The Lost City of Malathedra is a promising puzzle adventure game. The story is interesting and the puzzles are stimulating enough, but it falls short in some area like animation and sound effects.
Lost City is certainly worth a test run, but it doesn’t reach the status of “must buy.”
* Music (5/5) *
The most impressive part of Lost City of Malathedra, by far, is the score. The score draws the player in, and it creates a sense of tension throughout the game. It sets an epic tone without being too melodramatic. Music is an often overlooked portion of game development, but EDI clearly put in some extra effort.
* Sound Effects (2/5) *
Despite the quality of the score, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the sound effects. The general effects are fine, but the lack of voiceovers really left me disappointed. From the first moments of the prologue, dialogue flashes across the screen and there is absolutely no voice over or sound effect. The dialogue seems fairly scripted and pointed, so it’s beyond me why they didn’t take the time to record a few voice actors.
* Graphics (3/5) *
The graphics are done well enough, but they bring back memories of 1990′s games like King’s Quest and Ultima 6. The game sports a classic isometric “3d” view with 2-dimensional cartoonish drawings. This gives the game quite a dated look and feel to it.
The scenery and background looks good enough, if low budget. What really drags down the game experience is the quality of the character images and animations. Some more time spent on the characters could have compensated for an otherwise dated and unimpressive visual experience.
* Gameplay and Interaction (4/5) *
The interface is pretty simple. Click on the map to move. Click and hold to interact with an object. Right click to view your inventory.
There was no need for a tutorial. I figured out the interface with a minute or two of trial and error. Major kudos for simplicity here.
This simplicity really puts the focus on the crux of the game – the puzzles. The action is driven by completing puzzles, which seem to be of a moderate difficulty. I had to stop and think a few times, but I never ran up against something so hard I wanted to throw my mouse against the wall.
My one gripe is that the characters walk so slowly. The puzzles involve a lot of movement, and you slowly plod along from one side of the screen to the other. The pace could be picked up a lot if your character ran across the room.
* Overall (3.5/5) *
Interms of functionality, the game seems pretty solid. It is what it sets out to be – a puzzle driven adventure game. If you like that sort of thing, then you’ll probably enjoy the Lost City of Malathedra.
Due to the lack of voiceovers and the dated graphics, I wouldn’t label this a “must buy.” It’s certainly lacking a bit in the user-experience department. However, it’s certainly good enough to soak up a few weekends of game time. If your “to play” list is looking slim, give this a try.
Here’s the trailer for Puzzle Bots, the upcoming puzzle adventure game from Wadjet Eye Games creators of Emerald City Confidential, as well as the Blackwell series of games.
Item-based adventure games are the oldest genre of computer games around, dating back to the 1970s, and have developed from text-only affairs to full-motion video extravaganzas.
Avenue Flo is a quirky adventure that takes in the hidden object genre as well as traditional object-based puzzles and character interaction. A wedding is occupying everyone’s mind in Flordia Street, Dinertown, but on the big day the dress, rings, butterflies, cake, flowers and poodle have all gone missing. Flo wanders off to find or replace all of these items in time-honored fashion, and probably to uncover the mystery of who has gone to such lengths to disrupt the wedding.
Here’s the trailer for an adventure game called WildHollow created by Karjasoft, the folks behind Spandex Force. Karjasoft plans to release Wildhollow in November of 2009.
There’s been a renaissance in adventure games, thanks to the rise of independent game developers and free, powerful tools like Adventure Game Studio. Ben Ward and Dan Marshall made their adventure game debut in Ben There, Dan That! and have returned for their first commercial title: Time Gentlemen, Please! If you think a game made with a freeware engine isn’t worth buying, think again. Time Gentlemen, Please! is a painstakingly crafted adventure in the tradition of classic 90′s LucasArts adventure games. And on top of that, it’s hilarious.
Eschalon: Book 1 is a single-player, role-playing adventure game reminiscent of those from years ago. Character creation is similar to the old D&D way you roll for your base attributes and then you have additional points to allocate. Picking from a list of skills, you are able to customize your character further in terms of what weapon, armor, and skills he will specialize in. Additionally, you also make the choices of origin, axiom and class for your character. These choices have bonuses and negative effects so that no single one is necessarily more powerful than another. This is a huge positive in my book since in this game, character development actually means something again, and you have to put some thought into what you want to be able to do before you even begin to play.
Note: Linux Users can buy the PC or Mac versions which will come with links to the Linux version.
The game Bionic Heart by Winter Wolves is altogether an interesting and worthwhile game to buy. The game is about life on Earth in a futuristic time, where global warming has caused an unusual consequence. Due to the Earth’s “polarization,” it has mysteriously caused rainfall on almost every part of the Earth to occur frequently.
You start off the game as Luke Black, a talented nano-tech engineer that is struggling with his girlfriend, who he does not wish to marry. He doesn’t wish to marry her, and says that “1 out of 10 couples get married. Doesn’t that tell you [his girlfriend] something?”
You are left with a choice in the conversation after she responds, and you can either choose to ask for more time in your relationship with her or try living together.
This is one example of the game’s interactive features, which is probably the strongest aspect of the game. In a way you get to form your own character, and choose what he does.
Given it is a PC game, the graphics are of fairly high quality and allow you to step into your character’s shoes. When Helen comes inside your house for example, you get a few moments to fully absorb the detailed graphics of her face and body. She is a prototype on the run, and stays at Luke’s house for a period of time.
Apart from its interactive features and detailed graphics, the plot itself is what really enraptures the player. As soon as Helen decides to stay, you quickly become involved in trying to find out more about her and where she’s from.
There are, however, downsides to the game. As interactive as it is, you cannot independently move as you can in other games such as Halo PC or Need for Speed Most Wanted. You must click what you wish to do, such as walking into your bathroom requires menu clicks, not independent movement.
Also, dialogue between characters (and even when you’re talking to yourself) appears on a menu without actual lip movement. This can be slightly distracting and definitely takes away from the game’s overall appeal.
Finally, the options for what to do become limited after a while. If you happen to get stumped or click on the same option more than once, there is hardly a time that the dialogue is modified. Occasionally when you walk around and ask someone the same thing multiple times, they might say something different, but the characters frequently repeat the same line. In conclusion, I’d rate it a 3/5.
Wadjet Eye Games has published a quartet of intriguing adventure games already, but their newest title is their most inventive one yet. Emerald City Confidential takes the characters of L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” and sticks them into a gritty detective drama more appropriate to Gotham City than Emerald City. While Emerald City Confidential is a little too simple and has a few too many glitches, the stellar writing and outstanding illustrations make it an accessible and tantalizing tribute to the glory days of adventure games.
Legacy: World Adventure is a puzzle/adventure game in which the player must employ her world geography knowledge, trivia abilities, and mini-game fortitude. But don’t angst if you’re geographically-challenged: The mini-games are clue-revealing and will save your hide if you play enough of them between destinations!
