of Watson, you’ll need to manoeuvre your way to Sherlock at the front of the room, who seems intent on shooting you. For any fan of the recent Sherlock revivals, this won’t be cause for alarm, as Holmes is merely testing himself with a blindfold on. This is one of several nods to the new adaptations, including more bombastic opening credits, which aim to appeal to newer players.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> What’s immediately obvious in this opening scenario is the upgrade in presentation. <i>Crimes & Punishments</i> is an extremely slick package. The real-time 3D graphics have had a major upgrade even from <i>Testament</i>, which was already an impressive looking adventure. Improvements come from enhanced shading around objects and vastly improved facial animations, meaning the characters’ lips finally sync with what they’re saying. The level of detail in the environments is exemplary; from a recreation of Kew Gardens (complete with buzzing insects) to a Victorian circus and a gorgeous Japanese villa, all the way to the last case in a murky backstreet, the locales have never looked better. Characters also look more realistic, complete with wrinkles, skin blotches and moles. Within cutscenes the animations are impressively lifelike – I can imagine an awful lot of motion capture was used – and whilst the in-game animations aren’t quite as good (doors open by themselves, with no animation of Sherlock opening them), this is a minor niggle in an otherwise flawless appearance.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> I was critical of <i>Testament</i>’s sound design as one of the weaker points of that game. Thankfully Frogwares have put a great deal of effort into this aspect. Whereas before the dialogue often felt stilted, here the voice-overs are consistently strong, not only from the leads but the supporting characters too. Dialogue flows naturally between characters, and even Watson is less prone to strange intonation than he was previously. Similarly, the music, whilst still the same piano and string arrangements, is now used to better effect, punching dramatic moments and enhancing the atmosphere of certain scenes. These weaknesses seemed like small gripes in the previous game, but seeing (or rather, hearing) them rectified here shows what a difference it can make to the overall polish.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> If <i>Testament</i> focused on not knowing Sherlock’s motives, <i>Crimes & Punishments</i> is the antithesis. This time around, the gameplay is wholly focussed on what the player can deduce using Sherlock’s keen observations and insights. Where earlier games went heavy on the puzzle-solving, this game emphasises investigation and deduction. As a result, many of the game mechanics have been adjusted accordingly. You’ll still be controlling Sherlock with the mouse and keyboard (or gamepad), and there’s still the option of controlling him from a first- or third-person perspective, but there’s sadly no point-and-click mode this time, and you won’t be picking up items to use. Instead, you’ll spend most of your time interrogating suspects and pawing over crime scenes. </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> You can move freely within each location, but there are now no complicated interaction options. If Sherlock walks near something that he can do something with, you’ll usually only get one option, which you select by left-clicking (usually examine or talk). These interactions are clearly signposted by, for want of a better word, “flags” appearing above the item, making it very difficult to miss anything. This streamlining of Frogwares’ usual format to make things snappier and slicker extends to the conversations as well: dialogue options include just a couple of lines, although there are few red herrings. Also, examining everything in a given scene will usually trigger a new cutscene or a monologue from Sherlock of where he should go next.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Each case opens with a particular event that Sherlock must investigate, the first being the murder of a retired whale hunter who died under mysterious circumstances at his quaint cottage in Sussex. Sherlock can travel to various key locations from the outset, like Baker Street and Scotland Yard, with other areas being added as the investigation requires. Travel is handled through a map, with a simple left-click on a location initiating a cab journey to it. This is a nice sequence that, whilst clearly hiding a loading screen, also allows you to open Sherlock’s journal and assess the clues and testimonies you’ve received so far.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> As you arrive at the first murder scene, you’ll be introduced to the various new gameplay mechanics. The first is Sherlock Vision, in which the screen turns monochrome and anything unusual – that only the brilliant Holmes could see – is highlighted in orange. The effect is similar to the inspection mode in games like<i>Heavy Rain</i> or <i>Arkham Asylum</i>. Moving nearer to the highlighted area allows Sherlock to examine it in more detail. Whilst this ability is new to the series, it ultimately only leads to close-ups of such things as footprints, shelves, desk drawers and books, similar to how previous games worked already, allowing you to measure things or use a magnifying glass to look for unusual items.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Another addition to Sherlock’s powers of deduction is the Imagination Mode. This allows Holmes to add ghost images to the scene, conjured up from his imagination, that help piece together the previous events that happened there, whether it’s missing items he knows should have been present or missing parties’ movements before the events. This is something new to the series, and is used to great success when trying to imagine the sequence of events that led up to the murder. Much like in <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i>, you’ll see several ghost images that you must number in the correct order to build up a picture of what has occurred.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Both features act as immersive elements more than anything else, as they put players inside the brain of Sherlock, seeing things from his perspective. They're also an excuse for the developers to add in small subtitles to the environment, in keeping with the recent TV adaptations. An icon appears in the top right hand corner of the screen if there’s something that can only be seen in either mode, so there’s no fear of overlooking anything.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> There are other methods Sherlock uses over the course of his investigations, some of which are the closest this game gets to traditional puzzles, whilst others are minigames. They’re too numerous to mention them all and you won’t find anything challenging here, but highlights include piecing together an image in Sherlock’s head of what a smell might be, or skewering a pig to ascertain if a weak man could throw a harpoon. You’ll even need to disguise Sherlock on several occasions to make sure he has the right outfit for the job. Locks form a sort of tumbler puzzle where you must match the sections together, and you’ll even need to hammer at the left mouse button to beat a guy at arm wrestling. Some are better than others, but they aren’t used repeatedly, aside from the lockpick puzzle, so if you find one unappealing you’ll likely not encounter it again. They do, however, add up to give a nice variety to the methods with which you can get to the bottom of each case.</div> </div> </div> </div>

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments  REVIEW The Good: Stunning presentation is a triumph of visual and sound design; strong st...

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Neverending Nightmares adventure gamers.com

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27424/nn-fp4__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Neverending Nightmares</div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/22353" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Kurt Indovina</a> — October 15, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Often in horror games you’re faced with having to fight or run away from the evil that wishes to consume you, but what happens when that evil is in your own inescapable mind? Indie developer Matt Gilgenbach has wonderfully captured this horrifying possibility with his beautifully illustrated <i>Neverending Nightmares</i>. With its distinctive art style, it is a creepy, atmospheric game with memorable visuals that will continue to linger with you long after its short playing time. There's an intentional lack of any real gameplay other than exploration, and at times the pacing feels more slow and monotonous than moody and tense, but there is a lot to appreciate about this game, and it’s often awe-inspiring in the midst of its bleak, disturbing imagery.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>Neverending Nightmares</i> is a very personal project for Gilgenbach. Shortly after the release of his first game, the music-based rhythm shooter <i>Retro/Grade</i>, he admittedly fell into a deep depression. To cope with his own anxieties, depressions, and OCD tendencies, Matt turned to the drastically different genre of psychological horror and set out to make a game that he could relate to. (Though hopefully not quite to the degree depicted here.)</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The game begins with the distressing scene of a little girl being stabbed from the player’s point of view, followed by the protagonist, Thomas, waking up from a horrible nightmare. From there you wander around a Victorian-style home, lit only by candles and the moonlight outside, to a graveyard where you discover that Gabrielle, your sister, is deceased. Suddenly Thomas wakes up again, as though this was just another terrible dream. This opening sequence establishes the recurring premise of the game: endlessly waking up from your neverending nightmares, only to find that you’re still in another that's even worse than the last.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="299" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QdgSMRkdfYs?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" width="530"></iframe></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Upon each awakening, a small cutscene occurs, hinting as to what is going on with Thomas and what happened to Gabrielle. There are several paths that can be taken to complete the game, resulting in three different endings. The different paths result from rather arbitrary actions, but upon completing the game the first time through, a handy autosave system lets you pick up the story again in the general area where the branches split off. Explaining the results of these paths would inevitably spoil too much of the game, but I will say that they purposely contradict each other. This allows for multiple interpretations of Thomas’s madness, and a welcome distortion between reality and nightmare.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Featuring a completely hand-sketched, pen-and-ink style that is amazing to look at, any scene from the game could be mistaken for a page out of an Edward Gorey book. Aside from using color to signify the rare interactive objects, and an abundance of red for the large amount of spattered and smeared blood you’ll come across, the game is displayed primarily in black and white. The artwork doesn’t even have shades of grey to represent shadows and darkness, but instead uses layers and layers of scratch-like pen lines to achieve the same effect, which makes for a great, almost psychotic vibe.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27423&f=image69.jpg" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="ci-image ci-large" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27423&f=image69__large.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 10px;" /></a></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> You’ll explore a variety of different rooms within just a few distinct environments, from a sprawling mansion to a psychiatric ward and through a forest and nearby cemetery. Every object along the way, including the many pieces of eerie art and portraits hanging in the hallways, has been illustrated with the same thin, scratchy pen work. Time and time again, I couldn’t help but just stop and admire the scenery.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> While similar in style to a dark children’s book, <i>Neverending Nightmares</i> still managed to give me chills. As the game progresses through the nightmares, the setting becomes increasingly horrific and the lighting ever darker as the environments merge disturbingly together. Eventually the doors of your Victorian home will lead directly to cells of the asylum, the pathways littered with heavily-cobwebbed dolls, disembodied limbs, and even stacks of decapitated bodies. And yet, despite all the blatant gore, it still manages to feel almost tastefully restrained, offering just enough to make the horror feel authentic without burying you in excess.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27423&f=image33.jpg" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="ci-image ci-large" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27423&f=image33__large.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 10px;" /></a></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> It’s a good thing the timeless artwork is so appealing, as the game is weighted much more on style than it is substance. In fact, I found virtually no challenge at all in <i>Neverending Nightmares</i>. Overcoming what few obstacles there are is a simple matter of finding the right intuitive object to proceed (e.g., an axe for a boarded door or a candle to get through a dark area). None require any thinking about a solution, just finding the specific item nearby to accomplish it.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> There are some enemies, but even these are a matter of avoiding them rather than figuring out how to defeat them. You’ll hide in closets as a hideous, baby-headed monster passes, tip-toe around straightjacketed mental patients with their eyes sewn shut, or just outrun an axe-wielding doppelganger of yourself, to name a few. If you don’t evade an enemy, you may be diced by a giant-sword-bearing little girl or have your guts ripped out by a doll. But if this happens, Thomas simply wakes up in the nearest bed, which doubles as a checkpoint. Your death turns out to be just another a nightmare, which I found extremely clever. Checkpoints are very frequent, and require little backtracking when you wake up in the nearest bed. In fact, dying is necessary at times – some encounters are unavoidable, and occasionally you’ll find yourself performing reckless actions with no regard for your safety.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <br /></div> </div> </div> </div>

Neverending Nightmares adventure gamers.com

Neverending Nightmares Written by  Kurt Indovina  — October 15, 2014 Often in horror games you’re faced with having to fight or run...

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The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27389/vec-fp__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> The Vanishing of Ethan Carter <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Gorgeous, open-world environments that invite you to explore thoroughly; immersive atmosphere; compelling backstory; easy but interesting gameplay.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> No user-friendly saving; not very challenging; lack of useful signposting.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /><a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /><h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Though it poses little in the way of challenge,<i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> delivers a gripping, gradually unfolding tragedy set in a beautiful open woodland environment that you are free to explore at will.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/980" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Astrid Beulink</a> — October 17, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Many modern adventure games are becoming increasingly linear and streamlined, with nothing to discover for ourselves anymore. <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> goes in the opposite direction, promising no hand-holding and a world you can freely explore right from the start. And explore you delightedly will, because clues to this paranormal murder mystery can be found anywhere throughout the remote Red Creek Valley, a visual splendor you’ll continually behold in slack-jawed amazement. It’s fairly light on puzzle challenge and a bit of environmental signposting wouldn’t have hurt, but the game’s open-ended approach and surprisingly poignant backstory represent a welcome breath of fresh air, in more ways than one.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> starts with a brief narration outlining the barest minimum of information before dropping players into the game without any further guidance. From this opening, we learn that Paul Prospero is an occult detective who has received a disturbing letter from a youth named Ethan Carter and fears that something bad has happened to the child. Prospero decides to investigate how such a young boy could have knowledge of the things he described, though somehow he knows it'll be his last case.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The investigation starts in a forest near some train tracks. From a first-person perspective, you have almost total freedom to explore the immediate surroundings using the traditional WASD keyboard/mouse combination. You can either follow the tracks or wander off into the woods, but it pays to get off the beaten path, as you will miss many clues if you keep to the obvious routes. In the woods around the starting area, for instance, you will come across a series of traps that are sprung as soon as you come near them (they won't hurt you). Click-holding on them to 'inspect' will reveal a partial image that fills in more completely with each new trap you've triggered. Once you've found them all, the picture is complete, revealing a kind of ethereal memory world that you can investigate further.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> In trying to uncover what happened to Ethan, you'll explore a rundown village, a graveyard, a dam, and a mine sprinkled throughout the mountainous, forest-bedecked valley. The full 3D locations look absolutely stunning in the eternal twilight, and you will often find yourself pausing from your trek through the country just to stare at a lake reflecting the foliage or the butterflies fluttering around. Indie developers The Astronauts used the Unreal Engine and a special visual technique using thousands of photographs of real trees and rocks. They've done a great job, as no area looks alike and the changing landscape always feels totally natural. Better still, there are no load screens causing artificial interruptions along the way.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Although this is a breathtakingly beautiful game, it has plenty of scenes that aren't so pretty to look at. Throughout his investigation, Paul discovers many a mutilated corpse, such as a guy whose legs have been severed from his torso. The gore is very real and yet never overdone, as the goal is not to gross players out but to suitably convey the shocking horror of the mystery, which continually ramps up both your desire to find Ethan and the dreadful suspicion that when you do, it may be too late.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The juxtaposition between the serene, pastoral landscape and the gruesome horrors you uncover makes for an almost palpably unnerving atmosphere. For the most part there is no actual danger to Prospero, but a growing sense of supernatural malevolence is enough to evoke fear as you progress, as well as sadness at the tragedies you encounter. Bit by bit, the sparse but immersive backstory reveals just enough to make you want to constantly discover more. You’ll gradually learn all about an ancient curse that threatened to tear a family apart, but saying anything more would spoil the experience.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Much of this huge, open world has nothing at all to interact with, but scattered around the environment are small set pieces that represent significant new parts of the mystery. Within these scenarios, looking at certain objects causes Paul's thoughts to be visualized as words on the screen, such as ropes, a rock and the crank that belongs to the train. Some items can be interacted with directly, while others provide visual hints for tracking down other crucial details. A few objects can be collected as inventory, though these are used automatically in the correct situations later on. The objective is to recreate each scene as it was during the incident (was it an accident or murder?). When you’ve accomplished that, clusters of light appear and turn into ghostly holograms of the characters involved. Your task is to 'tag' these people in the chronological order the scene originally played out, using observational skills and imagination (or even guesswork in a pinch).</div> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27389/vec-fp__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; width: 595px;" /><div class="cleft_inn" style="margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> The Vanishing of Ethan Carter <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Gorgeous, open-world environments that invite you to explore thoroughly; immersive atmosphere; compelling backstory; easy but interesting gameplay.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> No user-friendly saving; not very challenging; lack of useful signposting.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /><a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_3_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /><h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Though it poses little in the way of challenge,<i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> delivers a gripping, gradually unfolding tragedy set in a beautiful open woodland environment that you are free to explore at will.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/980" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Astrid Beulink</a> — October 17, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Once you are satisfied you've found the correct sequence, you can visually re-enact it as an animation shows how it happened in all its grisly detail. If you've made a mistake with the order, the cutscene will peter out after the last correct one so you can amend the tags. It's not hard to intuitively figure out that a person without a hammer needs to be placed before that same person with a hammer in his hand, so these puzzles are on the easy side, but it is an interesting approach to gameplay, as you literally feel like you are piecing together a series of mysteries.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> There is a much more complex, clever puzzle that involves recreating the layout of a house to find a secret room, but otherwise there aren't many challenges here. The other exception is a small mine maze with a couple of patrolling ghosts that need to be avoided (which isn’t hard once you've figured out what to look for) while seeking out all the dead bodies that carry clues to a cryptic symbol puzzle. Besides that, there is only one other sequence requiring a bit of dexterity, as you must follow someone through the woods while he constantly teleports himself ahead, and it’s very easy to lose him. Even there, however, the challenge isn’t one of reflexes, just finding him in the lush wilderness.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> With gorgeous graphics, full freedom to explore, and interesting gameplay, <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> sounds like a great game, but there are a few things that stand in its way of becoming an instant classic. First of all, there is the save system. The game autosaves after you've successfully solved a mystery, so if you've been roaming around and partially solving other puzzles without fully completing them, you will lose all that progress when you start the game again. This might work fine in other games, but for an adventure where vast amounts of terrain can be traversed and major chunks of time can pass between major accomplishments, manual saves would be extremely beneficial, or at least autosave checkpoints that are much more readily accessible. Since time of release, the game has been updated to be a little more save-friendly, but it still pales in comparison with manual saving or frequent checkpoints.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Another quibble is that because the world is so open-ended and you don't get any direction (the game isn't kidding about not holding your hand), it's very easy to miss something vital that you don’t even know exists. You really need to explore thoroughly to see everything, no matter how remote. Once you stumble upon one of the interactive sequences, all items related to that particular mystery are quite close, but with no map to help you get your bearings or allow quick travel, if you wander too far off you may have to backtrack to find the scenario you were working on again. At one point the path behind you is closed down, so if necessary you'll have to find an alternate avenue to return to where you were previously.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> And it may be necessary. Although <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> is largely non-linear, you can actually reach the endgame location only to be told the story can’t be resolved yet. Fortunately, there is an interactive chalk map on a wall that will teleport you to any mysteries you have missed. Strangely, it seems you can bypass some things and not others, as I ran past the first dead body on purpose on my second playthrough yet was able to finish the game.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Paul sometimes speaks his thoughts out loud in a deep, grizzled voice that suits his role, though he never shows much emotion – in fact, he never reacts at all to the emotionally disturbing scenes he encounters, leaving it up to the player to experience those first-hand. The other characters speak only during the re-enactment scenes, but everyone delivers a convincing emotional performance, and even the children sound like real children instead adults impersonating one. The music is sparse and forgettable, but the ambient effects are spot on, from chirping birds in the forest areas to creaking beams or floorboards inside.</div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Easily one of the most graphically impressive games, <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i>offers several hours of enjoyable gameplay as well. Gradually piecing together bits of evidence and sorting the order of tragic events is an intriguing way to approach a mystery and serves as compelling motivation throughout, although it’s not very challenging and the lack of manual (or more frequent) saves is a major letdown. The game succeeds in creating an emotional connection with the missing boy even in his absence, and is guaranteed to make you think about the fates of both Ethan and Paul long after you've finished. If you are into narrative experiences with lots of exploring and a thought-provoking backstory driving the action, you will definitely enjoy <i>The Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i>.</div> <div> <br /></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <i><br /></i></div> </div> </div>

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter  REVIEW The Good: Gorgeous, open-world environments that invite you to explore thoroughly; immersive a...

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Agustín Cordes - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27468/cdw-fp1__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Agustín Cordes - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">INTERVIEW</span></div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/7938" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Ingmar Böke</a> — October 22, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> After successfully funding his horror adventure <i>Asylum</i> via Kickstarter in 2013, Argentinian developer Agustín Cordes is now returning to crowdfunding once again for his latest adventure. Endowed with the first-ever official H.P. Lovecraft license for a videogame, <i>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward</i> is in <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/h-p-lovecrafts-the-case-of-charles-dexter-ward?ref=card" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">serious need of public support</a> to turn its horrors into reality. With so much riding on the impact of the next week, I caught up with a very busy Agustín to learn more about this promising project, as well as the current status of <i>Asylum</i>.<br /> </div> <hr style="background-color: #767456; border: 0px; color: #767456; height: 1px; margin: 10px 0px; width: 534px;" /> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <br /><b>Ingmar Böke</b>: Hi, Agustín. It’s my pleasure to interview you again. When you first told me about <i>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward</i> and the plan to go on Kickstarter, my initial reaction was: “is it really a good idea to do that before you deliver<i>Asylum</i>?” I’m sure many others are now thinking the same thing. Please talk about your feelings regarding this potential conflict, and why the Kickstarter has to take place now.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b><span style="color: darkred; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agustín Cordes</span></b>: Hey Ingmar, glad to be an interviewee again. Unfortunately I can’t commit to vast and seemingly illimitable answers because of the ongoing Kickstarter, but I’ll do my best!</div> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 200px;"><tbody> <tr><td><a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=agustin.jpg" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="ci-image ci-medium" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=agustin__medium.jpg" style="border: none; height: 267px; margin: 10px; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><h5 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Agustín Cordes</h5> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Game development is a tricky craft, and transition between projects is one of the worst problems we developers must face. There’s many different actors in a game project: artists, designers, programmers, and more. Some of them finish their work earlier than others — crucially, it’s almost a given that in any game project the artists will finish work before the programmers, and keep in mind that there’s a lengthy period of beta testing as well (or at least there should!) even after most programming has been completed. This poses a complicated situation, especially in a mammoth game like<i>Asylum</i>: what do the artists do while we finish programming the game? There can be a gap of several months if we take into account the testing phase, and the situation gets even trickier if you consider that from the moment the game goes on sale it can take a while until you start recouping money to sustain an entire team.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Thus, it makes <i>loads</i> of sense, even for a small company like ourselves, to have two projects overlapping. Especially because <i>Asylum</i> is an ambitious and complex game that will demand more time to complete and fully test, even when we’re finishing work on the graphics. So we need this new project to ensure the continuity of the whole Senscape team, and it’s the ideal moment before we enter crunch mode in <i>Asylum</i>. And believe me, that will be an <i>epic</i> crunch!</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="299" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dnBUK-mx3bs?modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&rel=0&theme=light&color=white" width="530"></iframe></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b>Ingmar</b>: We talked about Lovecraft quite a bit in our <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/23362" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">last interview</a>, where you shared your strong connection to the master of cosmic horror. How did you manage to get the chance to do an official Lovecraft game? And what will working with this particular license mean to you personally?</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b><span style="color: darkred; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agustín</span></b>: Well, it’s a dream come true to work with an officially licensed H. P. Lovecraft game, to say the least, especially when the story in question is <i>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward</i>, one of my favorite ones and among the richest he wrote. It feels unreal to keep the master of supernatural and cosmic horror relevant like this, and no less through the adventure genre. The negotiation to secure the license took months and was excruciatingly slow. For a long time I thought it would never happen. I believe that our track record, with well-received Lovecraftian games like <i>Scratches</i> and the success of <i>Asylum</i>, was crucial to make this deal happen. It was S. T. Joshi, the man responsible for editing the definitive Lovecraft texts with revealing annotations, who put me in touch with the Lovecraft Estate in Providence.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b>Ingmar</b>: The Kickstarter goal of $250,000  is quite ambitious, and obviously you’ll need a LOT more backers than for <i>Asylum</i>. What’s your plan for attracting these people, and where do you plan to find them?</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b><span style="color: darkred; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agustín</span></b>: It is ambitious, yes, but we want to do justice to the source material and deliver an adventure game that surpasses the already high expectations. Plus, we must pay for the license, so we couldn’t settle for anything lower. So far the game has had incredible exposure — its announcement went viral and my cellphone wouldn’t stop beeping with notifications of retweets and likes for an entire day after the news broke. We raised $10,000 in under four hours — to compare,<i>Asylum</i> required a full day to reach that amount. However, Kickstarter is a strange beast these days and we’re having a bumpy ride. We’ll keep pushing <i>Charles Dexter Ward</i> no matter what, because clearly people <i>want</i> this game.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=ward_house.jpg" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="ci-image ci-large" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=ward_house__large.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 10px;" /></a></div> <h5 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> The house of Charles Dexter Ward</h5> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <br /><b>Ingmar</b>: We talked before about previous Lovecraft games not really capturing his spirit in terms of a fear of the unknown. In what way are you trying to achieve that and do Lovecraft’s vision justice?</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b><span style="color: darkred; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agustín</span></b>: I’ve been discussing this at length in the Kickstarter campaign. Lovecraft is not just about fear of the unknown but a solid mix of <i>supernatural</i> and <i>cosmic</i><em></em>horror. Too many Lovecraftian games are quick to get “physical” and demand players to fight enemies or escape a nasty fate. As I’ve argued in the past, anything that forces you to confront an alien creature or monster is categorically<i>not</i> Lovecraftian. In his stories, the human race is so insignificant that it can’t possibly grasp the notion of these otherworldly entities that are as old as the cosmos itself, let alone attempt to kill them.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Many adventures have succeeded in bringing supernatural horror to games because it’s indeed the ideal genre for non-physical horror, but few (if any) have incorporated the type of cosmic horror developed by Lovecraft. This subgenre must embody a fear of outer space, be very pessimistic, and should present humans as mere unimportant toys in the scheme of great forces beyond their comprehension. These are the traits that we’re embracing in <i>Charles Dexter Ward</i>, which turns an idyllic Providence into a parade of abhorrent influences from the past and nightmarish horrors crawling underground.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=salem_village.jpg" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="ci-image ci-large" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/?ACT=49&fid=43&d=27467&f=salem_village__large.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 10px;" /></a></div> <h5 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"> Scenic Salem village on canvas, an eerie contrast to the horrors lurking within</h5> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <br /><b>Ingmar</b>: Not everyone will be familiar with the original <i>Charles Dexter Ward</i> story, so please give us a quick summary of the plot and introduce the title character.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <b><span style="color: darkred; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Agustín</span></b>: The story was Lovecraft’s most personal work and definitely remains among his best, most enduring creations. It’s quite a gruesome tale by his standards as well. <i>The Case of Charles Dexter Ward</i> was written during his most creative period when he returned to Providence after a dreadful stay in New York. That busy urban life was too much for his sensibilities, and the story is partly an ode to the dreamy and colonial life in Providence.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Moreover, along with the <i>The Call of Cthulhu</i>, it features the germ of the so-called “Cthulhu Mythos”, which became massively popular. For example, Yog-Sothoth was first mentioned in <i>Charles Dexter Ward</i> and even has a very important role, so the novel is of special interest to fans of Lovecraft. As was often the case with other remarkable creations of his, Lovecraft hated it and never cared to publish it, making this the most important work to be published posthumously.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The story itself revolves around Charles, a student and daydreamer who spends most of his days researching local history, genealogy and architecture. During one of these excursions, he realizes that he’s a descendant of an apparent wizard – Joseph Curwen – who escaped the witch trials in Salem and sought refuge in Providence, eventually holding a tight grip on its commerce for unspeakable reasons related to occult arts. Charles becomes so obsessed with Curwen that he goes on a quest to raise him back from the dead by securing his “Essential Saltes” and a dusty copy of the unhallowed Necronomicon. It’s an exciting and stimulating tale from beginning to end, and these two characters – Charles Dexter Ward and Joseph Curwen – are by far the most interesting ones imagined by Lovecraft. It’s ideal for an adventure game adaptation, too.</div> </div> </div> </div>

Agustín Cordes - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

Agustín Cordes - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward  INTERVIEW Written by  Ingmar Böke  — October 22, 2014 After successfully funding ...

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Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <img src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/teasers/27477/gk-fp12__big.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 201, 187); border-bottom-width: 2px; border-style: none none solid; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; width: 595px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br /> <div class="cleft_inn" style="color: #394128; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 30px; min-height: 400px; padding: 28px 0px 0px; width: 534px;"> <div class="page_title" style="border-bottom-style: none; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 42px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;"> Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition <span class="article_type_page" style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">REVIEW</span></div> <div class="padding" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Good:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Intriguingly complex story; clever dialogs and good voice-overs; dramatic cutscenes; lovely, detailed graphics; puzzles are well integrated; the character of Gabriel Knight is unforgettable.</div> </div> <div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <strong>The Bad:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> A handful of particularly obscure puzzle solutions; frustrating timed sequences; somewhat stiff character animation; avoidable technical issues both big and small made it into the launch version.</div> </div> </div> <div class="review_box padding" style="border: 1px solid rgb(224, 225, 224); font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 7px 0px; padding: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 210px;"> <br /><a class="tooltip nohover" href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;"><img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_1_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> <img align="absmiddle" height="37" src="http://www.adventuregamers.com/images/site/star_2_big.png" style="border: none;" width="37" /> </a><br /><h5 style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/scoring" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Scoring System</a> - <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/policies" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Editorial Policies</a></h5> </div> <strong>Our Verdict:</strong><div style="padding: 0px;"> Now with crisp, modern-day graphics and sound, the <i>Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers</i>remake is a provocative story experience whose aim is to challenge, enlighten, horrify and enthrall. And it succeeds, apart from a few questionable gameplay decisions and a lack of final polish.</div> <div class="clear" style="clear: both; font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="pageheader_byline" style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"> Written by <a href="http://www.adventuregamers.com/about/author/86" style="color: #cd4c00; text-decoration: none;">Becky Waxman</a> — October 24, 2014</div> <div class="bodytext" style="font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Gabriel Knight is high on the “A” list of the most recognizable names in adventure gaming. Designed by Jane Jensen and originally released in 1993 by Sierra-Online,<i>Sins of the Fathers</i> enjoyed critical acclaim from both gamers and critics at the time, and spawned two similarly popular sequels. The <i>20^th Anniversary Edition</i><em> </em>– a contemporary remake of the first game in the series – retains the strengths of the original with its oddly engaging characters, clever one-liners, engrossing story, and lengthy gameplay while featuring a streamlined interface, new puzzles, and modernized graphics that series newcomers will surely appreciate, though longtime genre fans who adore the original pixel art version may not.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> I’ve never played a Gabriel Knight game before, so I represent the portion of the audience that will come to the <i>20^th Anniversary Edition</i> with few preset expectations. I knew the series was darker than <i>King’s Quest</i><em> </em>and its other contemporaries, that <i>Sins of the Fathers</i> is set in New Orleans, and that the character of “Gabe” is beloved of many adventure gamers. That was pretty much the extent of my knowledge when I hit “New Game” in the main menu and saw “Day 1” accompanied by lines of poetry splashed across the screen. As dawn turned to day and light illuminated the rain-slick pavements, wrought-iron balconies, and picturesque awnings of Bourbon Street, it was already clear that what was to follow would be an immersive, ambitious, and out-of-the-ordinary experience.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> The elaborate, twisty story unfolds over a ten-day period, with each day of the first week dawning as St. George’s Books opens its doors. The shop’s owner, Gabriel Knight, writes tepidly successful fictional thrillers, and is afflicted by a repeated, terrifying nightmare about a witch-burning and a hanging that could easily be scenes from his next novel. Gabriel has been researching the history of voodoo in New Orleans as literary inspiration. Serendipitously (for him), a series of horrific murders within the city have left the victims with ritualistic voodoo symbols surrounding their bodies. The murders take Gabe to the office of his longtime friend, Detective Franklin Mosely. Gabriel uses this friendship to manipulate Mosely into giving him access to police files and anything else that might add credibility to his latest literary endeavor.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Grace Nakimura, Gabriel’s assistant at the book shop, is loyal, helpful, and works for long periods without any pay. Intriguingly, she is immune to Gabriel’s half-serious romantic advances. Though she seems exasperated by his selfishness – even describing him as a lout when she knows he’s listening – she hasn’t given up on him. Why she remains at her post with little reward – especially when he leaves her unprotected against evident danger – is one mystery whose solution is only hinted at in the latter part of the game.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> A studio apartment adjacent to the shop serves as Gabriel’s home and office. Above his bed is a painting of a lion, which is surprisingly apt. Like a lion, Gabe has a long blonde mane of hair, a lovely muscled body, and practically no morals. Part of his appeal when on the prowl for females is his deep, southern drawl. Another part is his wry sense of humor and innate aplomb. Come to think of it, “southern drawl” is something of an understatement. Gabriel’s accent is broad with a basso profondo effect: he sounds like a cross between Johnny Cash and Johnny Bravo. Like the two Johnnies, Gabe is larger-than-life, in a way that his own fictional creations probably couldn’t replicate. There’s more to him than first meets the eye.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> A large assortment of secondary characters populate the game, including the sophisticated, dazzling Malia Gedde; the laid-back, chatty cemetery groundskeeper; and the politely menacing, pristinely-attired Voodoo Museum curator known as Dr. John. My favorite among the supporting cast is Grandma Knight, who cared for Gabriel after his parents’ deaths. Her gracious manner and surroundings make her an oasis of calm amid the troubling violence overtaking New Orleans.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Each character exhibits specific traits and distinctive appeal. Dialogs are ample and well written, with essential dialogs appearing in yellow font. Voice-overs for the various characters are professional and effectively bring the many different personalities to life. Kudos to the narrator, whose Caribbean accent enhances the game’s exotic New Orleans flavor and counterbalances Gabe’s outrageous drawl. Character movement is a bit stiff, but does not detract from the gaming experience.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> New Orleans itself is an important presence, and Jensen has taken unusual care in presenting the city and its history. The Big Easy comes alive in outdoor scenes, ranging from the circular sidewalks of Jackson Square to the elaborate tombs in the St. Louis Cemetery. Yet it’s the interiors of the homes and shops that are the most striking. The Voodoo Museum, for instance, with its dripping candles, mottled human skulls, rotting fruit, and bottles of congealed liquids. Or Madame Cazanoux’s home, a hideaway cluttered with religious paintings and icons, heavily curtained and dimly lit. The Dixieland Drug Store is stocked to the ceiling with mysterious jars, bags, boxes, bowls, and a robed crocodile mannequin, while smoky light streams through the windows at St. George’s Books, revealing jumbled tomes, brick and stucco walls, and a cobwebby chandelier. Each environment contains small ambient animations, whether mist drifting by, smoke rising from a candle flame, a snake twitching in its cage, or a squirrel frolicking amongst the tombs. The characters in populated locales each have a signature animation that defines them and keeps these scenes looking lively.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Unlike its pixel art predecessor, graphics in the <i>20^th Anniversary Edition</i> are now in high resolution. The details are carefully and realistically rendered: the upturned corner of a rug, the glimmer of light in a crystal, the serpentine patterns formed by tree roots, skulls gathered in a makeshift net, a bloodstained machete on a filthy wall. Unfortunately, the price for this increased fidelity is computing power. Though my computer met the system requirements, the game had a tendency to crash until I turned the graphics settings down from “Fantastic” to “Good.” Near the very end, the crashes resumed, and I had to dial the graphics down to an even lower setting to achieve stability. This did not noticeably affect the environments, but did change the character models, which looked less smooth and detailed; it also removed the shadows cast by the characters outdoors.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> Cutscenes are presented in a graphic novel-like format. These are dramatic, not only because of the unexpected costumes and rituals, but also due to the bright colors, vivid character expressions, and creative camera angles. One of the cinematics presented information that took me so much by surprise that I just sat there, stunned for a while afterward. Then I remembered earlier oddities that, if I’d paid more attention, would have helped me anticipate where the story was heading.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> A further story layer is offered via a graphic novel in the main menu. This details the actions of one of Gabriel’s distant ancestors, who was tasked with solving a series of ritualistic murders in Charleston. It blends the past into the present, both for Gabriel’s family and the historic practice of voodoo in New Orleans. It also establishes an international journey that Gabriel must eventually take within the game when The Big Easy becomes too hot for him to handle. Before he can get to the bottom of the New Orleans Voodoo Murders, Gabriel must travel to his ancestral home in Germany and an isolated, underground temple in Africa. This also becomes a spiritual journey, as he explores the implications of his relationship to the Schattenjägers – shadow hunters tasked with confronting forces of supernatural evil. As his self-absorption begins to fall away, Gabriel wrestles with the chivalrous, far-reaching role that destiny seems primed to require of him.</div> </div> </div> </div>

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition  REVIEW The Good: Intriguingly complex story; clever dialogs and good...

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