Friday 20 February 2015

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Review

The Book of Unwritten Tales, developed by German studio KING Art Games, was a traditional point and click title set in the world of swords and sorcery. What made it stand out from the many cookie-cutter adventures on the market was the plethora of pop culture parodies and references contained within, and the genuinely witty dialogue. Central Europe has long been a hotbed for development in the genre, but many releases have been criticised for their poor localisation and humour that was inevitably lost in translation. The Book of Unwritten Tales was a pleasant surprise that marked a coming of age in this respect.
It is no surprise therefore that a sequel was put together. After the success of the first title, we had already been treated to The Critter Chronicles – a seemingly fast-tracked prequel following the exploits of the strange pink, fluffy sidekick of Nate the adventurer – but that spin-off didn’t reach quite the same heights as its predecessor. The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is a proper follow-up, however, promising over twenty-five hours of playtime, more locations to explore than ever before and a return of the multi-character gameplay that allows players to hot-switch between the four heroes to approach puzzles in the order and method that they wish.
.

Monday 16 February 2015

Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today Preview

Ten years ago, the games industry was lamenting the lost art of the Graphic Adventure. But now, thanks to platforms like Steam and crowd-finding via Kickstarter, small-scale adventure games are a dime a dozen. Whereas gamers once had no options, now there is the problem of picking out the titles worthy of your attention. Dead Synchronicity immediately stands out as one that you shouldn’t miss.
First-time developers Fictiorama have eschewed the common route of cartoony, humourous adventure games, focusing on a much more serious, adult storyline. Shades of classic science fiction such as the work of George Orwell and Philip K Dick abound in this dystopian future. Players take on the role of Michael – an amnesiac who has awoken in a world ravaged by disaster and struggling to maintain a semblance of modern society. This isn’t just a cheap use of that old memory loss premise however, as the cataclysmic events happening around the world have not only caused some residents to lose their memories, but others to lose their minds completely.