Casual Adventures - Paranormal Crime Investigations: Brotherhood of the Cresent Snake

As AdventureGamers.com delves into the realm of the Casual Advenutre Game once more, it's time for me to take a look at another Hidden Object Game based title. As has been the trend over the last few months, I was faced with yet another grisly and spooky tale to traverse through, as Paranormal Crime Investigations: Brotherhood of the Crescent Snake deals with voodoo and an evil cult, down in the Bayou, in New Orleans.

GI Games has done a great job of creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere in this title, and those of you who are easily scared by Snakes should be forewarned - this isn't the game for you. Twists and danger lie around every corner as you investigate an ancient cult that is behind a series of murders in the city. Check out my full review of the title in the latest AdventureGamers.com Casual Collection.

Casual Adventures: Mystery of Venice

It's that time of the month agian, as we take a look at some of the latest casual Adventure Games to hit the market, at AdventureGamers.com. The casual Adventure Game round-up this month brings us the usual mixture of the more serious and some light-hearted fare, but I got the chance to play another new ERS Games title, Grim Facade: Mystery of Venice.

The game is obviously set in Venice, but in the time of the Renaissance. A mysterious plague has afflicted the city, and only you - as a privately-hired Detective - can help a desperate husband trace what has happened to his wife and daughter, and to find out just what - or who - is behind the awful events.


Check out the latest round-up here.

Back To The Future: The Game - Full Season Review

As a huge fan of the Back to the Future series - and of course, of Adventure Games in general - I have been following the progress of Back to the Future: The Game very closely. Now that the final episode has been released and the current series has been completed, I have taken the time to play through the new chapter of the adventures of Doc and Marty.

The main issue for me, before playing, would be whether or not the game series would dilute or ruin the feel and heart of the Movies. Well, I am happy to say that Telltale Games have shown great care with this beloved IP, and there is a lot to appreciate in the game. For my full review, and all of my thoughts on the series - click here.

Red Johnson’s Chronicles Review

The advent of download-only console titles has been one of the stepping stones that have helped Adventure Games drag themselves out of the mire and back onto the gaming landscape. The support for Adventure Games on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network is still yet to become expansive, yet several titles have appeared that have shown that this is a more than viable business model for developers to follow.

One such developer is Lexis Numerique - most famous for the In Memoriam series of games. The company has always traditionally worked on titles for the PC market, however they now have several games on the development slate that are set for release on PlayStation 3. One of these, which is a hard-boiled, Noir-style crime thriller - with a sense of humour to boot - a game called "Red Johnson's Chronicles."

Planned as the first of a series of Detective Adventures, the game has some well-developed and strongly acted characters, some very impressive graphics and a good variety of ingenious puzzles to keep you guessing. It also includes some quick-time action events - but don't let that scare you off, as it is a charming and intriguing title. To learn more about the title, why not read my full review at GodisaGeek.com here.

Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother.

Blade Runner - The Game.

When it came out in 1997, Blade Runner the game was somewhat of an oddity. Coming fifteen years after the original film release, the game chose to not even directly follow the plot of the movie it was based on. It featured familiar sets and characters, but followed a new protagonist and new incidents.

But the game was a cult hit. Branching storylines, the ability to set an emotional stand-point for your character and multiple endings made the game unique for the time in that your every action really did have an impact on the path and outcome of the story.

Head over to Godisageek.com to read my Retro Review of the game and find out why you really should play this forgotten gem.

A New Collection Of Casual Adventure Games To Test Your Wits.

A new month, and a new collection of casual Adventure Games to cast your eye across. AdventureGamers.com have just published their Casual Adventure Game round-up for releases in March 2011. As they cover the good and the bad of the past month of lite Adventure Games, available on the internet, several contributors pass their judgement over a selection of titles. This month, I reviewed Puppet Show: Lost Town - the third game in the Puppet Show series from ERS Game Studios.

Created by the same team who made Maestro: Music of Death - which I looked at in February, there are a lot of comparisons to be drawn - not all of them favourable, unfortunately. Click here to read my review of the game and to see which other casual Adventure Games are worth a try this month.

Review of Jane Jensen's Gray Matter

Fans of the Gabriel Knight series have been waiting for over a decade for the next instalment in the franchise. unfortunately, that has not yet come to pass, but a new project from creator Jane Jensen (I say new, it has also been in development for around eight years) has just been released on PC and Xbox 360, and it shares many of the same elements that made the Gabriel Knight games so beloved.

In my full review at Godisageek.com, I delve deeper into the supernatural mystery that delves into the history of Oxford and the world of Magic. The game mechanics may be a bit hit or miss and the console conversion nowhere near perfect, but the game will reward the persistent adventurer and long-time fans of the genre will find plenty here to appreciate. So go on, read the review and see if it has been worth the wait.

More Casual Adventure Games - Back Once Again

Once again its that time of the month when website AdventureGamers.com put up their latest monthly Casual Adventure Game round-up. Covering the good and the bad of the past month when it comes to lite Adventure Games available via the internet, several contributors pass their judgement over a selection of titles.

This month I took a look at the spooky and mysterious Maestro: Music of Death. Set in Victorian Paris , the game concerns a troubling epidemic where locals are aging far too quickly and dying suddenly. As the chief Investigator, you will follow the clues to try and find the truth behind the illness. Read my review here.

The Game That Made Me Appreciate Action/Adventure Titles - Beyond Good & Evil

As the pure Graphic Adventure game started to decline in profitability and popularity, I was always wary of Action/Adventure titles. Games like Tomb Raider flooded the market and replaced the traditional Adventure games that had been so successful - the driving force behind the growth of PC Gaming. But now gamers wanted more action, they wanted 3D graphics. Less emphasis was put on story and character development - and I couldn't make the transition to Action/Adventures. I didn't find them interesting or involving. I began to fear good videogame writing was only present in a Graphic Adventure.

But then in 2003, Adventuring forums were abuzz with talk of a new game, and Action/Adventure hybrid - Beyond Good & Evil. Created by Rayman mastermind Michel Ancel, I was far from convinced by his back catalogue. I couldn't imagine the title having any real depth as I never appreciated the charms of Rayman - at least not until the Raving Rabbids got in on the act with him.

But real hardcore Adventurers were raving about this title. Players who would never normally touch action sequences with a barge pole were extolling its virtues. I however, remained unconvinced. I had already had some bad experiences with titles that were Action/Adventures, but had been recommended by pure Adventure gamers. For example, Outcast by Infogrames. In that game I certainly appreciated the music, design and story that it presented, but I loathed the gameplay and controls. I feel bad as I never gave the game a proper chance - I had my preconceptions and as soon as I met with the niggly navigation and often-unforgiving combat, I made my judgement. I wouldn't persevere. And that - as they say - was that.

Flash forward to summer 2004. With an ageing PC I was resorting to the PlayStation 2 for the majority of my gaming needs. Lacking any great single-player titles I hadn't tried already, I thought of Beyond Good & Evil. Could I put my reservations aside and give it a real opportunity to win me over. I tentatively took the plunge.

And how my fears were proved wrong. The game was more original and compelling than any point-and-click game of the time. The ideas and subject matter the game explored were mature and exciting, the game mechanics innovative and genre-defying. This game definitely deserved gamers' time.

But it was sadly unsuccessful at retail. Gushing gamers and critics with loving reviews couldn't help - the game suffered from poor marketing and a crowded release slot and never reached its full potential. Revered by those who did play it, it became a forgotten classic.

Until now. A High Definition remake has just hit Xbox LIVE, opening the game up to a whole new audience. It needs to be played to understand, but to get a better I dea why it is so good, read my full review here. I just hope that this time around, more people take a chance, like I did, and sample its delights.

The AdventureGamers.com Aggie Awards!

Head over to AdventureGamers.com for the Aggie awards. The biggest end-of-year awards in the Adventure Gaming community. I myself was a part of the voting panel who decided the awarding of the accolades, and also contributed many of the award summaries related to Heavy Rain (which, if you have been following my blog for a while, you will see I have written about at quite some length previously).

So don't delay, see who the big winners in Adventure Gaming were this year, why they deserve those plaudits and also check out the readers' votes too, right here.