Ben Jordan: Horror at Number 50 Review

The Ben Jordan cases continue to evolve as Horror at Number 50 sees Ben Jordan come into his own  when hired to work with other paranormal investigators for the first time.  While this case is Ben's most important yet, it still retains all of the positive qualities that made his previous adventures so entertaining.

Ben is beginning to get into his element, and he is invited to England to help on a case involving a century old ghost.  When he gets there, he finds that he's not the only paranormal investigator who was welcomed by the building's owner.  Now, for the first time, he has to work together with people whose methods differ from his own, yet are still among the best of their field.  This puts Ben decidedly out of his element for the first time in his short career, and the game is made all the better for it.

The new characters are really interesting, and it's really great to be able to interact with people from different paranormal backgrounds, from psychics to those with technological paranormal detectors.  No person here is two dimensional, as each are given interesting backstories and differing personalities to go with them.  The story really benefits from the interaction between Ben and the other characters, and it gives the game a different, yet welcome, feel when compared to the previous cases.  The puzzles are also well done, and they too benefit from the addition of other paranormal investigators, as Ben will often find himself having to work together in order to progress in their mutual investigation.

Note, however, that like the case before it, Horror at Number 50 did not receive a deluxe edition.  So, if you're playing these from the beginning while playing the deluxe editions of the first two games, the change in art direction and lack of voice over work will be a bit jarring.  However, the rest of the game's elements more than make up for it. The new characters are interesting, the puzzles are fun, and the music fits the game well.  Best of all, the storyline is entertaining, and the final battle is satisfying.  It's great to see Ben teaming up with other experts in the paranormal, and learning to hold his own with the best of his field.  If you like the classic 1990's adventure games from Sierra and LucasArts, you owe it to yourself to try this game out.  Ben Jordan's fourth case is definitely his best so far.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

The Perils of Man Episode 1 Is Out Now For iOS

The Perils of Man: Episode 1, the first part of the two part adventure with a game design by Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy of Autumn Moon (and co-written by Mocsy as well), is now out for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch for $4.99. Your five bucks will get you all seven chapters of The Perils of Man, as you'll get the first three chapters now in episode one, and the remaining four chapters at no additional cost once episode two is released in December.

The game is excellent, but if you'd prefer to try before you buy, chapter one (the first third of episode 1) is available on iTunes for free.

If you don't have an iOS device, you'll have to wait a bit longer. According to The Perils of Man Frequently Asked Questions page, they are currently developing the game for Android devices as well as PC, Mac, and Linux.

Gabriel Knight Anniversary Edition Out October 15

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 25th Anniversary Edition, the high definition remake of the original Gabriel Knight by Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road studio and her regular collaborators, Phoenix Online, will be released on October 15th.  You can pre-order it now from GOG.com or Steam for the pre-order price of $16.99.

The Perils of Man Episode 1 Coming September 30

The first episode of The Perils of Man has gotten a release date. The Perils of Man is an episodic adventure game designed by The Curse of Monkey Island lead artist and A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island co-designer Bill Tiller and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island and A Vampyre Story co-creator, and creator of 1954: Alcatraz, Gene Mocsy. The Perils of Man Episode 1 will be released on the Apple App Store on September 30th. Chapter One is out already. If you have an iOS device, make sure to pick it up, as it is excellent.

 In other news, another LucasArts veteran's current project has just been released. The final issue of Maniac Mansion co-creator Gary Winnick's five part comic book series, Bad Dreams, was released for digital distribution on Wednesday. The print issues are somewhat hard to come by (if you want to pick them up at regular price) since they sold out pretty quick, but you can pick up all issues digitally from Comixology.

Steam Curation

Steam has updated their website interface and added a new feature, Steam Curators.  You can follow these curators based on your interests to get recommendations on games to buy.

I've set up a Steam Curator page for The Adventuress, with several recommendations for adventure games, based on those reviewed on this blog.  You can follow it here if you'd like.  I'll be adding more recommendations for adventure games in the next few days (and I should have some new reviews up here too as well pretty soon).

A Golden Wake Pre-Orders Are Now Open

A Golden Wake, the first commercial adventure game by Grundislav Games, the developer of the eight case episodic adventure game Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator, will be released by publisher Wadjet Eye Games on October 9, 2014 for PC, Mac, and Linux. If you pay $14.99 to pre-order from the Wadjet Eye Games store before then, you'll also receive a free copy of the game's soundtrack and a Steam code which you can redeem upon release.

The Ben Jordan games were among my favorite freeware adventure game releases, so it should be interesting to see what Grundislav has come up with for their first commercial release.

The Journey Down Chapter Two Is Out Now

The Journey Down Chapter Two, the second part of Skygoblin's episodic adventure game inspired by LucasArts classics such as Monkey Island 2 and Grim Fandango, is out now for Mac, Linux, and PC on Steam and for iOS.