The Adventuress

Quadruple Serving of Telltale iOS Goodness

2012-02-10T03:29:00.000-08:00

There's been a quadruple dose of Telltale releases on iOS this past week.

Firstly, the Law & Order: Legacies Universal App for iOS which comes with episode 1 is free for a limited time. The remaining episodes are purchased from within the app itself either individually or in a pack for $12.99USD. The first five episodes are available now. Episodes 6 and 7 will be released at a later, not-yet-announced date.

Secondly, the fourth episode of Tales of Monkey Island is finally available for the iPhone from the iTunes Store. Only one episode left to go!

Thirdly, Back to the Future: The Game episode 1 for iPad is now available free of charge for a limited time. Additionally, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, and episode 5 have had their prices reduced on iPad to USD$2.99 each.

Lastly, Law & Order: Legacies Episode 5: Ear Witness, is now available for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch through the Law & Order: Legacies Universal App for iOS (which as I mentioned above is available free of charge for a limited time).

That should give iOS owners lots to play this month. PC and Mac owners will have to wait a bit longer to get their Law & Order: Legacies fix as there has been no word on when episodes 4 and 5 will appear on those platforms.

Double Fine Adventure Being Made by Fan Backing

2012-02-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

Double Fine Adventure Game Kickstarter page has been started for a point and click adventure game by a small Double Fine team led by Tim Schafer over a course of 6 to 8 months.

The official line is that the project will only be produced if $400,000USD in pledges is reached by March 13, 2011. But, forget that, since the project has only been up for a few hours and it's over $300,000USD already. It WILL be made.

So, go to the Double Fine Adventure Game Kickstarter page, pledge $15USD or more, and get yourself access to the game when it's finished on Steam, as well as access to the PC beta on Steam before the game's released. A documentary is also being made which will follow the team around step by step as they design the game. Pledges of $15 or more get access to the documentary too, as well as access to a private forum where they can discuss the game and offer advice to the team as it's being made.

Pledges of more than $15USD get more goodies. Check out the Double Fine Adventure Game Kickstarter page to see the list of pledge tiers and their rewards.

So far, the game is only planned to be released on PC via Steam, but when the pledge value goes over $400,000 the extra money will be put back in the game and documentary. This extra money could go towards more professional voice overs, or money to release the game on additional platforms.

Pay What You Want for the AGS Bake Sale Bundle

2012-02-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

The AGS Bake Sale Bundle is a new game bundle in the same vein as the Humble Indie Bundle and other similar bundles, where you pay what you want for the bundled games and the proceeds go to charity (In this case Child's Play, the charity that gives video games to sick children to enjoy).

There are 14 games in the bundle, and all the games are brand new games made specifically for the bundle using the Adventure Game Studio game creation utility. Not all of the games are adventures, but since they were all created using Adventure Game Studio, a number of them are.

Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Episode 1 on iOS

2012-01-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space (formerly Sam & Max Season Two) Episode 1: Ice Station Santa is now available in a universal app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. You can buy it from the iTunes App Store here.

As a bonus, there's some extras in this version: a soundboard that lets you play things said by Sam & Max at will, and a version of the Whack da Ratz minigame that lets you try to get a high score to compete with people from across the globe via a leaderboard.

Telltale have stated that episodes 2-5 of Season 2 will be coming shortly. There's still no word on an iPad release of episodes 2-5 of Season 3.

Law & Order: Legacies Episodes 1-3 For Mac and PC

2012-01-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

Law & Order: Legacies episodes 1, 2, and 3 are now available for PC and Mac. The remaining 4 episodes will be released later. All 7 episodes are available in a pack for $19.99 from the Telltale Games Store.

The episodes take place in New York and feature fan favorite characters from the entire run of the Law & Order franchise, including flashback scenes with Lennie Briscoe. The gameplay is similar to the Pheonix Wright series of games. Every episode is an individual case in which case is investigated first and then tried in court, like the show. Also like the show, it's possible to lose the court battle but the game doesn't end. There's multiple outcomes depending on how you do in court. Like most of Telltale's other games, and especially Telltale's later CSI games, the individual cases will be tied together at the end of the series.

You can buy Law & Order for Mac and PC here and for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad here (The iOS version is a universal app. The first episode is available with the app, the remaining episodes can be purchased within the app individually or in a season package). Episodes 1,2,3, and 4 are available now for iOS. The remaining episodes will be released at a later, as of yet unannounced date.

Jurassic Park Episode 3 Out for iPad 2

2012-01-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

iPad 2 owners can finally play the third episode of Jurassic Park: The Game, Telltale's interactive movie consisting of mostly timed button presses with extremely light adventure elements.

The story, music, art style, and voice acting are excellent. If you are not adverse to a game that consists of mostly quick time events (QTEs) and don't mind that the adventure portions are extremely light on adventure elements (these scenes consist solely of talking to characters, manipulating objects, and interacting with the environment. There is no inventory), then the game is worth buying.

You can buy it from the iTunes App Store here.

Law & Order: Legacies Episode 4 on iOS Now

2012-01-21T03:46:00.000-08:00

Law & Order: Legacies, Telltale's Law & Order series featuring characters from the entire run of the Law & Order franchise, now has a new episode available for the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad through the universal app available on iTunes. The app includes Law & Order episode 1, and you can buy the additional episodes individually from within the app or in a bundle.

The series consists of seven episodes. The remaining three episodes will be released for iOS soon. The game is also coming to PC & Mac, but no release date has yet been announced.

In other Telltale iOS news, the site is having a sale on iOS games. Most of Telltale's iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch games are $0.99 until January 29. You can view the games on sale along with links to buy them from Telltale's blog.

Domino Dialog in Grim Fandango Fixed (Updated)

2012-01-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

Grim Fandango has had a problem since release with a whole section of dialog near the end of the game not triggering for most people.

On the ResidualVM forums, giucam has finally figured out why that happens.

Apparently, the LUA file for Domino's second speech has the same check name as the LUA file for Domino's first speech. So if you talk to Domino in his office at the beginning of the game, you won't be able to talk to him the second time near the end of the game.

The dialog options for Manny's second meeting with Domino are rather lengthy, and most people never got to hear them. So now, finally, Domino will no longer be sitting silently at his office at the end of the world. Manny can finally get Domino to take those darn headphones off and talk to him. ;)

Update (1/13/12): It is now no longer necessary to patch the file yourself, as ResidualVM does it for you. Download ResidualVM here.

Law & Order: Legacies Episode 3 on iOS Now

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Law & Order: Legacies episode 3: Killer Smart is now available for iOS.

To get the new episode, you have to buy it from within the Law & Order universal app (which includes episode 1), available from iTunes here.

Inside the app, you can buy one episode for $2.99, or buy the entire 7 episode season for $12.99. If you opt for the latter, episodes 1, 2, and 3 will be available immediately, and the remaining episodes will unlock when they are released.

Law & Order: Legacies is also coming to PC and Mac, but no release date has been announced.

Infamous Adventures' Space Quest II Remake is Out

2011-12-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

Infamous Adventures has released their free fan remake of Space Quest II, which is available here. The remake is made in the adventure game creation program, Adventure Game Studio. It was made in the style of Sierra's later SCI remakes, giving the game a mouse controlled interface, removing the arrow key sensitive deaths, updating the graphics (the game aims to emulate the 256 color VGA graphics of the official Sierra remakes of the 1990's, although the game features a higher color palette), as well as new music, voices and sound effects.

It is made without approval of Activision (the current license holders of the Sierra franchises), but it has the (unofficial) approval of one of the original creator of Space Quest, Scott Murphy, as well as Josh Mandel, who performs the voice of David Letterdroid in this remake.

In other Space Quest fan game news, a new Space Quest fangame with a new storyline (also created with Adventure Game Studio) called Vohaul Strikes Back has also just been released. It's a good time to be a Space Quest fan, since the fans are keeping the franchise alive.

Myst is Coming to Nintendo 3DS

2011-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Myst, the game that is rivaled only by Tetris for the amount of systems it has appeared on, is set to arrive on yet another new platform: the Nintendo 3DS.

Hoplite Research is developing this version of Cyan World's popular adventure. It will utilize the stereoscopic 3D screen of the Nintendo 3DS and will include all five islands from the original Myst plus the RIME Age which was introduced in realMYST.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3 for iPhone is Out

2011-12-24T00:56:00.000-08:00

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan is now out for iPhone. It is available for purchase here at the App Store.

In other Telltale news, Jurassic Park: The Game is finally available to download on PlayStation 3 in Europe on the European PlayStation Network. The disc versions of the game on Xbox 360 and PC should be hitting European shores next year.

Law & Order Legacies Episodes 1 & 2 Are Out For iOS

2011-12-24T00:10:00.000-08:00

The first two episodes of Law & Order: Legacies, the seven episode series where you get to play fan favorite characters from the entire run of the Law & Order franchise, are out now for iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad in one universal app from the App Store. The first episode is available for purchase here, and episode 2 (as well as 3-7 once they are out in 2012) is available to purchase in-game.

The two episodes as well as the remaining episodes are scheduled in 2012 for PC and Mac as well.

Jurassic Park Episode 2 Out for iPad 2

2011-12-20T00:10:00.000-08:00

Jurassic Park: The Game Episode 2: The Calvary is out now for iPad 2. While the other platforms received all four episodes simultaneously in November, it appears the iPad is receiving the game in Telltale's normal fashion of one episode per month.

Jurassic Park: The Game is best classified as an interactive movie with extremely light adventure elements. It consists mostly of quick time events, a term that originated in Shenmue that basically means timed button presses. It's like an evolved form of gameplay from the Dragon's Lair arcade games. Unlike the old arcade games, the controls for button presses are presented on screen. The adventure element in Jurassic Park consists of scenes interspersed between the QTEs where you search a scene for clues on how to progress. You interact with characters by speaking to them, manipulate objects, and interact with the environment. There is no inventory. These adventure-lite scenes are similar to the crime scene portions of Telltale's CSI games.

If you take into consideration that the game is not a traditional adventure and are not adverse to the fact that many scenes that consist solely of timed button presses, then the game is worth buying.

You can buy episode 2 for iPad 2 from the app store here.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2 for iPhone is Here

2011-12-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay is now available for iPhone and iPod Touch at the iTunes Store. Chapter 3 is set to come out for the iPhone on December 22.

In addition to that, Telltale has some pretty big sales going on. Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1 is free for the iPhone for a limited time. Most of their iPad and iPhone games are on sale as well for $2.99. Get the full list of titles on sale from this Telltale blog post.

For PC and Mac gamers, most of Telltale's full seasons are on sale for $9.99. Once you buy a full season, you will also be eligible for the season DVD which you can get for just the cost of shipping. The complete list of seasons on sale is here.

In addition to that, three PC and Mac episodes are also free for a limited time: Back to the Future - It's About Time, Sam & Max - Ice Station Santa, and Sam & Max - The Penal Zone.

Stacking is Coming to PC

2011-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Double Fine's stacking won G4's best of 2011 awards for "best downloadable game".

In their acceptance video, Tim Schafer and Lee Petty included a quick note that Stacking was coming soon to PC.

The game is already out (along with an extra downloadable mission called The Hobo King) on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

Law & Order: Legacies Coming to iOS Next Week

2011-12-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

Law & Order: Legacies is Telltale's episodic game that was originally announced to be based on Law & Order: Los Angeles before that show's cancellation.

Law & Order: Legacies includes fan favorite characters from the entire run of the Law & Order series. The series will have seven episodes. The first half of each episode will deal with investigating the crime, and the first half will deal with prosecuting the accused. The game will have multiple endings, and it is your choice on whether the defendants are tried for manslaughter or murder. It's also possible to lose the trial, but still continue your progress in the game.

The first two episodes will be released on iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad in one universal app. The final five episodes, as well as PC and Mac versions, will be released in 2012.

Indiana Jones Adventure World: Warriors of the Sky

2011-12-10T03:13:00.000-08:00

Zynga's casual social adventure game for Facebook, Indiana Jones Adventure World, has just recieved an update with a new five part adventure with Indiana Jones.

Now in addition to Indiana Jones and the Calendar of the Sun, which had you working with a non-playable Indiana Jones in a race to find the calendar (which was said to be able to control eclipses) against fellow archeologist Doctor Forrestal (the skewered skeleton in Raiders of the Lost Ark, shown here alive and well several years earlier), there is Warriors of the Sky.

In Warriors of the Sky, Indiana Jones is asked by his friend Harold Oxley (from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) for help in finding the Temple of the Sky. Indiana Jones gets a lead on a piece of the temple in Peru, so you begin your search and get assistance from Harold Oxley over two-way radio.

The authentic Indiana Jones feel of the Indiana Jones missions is thanks to Hal Barwood (author of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine), who is credited in this game in the area of "narrative design".

It's still a Zynga game (so there's still energy depletion, requirements of requests to friends to receive items, and the optional ability to purchase in-game items with real money), but in my opinion it's worth the social game hassle to experience the story.

Jurassic Park: The Game Headed to Europe

2011-12-10T02:58:00.000-08:00

Kalypso Media announced that they are going to publish Telltale's Jurassic Park: The Game for PC and Xbox 360 early next year in Europe.

It is also coming out for download in Europe for PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Network this week. If you are in Europe, and you purchase a 12-month PSN Plus subscription before midnight on November 12, you will recieve Jurassic Park: The Game for free.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2 for iPhone Coming

2011-12-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

Tales of Monkey Island episode 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay for iPhone has been submitted for approval, and should appear on the iTunes App Store soon.

Enter The Story: The Count of Monte Cristo Is Out

2011-11-29T05:49:00.001-08:00

I missed this one when it was released in August. The Count of Monte Cristo is the latest game in Chris Tolworthy's ambitous adventure game series that aims to create interactive versions of classic literature.

This game improves upon the previous games based on player feedback. Actions can be completed by single clicking the right or left mouse button rather than the double clicking the right mouse button, and the middle mouse button is now supported for menus. It also has a much more focused story, as it focuses on one main central character, and the side characters now have full movement as there are fifty fully mobile sprites. More color has been added into this game by popular request.

The story is also improved based on feedback. There's less jumping around between locations, and clues are delivered wherever you are to reduce confusion. Also, due to reviewers early feeling the story moved too slowly, the story in this game has been adjusted to make it flow more quickly.

The Count of Monte Cristo is available for $7.99 USD or in a package with all five Enter the Story games for $14.99.

Indiana Jones Adventure World Video Preview

2011-11-28T14:36:00.001-08:00

More news is coming out about the change in Adventure World. It's going to become Indiana Jones Adventure World tomorrow, and an Indiana Jones themed map called Indiana Jones and the Calendar of the Sun will be playable.

Autumn Sales

2011-11-28T02:25:00.001-08:00

Just thought I'd give you a heads up that Telltale's iPad titles are 50% off and their iPhone/iPod touch titles are $0.99 until November 30th. Also, there's a lot of deals to be had at Steam's Autumn Sale (which ends in just over 7 hours), including most of Telltale's PC titles, the LucasArts Adventure Pack (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Dig, and Loom), and other adventures.

Indiana Jones Comes To Adventure World Tomorrow

2011-11-28T01:43:00.001-08:00

Adventure World, the casual social adventure game that combines Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures with Farmville, put out a new message today.

There's a 40% off sale on adventure dollars (the game's completely optional money system) today because Indiana Jones is coming to the game tomorrow.I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think it's safe to say Indy will be featuring in the game more than his current role as the sender of letters.

Hal Barwood (author of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine) updated his website to mention that he worked on Adventure World in the area of narrative design. So, it should be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

Sołtys is Now Freeware and in English

2011-11-27T05:35:00.001-08:00

The ScummVM downloads page now has a new playable freeware game. That game is LK Avalon's Sołtys, an adventure game where a groom runs away at the alter of his arranged wedding, and the bride's father goes off to find him.

The game was originally available only in Polish, but the freeware release is available in its original Polish language, and, for the first time, an English translation is also available. The game can be played with a ScummVM daily build.

Simon the Sorcerer Enhanced Soundtrack 2.1

2011-11-26T13:07:00.001-08:00

James Woodcock's Music Enhancement Project, the project where James Woodcock uses a Yamaha Tyros4 keyboard to create music that is faithful to the original MIDI music in the games, has had an update today.

The Simon the Sorcerer Enhanced Soundtrack has been updated. The second song (track02.ogg) had a single note that was out of place, which has now been fixed in this latest release. As with all of his enhanced soundtracks, this is playable with the original game using ScummVM.

Along with Simon the Sorcerer, he also released ScummVM compatible music for the games Simon the Sorcerer, Discworld and Inherit the Earth.

ScummVM Supports BASS Enhanced Soundtrack

2011-11-21T01:29:00.000-08:00

James Woodcock's Music Enhancement Project is a project where James Woodcock uses a Yamaha Tyros4 keyboard to create music that is faithful to the original MIDI music in the games, since modern MIDI output is so variable and rarely sounds like the developers intended.

Beneath a Steel Sky is available for free from the daily builds of the point and click adventure game interpreter, ScummVM.

James Woodcock also released ScummVM compatible music for the games Simon the Sorcerer, Discworld and Inherit the Earth. You'll need to own these games in order to play these enhanced soundtracks, because, unlike Beneath a Steel Sky, they aren't freeware.

All Episodes of Jurassic Park Are Out Now!

2011-11-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

All four episodes of the Telltale Games episodic Jurassic Park: The Game are out now for PC, Mac, Xbox 360, iPad, and PlayStation 3.

People who ordered the deluxe pack from Telltale can also download the soundtrack and commentary from the bottom of their "My Telltale" page.

ScummVM 1.4.0 "10th Anniversary" Released

2011-11-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

ScummVM, the program that lets you run many 2D point and click adventure games (most LucasArts, Sierra, Revolution, Adventure Soft, etc.) on modern systems and video game consoles, has been updated.

This release includes support for a new adventure game (Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch), a new children's game (Blue's Birthday Adventure), and a new non-adventure RPG game based on the same engine as the Kyrandia games (Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos). This brings the total amount of games (including non-adventures but not including fan games and demos) supported by ScummVM up to 172!

Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1 for iPhone

2011-11-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island, is now available for the iPhone from the iTunes app store. No announcement has been made, as of yet, about whether the remaining four episodes will also be coming to the iPhone as well.

L.A. Noire Complete Edition for PC is Out Now

2011-11-09T02:36:00.000-08:00

The L.A. Noire Complete Edition, a PC release of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 noire detective game L.A. Noire, has been released. The PC version contains the full game, originally developed by defunct Australian Studio Team Bondi and Rockstar North, as well as all console DLC from the game, including the 'Nicholson Electroplating' Arson case, 'Reefer Madness' Vice case, 'The Consul's Car' Traffic case, 'The Naked City' Vice case, 'A Slip of the Tongue' Traffic case, The Badge Pursuit Challenge, and all weapons and outfits released to date.

The Dream Machine Episode 3 Released

2011-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

The Dream Machine Episode 3 is now available, after just making its revised release schedule of October 2011.

Now the plot begins to unfold as you use the dream machine to save your neighbors. The episodes are available online with flash. The first episode is free, the rest are available individually or in a pack containing all five at 20% off for people who order before the last episode is released.

Doctor Who: The Gun Powder Plot Out Now

2011-10-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Gunpowder Plot, the first episode of the second series of Doctor Who: The Adventure games, is out now just in time for Halloween.

Other Halloween goodies that have a little bit to do with this blog include the Steam releases of an updated version of the platformer Psychonauts with a more lenient final level and cloud saves as well as a Mac version of Psychonauts, and a PC version of the Halloween themed Costume Quest RPG.

Also, Dave Grossman of Telltale Games has added a new pumpkin to his Pumpkin House of Horrors.

Doctor Who: The Gunpowder Plot Trailer

2011-10-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games are beginning their second series on October 31st. The first episode centers around Guyfawkes and the November 5th gunpowder plot. Like the first series, the episodes will be free for UK residents. Non-UK residents will be able to purchase the episodes at a later date.

Jurassic Park Deluxe Edition for PC/Mac Preorders

2011-10-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Jurassic Park: The Game now has a deluxe pack available for preorder, as unlike usual Telltale games, all 4 Jurassic Park episodes will be released at once for PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 15 (and iPad sometime afterward), and people who preorder the deluxe edition will get digital downloads of the episodes immediately upon release date.

The preorders are $39.99 USD, and will go up to $49.99 USD after release. People who have the discount code given to previous preorders before Telltale moved the date can get the deluxe version of the game for $5 USD plus shipping during the preorder period.

Back to the Future Out At Retail for Wii and PS3

2011-10-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game is now available at retail stores in the United States for the Wii and PlayStation 3 on a retail disc containing all six episodes for only $19.99 USD.

HD Remake of Leisure Suit Larry Out Next Year

2011-10-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

Leisure Suit Larry HD is an upcoming high definition remake of the original Leisure Suit Larry by Replay Games. The game is being designed with creative input from Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe. It is scheduled to come out next year for PC, Mac, XBLA, PSN, iOS, and Android.

Telltale's episodic Law & Order game coming Fall 2011

2011-10-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Telltale has announced that their upcoming game based on the Law & Order franchise will be coming out in Fall 2011, and that it will be episodic rather than straight to retail like its CSI games. The post doesn't mention the Los Angeles moniker (the show was cancelled shortly after Telltale's LA: LO game announcement), but at this point Telltale hasn't mentioned whether it will be based on Los Angeles, the main franchise (which itself ended in 2010), or the only surviving franchise (outside of Law & Order: UK) Law & Order: SVU.

Pay What You Want For Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle

2011-10-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

The Humble Indie Bundle, where you pay what you want for a package of indie games and decide how to split your money between the developers and charity, is back in the form of the Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle.

This bundle originally started out only including the game Frozen Synapse, but now it includes Space Chem, and the adventure game Trauma. In Trauma, you enter the mind of a woman who has been hospitalized after a car accident and try to make sense out of the images of her dreams.

If you pay more than the average price, you also get the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle, which, while it doesn't include any adventure games, includes the games Trine, Shadowgrounds, Shadowgrounds Survivor, the prototype game Jack Claw, and a preorder for the puzzle game Splot.

The Dream Machine Episode 3 Out in October

2011-09-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

The Dream Machine will finally be continuing in October, as episode 3 gets a release date after a long delay.

The Dream Machine is an episodic flash adventure game that is set to be released in five parts. It is unique in that the art is designed from clay and cardboard. The story revolves around a newlywed couple who discover an odd machine in their new apartment.

The first episode is free to play, and subsequent episodes can be purchased in a package deal, which is currently at 20% off for €13.75, or individually for €4.69 each.

You can view my review of the first episode here.

Hector: Beyond Reasonable Doom is Out Now

2011-09-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Beyond Reasonable Doom, the third and final episode of Straandlooper's raunchy Hector: Badge of Carnage, is now out for PC, Mac, iPad, and iPhone/iPod Touch.

Monkey Island SE Collection out in Europe

2011-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Activision has released a boxed version of the two special editions for the first two Monkey Island games for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in Europe.

The special edition collection contains bonus features such as the full soundtracks for each game, concept art for the two special edition as well as concept art for the cancelled ILM animated Monkey Island film (which reportedly eventually became the basis for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series). LucasArts has no plans to release the collection elsewhere.

Hector Episode 2 Available Now

2011-08-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hector: Badge of Carnage episode 2 is now available for PC, Mac, iTunes and iPhone. At the Telltale Games store, The price is $19.99 for the entire three episode season, but you can upgrade to the full season for $9.99 if you already own episode one.

Back to the Future PC DVD, Wii, and PS3

2011-08-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game can now be pre-ordered for PC DVD in two flavors: Collector's Edition and a Deluxe Edition which includes merchandise related to the game (like the Tales of Monkey Island Deluxe Edition before it). The collector's edition is $24.99 for those who haven't yet ordered the episodic season, and free (minus shipping and handling) to those to purchased the season from the Telltale store, while the deluxe edition is $44.99 for those who haven't yet purchased the episodic season or $19.99 for those who purchased the season from Telltale.

The Telltale blog also has news that Telltale is releasing physical versions of the game for the Wii and PlayStation 3 this holiday season. The releases will be published by Telltale, since they have become official publishers on both systems. Telltale also became an official Xbox 360 publisher earlier this year, but an Xbox 360 release has not been announced.

Captain Morgane Coming to UK This Year

2011-08-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

The spin-off of So Blonde starring Captain Morgane is coming to the UK in quarter four of this year. It was previously announced at last year's Gamescom conference that it is once again created by Steve Ince, and that the plot follows Morgane as she proves herself as captain, assembles a crew, and sails to several islands in search of treasure.

Humble Bundle #2 Included in Humble Bundle #3

2011-08-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

Humble Bundle is the collection of indie games where you can choose your own price, and also choose how much to give to the developers and how much to give to charity. They are offering 7 games as part of Humble Bundle #3, plus if you pay more than the average price you get Humble Bundle #2 at no additional cost, including the indie adventure game Machinarium. There's only a few hours left if you want to get in on this deal.

New Puzzle Agent 2 iOS version

2011-08-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

Puzzle Agent 2 has received an update on the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. It now supports 3G devices and newer, puzzle controls and usability are significantly improved, voice skipping has been fixed, cutscene graphics are improved, and some performance enhancements and other minor bug fixes have been included as well.

The Telltale blog also states that the iOS versions of the games are on sale this week. Puzzle Agent 1 is $0.99 and Puzzle Agent 2 is $2.99 for the remainder of the week.

All Back to the Future Games Out Now

2011-08-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

Telltale posted a blog post reminding everyone that all episodes of Back to the Future: The Game are out on all the platforms that are supported: PC/Mac, PlayStation Network, and iPad. Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch up as well.

Puzzle Agent 2 is Out Now

2011-06-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

Puzzle Agent 2, Telltale's sequel to the Professor Layton inspired puzzle adventure game set in Graham Annable's Grickle universe, is now available on PC, Mac, iPhone/iPod Touch, and iPad.

Back to The Future Finale Out Now For PC and Mac

2011-06-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

OUTATIME, the final episode of the episodic Back to the Future: The Game series by Telltale Games, is now available for PC and Mac. This episode features Michael J Fox as the voice of two different characters.

Today is also the day that all five Tales of Monkey Island episodes are available for the iPad from the iTunes store.

Double Visions Review

2011-06-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Double Visions is the fourth episode of the episodic Back to the Future: The Game by Telltale Games. After a troubled start, with the first two episodes being criticized for a lack of originality in puzzles and numerous bugs, things started to seem to be getting better with Episode 3: Citizen Brown. Unfortunately, Double Visions takes many step backwards.

This game takes place in two different time eras, the Citizen Brown alternate 1986, and 1931. The beginning section in the alternate 1986 is excellent, and the cutscene of the Marty and Citizen Brown escape is choreographed so well it actually felt like a scene from the film. However, the rest of the game is spent in 1931, and the game goes downhill fast from here. I do like 1931. I enjoy the characters of young Emmet and young Edna a lot. However, while 1931 seemed fresh and exciting in episode 1, it's gotten really dull by this point. Telltale did try to liven things up by having new locations. The new locations are Emmet's new lab, and the technology of the future presentation at the Hill Valley High School. The problem is that these are the only two locations for the majority of the game. The puzzles have Marty going back and forth between the two locations, which becomes very tedious very quickly.

The main problem is that there are some bugs in these two locations that make them very frustrating. I had to turn on pop up text because the clickable areas for objects were incorrect. I'd often find Marty leaving Doc's lab rather than interacting with an object, since the clickable area for the door extended too far into the lab. Turning on the pop up text revealed where the clickable area was, but that was a bandage rather than a solution since pop up text is supposed to be an optional feature. The most frustrating location was the highschool. Often I'd try to leave the area and I'd bump into Trixie who was pacing at the bottom of the screen. This would trigger a conversation with Trixie, even though I did not press any button to make this happen. With her walk path being right where Marty needed to be, this happened to me quite a few times. Another very annoying bug is that there was an instance where there was no voice and only subtitles. This was frustrating to me when I played with subtitles turned on, since it broke the story's hold on me. With the subtitles turned off, it would be even more frustrating, since you would actually miss a part of the dialog.

On the plus side, the puzzles have more variety this time. I enjoyed the puzzle where Marty had to find a way to leave the highschool. The puzzle with Emmet's invention actually stumped me, and I had to end up looking up a hint. It is nice to see Telltale adding variety and a harder difficulty level to the puzzles. The art design, voices, and music are all top notch once again as well. It's a shame there aren't any new characters in this game, however. The returning characters are the ones that I enjoyed the most in the previous games, but new characters would have went a long way to making the return visit to 1931 a lot more enjoyable.

After an excellent third episode, it's a shame this game took such a huge step backwards. The framing sections are fun, at the beginning and end of the game. However, it really drags in the middle. There are only two locations for the majority of the game, and those locations are riddled with bugs. The puzzles are more fun this time, and the music, voices, and art design are top notch as usual. However, there are no new characters introduced (nor are there any new alternate versions of characters already seen), and although the characters that are in the game are the most interesting of those seen so far, they are not enough to carry the game on their own. The ending sets up the final episode excellently, as usual. But, in the end, that's all that this episode seems to be: a way to set things up for the much more ambitious finale.

Final Verdict:

2½ out of 5

iPad Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1 Free Today

2011-06-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1 is free for iPad on the iTunes store is free today.

The other four episodes will finally be available for the iPad tomorrow, making Tales of Monkey Island the first full series Telltale has released for the system.

The Siege of Spinner Cay is now on the iPad in NZ

2011-06-15T21:39:00.001-07:00

The Siege of Spinner Cay, the second episode of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, is now available on the iPad from the iTunes store in New Zealand. It should be on the iTunes store in other territories soon. The remaining three episodes are forthcoming, but no release date has been announced as of yet.

New Puzzle Agent 2 Trailer + Release Date

2011-06-07T00:33:00.000-07:00

Puzzle Agent 2, Telltale's sequel to it's puzzle adventure game set in Graham Annable's Grickle universe, is set to be released on June 30th.

The game is now available for preorder at the Telltale Store. The preorder price is one dollar cheaper than the usual price, at $8.99, and includes the original Puzzle Agent at no extra cost (it can be gifted to a friend too if you already own it).

There's also a contest running where people who preorder get the chance to get the game about two weeks before everyone else.

In other Telltale news, Back to the Future: The Game: Double Visions, the fourth part of the five part series is now available on the PlayStation Network.

Michael J Fox in OUTATIME, Available June 23

2011-06-04T17:16:00.000-07:00

Outatime, the final episode of Back to the Future: The Game, will feature Michael J. Fox in two roles. Telltale has given a hint that one of the roles is of a McFly ancestor that Marty has met in the film trilogies.

The game will be released on the PC and Mac on June 23, with the iPad and PlayStation 3 releases following sometime afterward, at an as-of-yet unannounced timeframe.

Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso is Now Free

2011-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Mr Smoozles Goes Nutso, a game that combines the adventure and action genres into an arcade style experience, was made freeware in February.

The game is by Steve Ince, of Revolution fame, and stars the characters from his Mr. Smoozles online webcomic.

Back to the Future Episode 4 on iPad Now

2011-06-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 4: Double Visions is now available on the iPad at the iTunes store.

Episode 1: It's About Time is also free for iPad at the iTunes store for a limited time. Episode 1 is also still free for PC and Mac through Telltale's website.

The PlayStation Store is back up now in the United States, and apparently the third episode of Back to the Future the Game: Citizen Brown is now available on US PSN. The game will apparently be coming to UK PSN later this month.

ScummVM 1.3.0 "Runner" Released

2011-05-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

ScummVM is a program that lets you play various adventure games (such as most LucasArts, Sierra, Revolution, Adventure Soft, etc.) on many different systems including modern versions of Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, as well as Dreamcast, Wii, iPhone, and more. This new version is now playable on WebOS PDAs and smartphones.

The new games supported by the new version of ScummVM include Urban Runner, Toonstruck, Hugo's House of Horrors, Hugo II: Whodunit?, and Hugo III: Jungle of Doom. It also now supports the children's adventure games Backyard Baseball, Backyard Baseball 2001, Playtoons: Bambou, and several games in the Living Books series.

Back to the Future Episode 3 on iPad Now

2011-05-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game Episode 3: Citizen Brown is now available for the iPad from the iTunes store.

The episode was also supposed to be released on PlayStation Network on May 3rd, but that has been delayed because PSN was hacked and the PlayStation Store is still down. Sony says that once the store is back up (Sony hopes to have it back up by the end of May), all releases will be released quickly with several a day for multiple days in a week instead of the usual one a week release schedule, so PlayStation 3 gamers won't have to wait too long for their Back to the Future fix once the store comes back online.

Night of the Meteor Video and Theme Music

2011-05-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Night of the Meteor, the remake of Maniac Mansion using graphics inspired by it's sequel Day of the Tentacle, has some preview material available.

A trailer for the game in a style parody of classic horror films is now up at YouTube. The game's theme song, a remix of the Maniac Mansion theme in a Day of the Tentacle style, is available to listen to at the Night of the Meteor website.

The game seems to use a longer script than the original game, but it fits the humor of the series well. There's no release date yet, but work on the game is progressing steadily.

Harvey's New Eyes Officially Announced

2011-05-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

Harvey's New Eyes, the spin-off to to Daedalic Entertainment's Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, has been rumoured since August 2010, but now it's official.

The game stars a little girl who lives in a convent school named Lilli instead of Edna as in the previous game.

According to the game's website, the story is as follows:

"Seemingly the best-behaved little girl in the world, she [performs] all her chores in a diligent manner, no matter how unfair they may be. Her innocent, imperturbable way of carrying out the orders of others has something both tragic and eerie about it. Any angry thoughts, any childlike disobedience is buried deep beneath a seemingly impenetrable surface of sweetness. But how long will these feelings stay hidden? And where do the friendly little gnomes come from that paint over everything unpleasant in Lilli’s vicinity with a pleasant pink color? Are they real or just a product of her subconscious?"

Jurassic Park coming to PC, Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360

2011-05-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Telltale Announced that they have become an Xbox 360 publisher. Now they've confirmed that Jurassic Park: The Game will be coming to PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 this fall.

The Xbox 360 version will be a retail release with the full series on disc. Telltale previously stopped Xbox Live Arcade releases of their games after Microsoft pushed the release date back for the XBLA release of the Wallace & Gromit episodes. So, it makes sense for them to apply as retail publishers for that platform, as they aren't satisfied with Microsoft's handling of digital distribution.

The PC and Mac release date was pushed back to fall as well a few days ago as well, so all announced platforms will now be receiving the game in the same sales quarter.

Back to the Future: Double Visions PC/Mac Out Now

2011-04-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 4: Double Visions is out now for the PC and Mac.

The game will be also be released for the PlayStation Network and iPad at a later, as of yet unannounced, date.

Hector Episode 1 on PC and Mac now

2011-04-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hector Episode 1: We Negotiate With Terrorists, Straandlooper and Telltale's raunchy 2D adventure game is now out for PC and Mac from the Telltale Games Store. The iPhone version is already available at the iTunes store, and the iPad version will be released soon.

The season contains three episodes. The remaining two episodes will be released in the Fall.

Jurassic Park: The Game Delayed Until Fall

2011-04-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Jurassic Park: The Game, Telltale's upcoming episodic adventure game set after the first Jurassic Park film, has been delayed until the fall in order to refine the game mechanics and to make a better game experience, as well as to have the computer and console versions release at the same time (PC and Mac were originally scheduled in April, the console versions were always scheduled for fall).

The game is no longer available for preorder on Telltale's website, and everyone who already did preorder will get a refund plus a non-expirable coupon code for one Telltale game.

The full explanation can be read at the Telltale blog.

Grim Fandango is now completable in Residual

2011-04-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

After almost 8 years of development, Grim Fandango, the first 3D adventure game by LucasArts is now completable in Residual, the 3D adventure game engine based on the 2D point-and-click adventure game engine ScummVM.

This makes Grim Fandango compatible in modern versions of Windows (for which it was notoriously difficult to do with the native executable), as well as Linux, MacOS X, and Amiga for the first time ever.

Original Broken Sword in Director's Cut at GOG.com

2011-04-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Broken Sword Director's Cut at GOG.com now has a bonus added in. After numerous fan requests, GOG.com announced back in January that the 1996 version of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars is included as a bonus free of charge to anyone who purchases the Broken Sword Director's Cut from GOG.com for $5.99.

Frasse and the Peas of Kejick Bug Fix Update

2011-04-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Frasse and the Peas of Kejick, the freeware adventure game by Trumgottist, the current lead developer of the open source adventure game engine SLUDGE, has been updated.

This version fixes some problems people have been having with the game, notably a Windows-only bug where large scenes would start to shrink.

The game is available to play on all platforms supported by SLUDGE: Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Back to the Future: Double Visions Out Next Week

2011-04-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 4: Double Visions will be out next week for PC and Mac, according to this tweet on the Telltale twitter page. The PSN and iPad versions will be out at a later, as of yet unspecified date.

The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 Review

2011-04-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

The Dream Machine is a five part episodic adventure game by a Swedish development team called Cockroach. It is made with clay and cardboard, and is only available through flash capable browsers. The first episode is available to play for free, with the remaining four episodes available at cost per episode or in a bundle.

The graphic style of the game is quite stylish, and the character design is fairly reminiscent of Grim Fandango. You can tell a lot of care went into creating the game's world, as each location is hand-crafted but looks spectacular. The first episode takes place immediately after a new couple's first night in a new apartment, and takes place completely in the apartment building. The game is short, and there isn't a lot of variety in the backgrounds, but they are all done well.

The music isn't memorable, but it is suitably moody and fits the atmosphere of the game. The sound effects are all done well, from the footsteps to the crackling of electricity, and they help to add to the atmosphere as well. There is no voice acting, which is a shame, but for a game that exudes character as much as this game does, it's by no means a deal breaker.

The puzzles in this episode aren't too difficult, and are comparable in difficulty to the later episodes in Telltale's first two Sam & Max seasons. There is only one puzzle that needs logic beyond the "use object on another object" type of puzzles, and even that puzzle can be solved by trial and error. The puzzles do adhere to sensible logic though, and the puzzles that are there are done well. There just aren't many puzzles in this episode, and the game can be completed in under an hour, even on the first playthrough.

The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 is a short adventure game, but it has a great deal of charm that makes it worth playing. The cardboard and clay art style is presented in a very visually pleasing way. It lacks voice acting, but the story is compelling enough to make up for it. The game makes you want more by the time it reaches the end, which comes all too soon. In the end though, since this episode is free, I can't help but recommend it to everyone. It exudes a charm that overcomes it's short length and low budget roots.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Back to the Future Episode 3 Coming to PS3 on May 3

2011-04-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 3: Citizen Brown is coming to the PlayStation 3 via PSN on May 3rd.

You can read my review of Citizen Brown here.

Back to the Future Episode 2 Now Available on iPad

2011-04-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 2: Get Tannen! is now available on the iPad through the iTunes store.

You can read my review of Get Tannen! here.

Hector: Episode 1 PC & Mac Available for Preorder

2011-04-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hector: Episode 1 - We Negotiate with Terrorists, the formerly iPhone and iPod touch exclusive game developed by Straandlooper, has migrated to the Telltale Tool, and is now up for preorder for PC and Mac through the Telltale Games store.

The price is $9.99 (USD), and includes Puzzle Agent as a preorder bonus. The game is the first part of a three episode series. The remaining two episodes will be released in fall 2011.

Telltale to Release Law & Order: Los Angeles

2011-04-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

Law & Order: Los Angeles is the newest game to be announced by Telltale due to their deal to create games based on NBC Universal licenses. The game is slated to come out before the end of this year.

Puzzle Agent Out On North American PSN Today

2011-04-19T05:18:00.000-07:00

Telltale's puzzle adventure game Puzzle Agent is out on the PlayStation 3 today, coming with today's PlayStation Network update for $9.99, and is coming to the European Playstation Network soon.

Broken Sword II: Remastered Now Available on PC

2011-04-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

Broken Sword II: Remastered, the updated version of Broken Sword II with new close-up art and new interactive sequences in the same style as the Broken Sword Director's Cut is now available for PC from DotEmu and GamersGate.

It is also available for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad from the iTunes store.

Stacking gets it's first DLC with The Lost Hobo King

2011-04-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

Double Fine's puzzle adventure game, Stacking, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, has received it's first downloadable content in the form of The Lost Hobo King. Charlie travels to the Hobo kingdom where he must help Levi the Hobo restore the Hobo kingdom by reforging the Lost Hobo King's Crown. The quest is available for $5 through PSN and Xbox Live Arcade now.

Citizen Brown Review

2011-04-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

Citizen Brown is the third episode of Back to the Future: The Game, the five part episodic adventure game by Telltale Games. For the first time in this series, the episode takes place in only one timeline, an alternate timeline where Hill Valley has become a strict land ruled by order and discipline.

The game continues to shine in the areas where the previous games have excelled. The art style once again works well, and the new Hill Valley contrasts greatly against both the Hill Valley shown in the previous episodes of the game, as well as the Hill Valley of the movies. The town is recognizably the same, yet also very different, much like the alternate Hill Valley shown in Back to the Future II. Unlike that Hill Valley though, this one is neat and clean, which was a wise choice since that cleanliness fits the art style of this series perfectly.

Once again the voice work shines. Doc and Marty are voiced excellently once more, and AJ Locascio gets to flex his ability as an actor with a duo role as both Marty and of one of Marty's highschool acquaintances. Even though it's an alternate reality, it was still great to see Marty socializing with his peers, since not much of that aspect of teen life was shown in the movies. The greatest addition to this game, in my opinion, was Marty's girlfriend Jennifer, who is voiced by Claudia Wells, the original Jennifer from the first movie. They have digitally altered her voice to sound like she did when she was a teenager, and they did a great job. She sounds just like she did in the film. As I said before, I enjoy Andrew Chaikin's wimpy Biff, and since this alternate Biff fits that bill, he does the job well. The rest of the cast performed just as well, including some new takes on some previously introduced characters, as well as a character which was only just briefly seen in the first film.

The music is wonderful as always, and the musical cues and sound effects from the movies are used to great effect here. The issues I had with technical side of the sound has finally seemed to have been rectified here, as I played the game twice and didn't notice the characters calling Marty the wrong name this time. He was called by the name I chose in my first playthrough of the first episode consistently. I also didn't encounter any lipsynching glitches in this episode either. This seems to be the most polished episode thus far.

The puzzles have improved, and fan feedback was taken into effect. There are no repeats from puzzles from previous episodes here (the Einstein sniffing puzzles are thankfully behind us now it seems), and the puzzles that are there require a bit more thought. The game is still easier than most Telltale games (especially at this point in the season), but the game no longer seems to hold your hand for each puzzles unless you have the optional hint objectives turned on.

Citizen Brown doesn't have any time travel, but nonetheless it features the best story of the season so far. It also seems to be better play-tested, since I didn't encounter any bugs or glitches in this episode. The voice acting is excellent as usual, the art is wonderful, and the musical score and sound effects are used to great effect. It is most certainly the most polished episode of the series so far. The game's main drawback is still the puzzles. They are more difficult than previous episodes, but they are still easier than other Telltale games, especially considering we are now at the middle of the season.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Shadows of the Vashta Nerada Review

2011-04-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

The final episode of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games starts right where the last episode left off. But, does it continue on the high notes hit with the previous episode, or does it fall flat?

I was excited about this episode when it was announced. The Vashta Nerada are among my favorite Doctor Who monsters, and their television story, the two part episode "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" was one of the most nerve wracking episodes I've seen. The creatures are shadows who lurk in the darkness, feed on the living, and can possess the suits of their victims alowing them to move about in a zombie-like fashion. They are unbeatable, with only light as their weakness. This seemed like a great idea for a video game, and one that would make great use of the stealth gameplay introduced in the first episode. In reality, it comes close to my expectations but it's let down a bit by it's seemingly rushed state.

The story is great, and is one that could have easily have been told in the television programme. The voice acting has been getting better with each episode, and it is very good here. Only a scene where the Doctor and Amy were laughing felt forced this time, the rest of the voice acting flowed naturally. The new characters are voiced well as well. I especially liked the supercomputer, who the Doctor bonded with after he made a funny remark about the computer's mundane duties. The music and sound effects are excellent as always. The score from the main series is used here to great effect as usual.

The whole episode takes place in an underwater facility, but there is surprisingly a great deal of variety in the locations. The episode takes place during Christmas, since the BBC wanted to launch both the television christmas special "A Christmas Carol" and this video game episode on the same day. So, when you're running throughout the tunnels, you'll find rooms decorated with Christmas decorations along with the plain blue-grey rooms.

The fact that this episode was out in time for Christmas is the main reason it failed to live up to it's expectations. The game felt rushed. There were actually parts of the game where I fell through the floor and respawned at the entrance of the room. I didn't encounter any game-breaking bugs, but it's a shame that bugs as serious as this crept up into an otherwise fun episode. There also weren't a lot of puzzles this time around, and the ones that were there were repeated often. The game mostly was comprised of the stealth-like gameplay where the Doctor and Amy had to keep out of the shadows. I found this gameplay fun, if a bit overused, but I would have liked to have seen a variety of puzzles beyond the door puzzles that we've seen before. The last episode had a new puzzle that brought used the fun facts in gameplay. It would have been great to have seen something like that here as well.

The story part of Shadows of the Vashta Nerada is a great continuation of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games. The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag though. The puzzles are overused, and consisted of mainly door puzzles we've seen before. The stealth gameplay was fun, but it too became a bit tedious with overuse. The bugs present in this episode are the biggest concern. While none of the bugs were game-breaking, they were enough to take me out of the game. If you're a Doctor Who fan, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada is worth playing, but the fact that the game feels rushed makes it difficult to recommend the game to anyone else.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Get Tannen Review

2011-04-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Get Tannen is the second episode in Telltale's Back to the Future: The Game, an episodic adventure game series that chronicles the adventures of Marty and Doc after the Back to the Future movies. This episode takes place immediately where the last episode left off, and manages to capture the charm of the first episode while having a bigger story and beefier gameplay.

The art style is really starting to grow on me by this point. The style seemed to fit the game in the first episode, but here it just shines. We finally get to see the underbelly of the prohibition era Hill Valley, and with that comes some interesting new locations and new characters. The models of the new characters are great, and their personalities would be right at home in one of the movies. I really enjoyed the character of Trixie Trotter, and it was great to see Jennifer's relatives visited in a Back to the Future story for once.

The voices are all great once again. The new voices fit their characters and don't feel forced, and Marty and Doc sound great as usual. We get to see Biff as an antagonist in this game, and it feels a bit jarring at first that he still sounds like wimpy Biff. The feeling was short lived for me however, as I realized that this is an alternate Biff from the ones we've seen, and his character changes make sense for him to be a bit of a wimp.

As for the music, the main Back to the Future score is still used here as it was in the first game, and once again it is used remarkably well. Beyond that, Back to the Future always has music playing from the era that Marty finds himself in, and this game doesn't disappoint there. Trixie Trotter sings various musical numbers when she's on stage, and I enjoyed each one of them.

The puzzles are still easier than usual, but they are improving. I particularly enjoyed one puzzle that was an homage to a puzzle in Monkey Island 2, and required thought rather than just the usual object clicking. The one thing that I didn't like in this episode was that some of the puzzles seem very repetitive by now, which was a trait that also kept Doctor Who: The Adventure games from being as good as they could have been. The Einstein sniffing puzzle were fun the first time, but they were brought back several times in this episode, and they just feel overused now. This game also suffers from the same animation and script glitches that the first episode had. I liked the idea of the characters calling you by the name you chose in the first episode, but since I played through the first episode twice and chose a different name the second time, the characters will alternate between those two names in this episode rather than staying consistent. These glitches didn't keep me from enjoying the game, but they were definitely a minor hindrance.

Get Tannen keeps the tradition of great storytelling and excellent music and voice work that Telltale is known for. Unfortunately, the game suffers from some repetitive puzzles and a few annoying glitches. They aren't bad enough to stop anyone from enjoying the game, because the excellent story, voiceovers, and music make up for it. Telltale's games have a tendency to improve from the third episode onward, so hopefully in the next episode the puzzles and presentation will match the bar set by the story and sound teams.

Final Verdict:

3 out of 5

Citizen Brown Out Now for PC and Mac

2011-03-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

Citizen Brown, the third episode of Telltale's Back to the Future: The Game, is out now on PC and Mac.

Episode two, Get Tannen, is also out now for PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network.

Gray Matter Now Out Worldwide

2011-02-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Gray Matter,Jane Jensen's (of Gabriel Knight fame) return to adventure gaming, is now out in the UK and North America (as well as Germany and Spain, which received a release last year). The game is also available on the Xbox 360 in the UK. There are no announced plans for an Xbox 360 release of the game in North America.

Hector: Badge of Carnage Continued by Telltale

2011-02-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

The final of the five games Telltale revealed is Hector: Badge of Carnage, the raunchy adventure game for the iPhone, that will be continued by Telltale in two episodes. The first episode will also be refitted into the Telltale Tool, and re-released for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC.

King's Quest Reboot Coming from Telltale

2011-02-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

The fourth game Telltale is working on is an episodic adventure game set in the world of Sierra's King's Quest (the rights of which now belong to Activision). The game is called a reboot, but Telltale's Steve Allison likened the reboot to Tales of Monkey Island, which was really a continuation of the storyline rather than a reboot of the franchise. He also stated the deal with Activision for King's Quest includes all new episodes and multiple series, so we might be seeing more than one season of King's Quest.

I've always wondered what a LucasArts-style King's Quest game would be like. Since Telltale were formed with mainly LucasArts veterans, and they employ an evolved version of that style with an episodic flair (which was originally going to be used in LucasArts' own Sam & Max Freelance Police, which itself led to Telltale's creation), it looks like I'm finally going to be able to find out. :)

Puzzle Agent 2 Announced + Trailer

2011-02-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

The third game of the five Telltale is working on is a sequel to their surreal spooky puzzle game Puzzle Agent, simply titled Puzzle Agent 2. The tagline of the game is "Solve the Mystery of Scoggins", so it would seem this game completes the story that began in the original Puzzle Agent. The game is slated to come out on PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad. No release date has been set yet.

Jurassic Park: The Game Trailer and Release Date

2011-02-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

The GameTrailers exclusive trailer for Telltale's Jurassic Park episodic adventure game is now available for viewing.

The first episode of the game, which is inspired by the gameplay of Heavy Rain, is scheduled to be released in April 2011 for PC and Mac, and is now available to preorder at The Telltale Games store. It hasn't been confirmed to be coming to any consoles yet, but it's fairly certain it will be coming some time after the PC and Mac release to at least one of the big three.

Telltale to Make Fables and The Walking Dead Games

2011-02-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today is the day of Telltale's big press conference will be held where they will reveal five new titles in production. Two of the titles have already been revealed by All Things Digital. Telltale has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing agreement with Warner Bros. to develop games based on the DC Comics properties Fables and The Walking Dead, the latter of which was also turned into a hit television show.

The other three titles haven't been announced yet, since Telltale has placed a press embargo on the titles that will be lifted in the days to come.

Get Tannen Now!

2011-02-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

Get Tannen, the second episode of Back to the Future: The Game, Telltale's five part episodic adventure game series chronicling the adventures of Marty and Doc after the movies, is available on PC and Mac now!

Back to the Future: Get Tannen Trailer

2011-02-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

The trailer for Get Tannen, the second episode of Back to the Future: The Game, is available to view now. The trailer shows off the two new characters in this episode: Trixie Trotter and Officer Parker, and reveals a bit about what time periods Marty and Doc will be visiting this time around. This is just speculation, but the game is probably coming out today. The trailer says the game is out now, and the Telltale Games website is down for maintenance, which usually means that a release is imminent.

Back to the Future: It's About Time Out On PSN

2011-02-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

The first episode of Back to the Future: The Game, It's About Time, is now out on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network in North America. The game is the first part of a five part series, the second of which should be releasing (on the PC at least) any day now. According to Telltale's blog, the iPad version of the first episode should also be released soon.

Double Fine's Stacking is Out Now

2011-02-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Double Fine's downloadable puzzle adventure game starring Russian nesting dolls is now out in North America on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

Stacking Coming to XBLA and PSN On February 8

2011-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

Double Fine is creating a downloadable puzzle adventure game that gets rid of the inventory by making the characters the inventory. The characters are the puzzles as well. In the game, you play as a Russian nesting doll that has the ability to go inside and control any nesting doll one size larger than yourself. Other nesting dolls have access to new places and abilities that you don't possess, so the challenge is to add and shed dolls depending on what size doll you need to get inside.

The game is being created with the Brutal Legend engine, and will be released on February 8th in North America on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

A Vampyre Story: Year One

2011-01-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

A Vampyre Story: Year One was announced last year, but I missed the news. It is the prequel to A Vampyre Story, a game by Autumn Moon Entertainment, lead by The Curse of Monkey Island art director Bill Tiller. This game will be downloadable and episodic, and will consist of five episodes. The game will feature Mona the vampire and Froderick the bat before the start of A Vampyre Story, and will let players explore new parts of Castle Warg and Draxylvania that weren't shown before.

The game will be available first as an exclusive on the Apple iPad, and a while later a PC version will be released.

Also, while I'm posting about A Vampyre Story, the original A Vampyre Story was added to the GameTap premium pack (for which a 14 day free trial is available), so if you're like me and have yet to play it, now's your chance.

Puzzle Agent Price Slashed in Half

2011-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Telltale's spooky Professor Layton inspired puzzle game based on Graham Annable's Grickle comics and short cartoons, is now $4.99. At this price I whole-heartedly recommend the game to everyone.

Also, I normally only mention these additions on the top of the site, but since I'm talking about Puzzle Agent, I'll mention it here too. I added a Puzzle Agent Injokes page with 2 injokes.

The Dream Machine Chapter 1 and 2 Out Now

2011-01-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

The Dream Machine is a point and click graphic adventure game in Flash, created in a claymation style with music, but with text with no voice work. The game will take place over five chapters. The first chapter is completely free, and the second chapter is available now as a single purchase or as part of a discounted bundle. The next three chapters will be released over the coming months.

It's About Time Review

2010-12-26T23:12:00.000-08:00

Back to the Future: The Game: Episode 1: It's About Time is Telltale's first game to be released as part of their partnership with Universal. It is a direct continuation of the story as featured in the films, taking place six months after the events of Back to the Future Part III. Like Tales of Monkey Island before it, the Telltale crew has consulted one of the creators of the license, in this case Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale, in order to keep the game faithful to the films. The result is very impressive, but there are a few hiccups in Telltale's first foray into the Back to the future universe.

Telltale has opted to interpret the game in the art style of their other humorous adventures, rather than using realistic characters and scenes like their CSI games. The result is very pleasing, especially considering Telltale targets low-end hardware as much as high-end hardware so they can attract as many audiences as possible. This is a good thing, as it helps keep the game out of the uncanny valley. Telltale has captured the look of the Back to the Future characters very well in this style, and the characters do exude more emotion in their faces and movements than Telltale's previous games. The animation is still stiff, but they still managed to capture the erratic nature of Doc Brown well. The background images also are done well. They captured the look of the iconic images from the films, and the re-imagining of the town of Hill Valley in the a different time period was just as fun to see as it was in the films. I did notice one hiccup with the animation where characters mouths were moving when no words being spoken. It didn't happen too long, and it only happened once, so it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the game too much.

In this case, the time period visited is the 1930's during the prohibition era. We also get a glimpse of the 1980's at the start of the game, and here from all of the main cast except for Marty's girlfriend Jennifer. Telltale did a remarkable job in finding voice sound-alikes. The only actor to return from the films was Christopher Lloyd as Doctor Emmett L. Brown, and he still does the character brilliantly. A.J. Locascio is just as spot-on as the marketing for the game led you to believe. It really is amazing how much he sounds like Michael J. Fox as Marty. The rest of the cast isn't as eerily accurate, but they do sound like the characters from the films. We only get to hear Lorraine, Marty's mom, in the opening, but she does a classic line from the films, and she nails it. George McFly is very convincing as well, and we get to hear more from his middle aged self than we ever do in the films. We only get to hear Biff as his pushover middle aged self, but Andrew Chaikin has his voice afflictions down. The new characters are also all voiced very well. I especially like James Arnold Taylor as the 17 year old Emmett L. Brown. He has Doc's vocal oddities down pat, and really does sound like a young Christopher Lloyd. Members of the Tannen and McFly family always show up in the past, so here we get Artie McFly, Marty's grandfather, who looks very much like Marty's dad, and sounds a lot like Crispin Glover in George McFly's teenage years. We also finally get to see Biff's father, who was absent in the films. He's a gangster named Kid Tannen, who surprisingly doesn't look or sound like Biff, but rather has a New York accent. It's a bit of a departure from the films, who always had the actors portray their relatives. However, it works well. My favorite new character is Edna Strickland. Her 1980's elderly voice is a bit jarring, as it sounds a bit forced. However, the voice is given a lot of range, so it doesn't quite jar as much as the Soda Poppers did in Telltale's Sam & Max series. Her 1930's voice on the other hand, is very well done. Her voice fits her character perfectly, and in retrospect, the 1980's voice does as well since we see how her character got to be the way she is 55 years later. As long as Telltale doesn't overuse elderly Edna in future episodes, I'm sure her character will sit just fine with most people.

The music is always a high point in games by Telltale Games, and it certainly doesn't disappoint here. he thing I was glad about was that get to hear period music in 1930's, as was the case in the movies, and fans will be glad to know there's a bit of Hewey Lewis and the News in there as well. As far as orchestration, Jared Emerson-Johnson does a great job blending the film's soundtrack with new music. The soundtrack that is taken from the films is the original orchestrated score, which helps bring a sense of grandeur to the game. The new music is not performed by a full orchestra, but it fits in the game just fine. As evidenced by Poker Night at the Inventory, Jared is skilled at blending different music styles together, and he does the same remarkable job here.

Telltale's first episodes in any season always have easier puzzles than usual, but since they were aiming to attract an even more casual crowd than usual, the puzzles are easier than most of their first episodes. A previous interview mentioned that Telltale were taking steps to attract even non-gamers, and the problems mentioned have been addressed here. There is now an objective screen, which will tell players what they have to do next. This can be turned off in the options, with the exclusion of the intro tutorial which is similar to that found in the first episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse. Even when the objectives are turned off, they can still be viewed by clicking the exclamation point in the right corner of the screen. The hints system has also been overhauled, getting a system similar to the Universal Hint System format, where the player can get a simple hint, a more detailed hint, or a hint that tells the player what to do. I have always liked the UHS format because players can choose how detailed of a hint they want, so I'm glad to see Telltale adopt the format in-game. I personally didn't have a problem with the easy puzzles and the catering to casual gamers, as the rest of the game design made up for it in my opinion, but it may be a problem for some.

It's About Time is a great start to what looks to be another great series for Telltale Games. The story, voice acting, art design, and music all stay faithful to the source material. The story is engrossing, and it makes you want more. There are a few technical hiccups which take you out of the experience somewhat, but they happen few and far between. The puzzles are easier than a lot of adventure gamers would like, but in my opinion the rest of the game design makes up for it. The game shouldn't disappoint most people who are fans of Back to the Future and the adventure genre.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People For PSN

2010-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, the five part episodic adventure by Telltale Games starring characters from Homestar Runner is now available for the PlayStation 3 through their PSN download service.

Back to the Future: It's About Time Out Now

2010-12-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

It's About Time, the first episode of Telltale's five part episodic Back to the Future: The Game, is now available for PC and Mac. The episode follows Marty as the DeLorean suddenly appears and he has to travel back in time to save the Doc.

The game will be released on iPad and PSN at a later date.

Doctor Who: Episode 4 Available Now in the UK

2010-12-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

The fourth and final episode of the first season of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games has received an early release in the UK for PC and Mac. This episode takes place right where the last episode left off, with the doctor and Amy in an undersea colony. The episode sees the return of the Vashta Nerada, the monsters from The Silence in the Library.

Those outside the UK will have to wait until the game is released on Direct2Drive (for $4.95 for a single episode or available in a bundle) to play the game.

Four Adventure Games Ported to Apple iOS

2010-12-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, the first episode of Telltale Games' Tales of Monkey Island, is now out on iPad. The 7th Guest, Trilobyte Games' 1993 first person horror adventure, is also available on iPad, as well as iPhone and iPod Touch. Broken Sword II: Remastered, a remastered version of Broken Sword II in the same vain as Broken Sword: Remastered is also now available on iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Finally, Riven, the sequel to Myst, is now available for iPhone and iPod touch. The iOS platform has certainly become a great venue for adventure games.