The Walking Dead: Around Every Corner Review

Around Every Corner is the penultimate episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead. It continues the high standard set forth by previous episodes in the series, and even manages to improve upon them in some areas as well.

The game takes place immediately after the last episode, with the group finally making it to their destination.  Of course, this being The Walking Dead, things don't go as well as they would have hoped.  Tensions continue to rise and the team continues having to deal with human characters just as much, if not more so, than the walkers.  The voice actors continue to do a great job portraying that tension.  The returning characters are great as usual, and the new characters shine as well.  This is the episode where the contest winner becomes a human character in the game, and that character is interesting as well, if understandably, a little under-used.

The art and animation is great as usual.  The expressions come off as nicely as before.  The new locations are interesting, and they are designed for exploration, without the invisible boundaries that, although fitting with the storyline, were obvious in previous episodes.  The music and sound effects also fit the game as usual, and manage to continue to set the tone well.

Telltale continues addressing fan concerns here.  There are more action scenes than before, with the QTE's much more limited than in earlier episodes.  The direct control shooting portions are much better integrated into the game this time around, feeling less like a mini-game and more like part of the over-all experience.  There is also a lot more exploration and adventure style puzzling.  The puzzles still aren't difficult, but there are more of them, making it a better balance of casual adventuring mixed about evenly with action.  The biggest thing here is that the choices you made throughout the episodes are really starting to matter here.  Characters really respond to you based on your actions and decisions in previous games, and the relationships between the characters matter here more than they have before.  There is also another game changing life or death choice here, like in episode 1, that will certainly change the way the final episode plays out.

Around Every Corner is the best chapter of The Walking Dead so far. It sets up the conclusion in a grand manner while still being entertaining and exciting in it's own right.  It's taken everything that previous episodes did well, and made them even better.  Your choices matter more here than before, the action scenes feel more like part of the experience rather than a mini-game, there is another life or death choice the likes that haven't been seen since the first episode, there is more to explore with more casual adventure puzzles, and the voice actors, music, and sound effects continue to shine.  The final episode has a lot to live up to, as this episode sets the bar higher than any casual adventure game by Telltale that came before it.

Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5

Ben Jordan: In Search of the Skunk-Ape Review

Ben Jordan: Paranormal Detective is a series of eight free adventure games starring Ben Jordan, a young man fresh out of college who decides to become a paranormal investigator.  In his first case, he heads to the Florida everglades to investigate a series of murders that have been linked to the Skunk-Ape, Florida's version of the Sasquach, a Bigfoot like creature that gets its unique name because it smells terrible.

There are two versions of the game, the original version, and the deluxe version which has improved art, an expanded storyline, and full voice acting.  Unfortunately, there are only subtitles when the voice acting is turned off.  It's a shame, because other than irritating voice of the protester, the voice work is pretty good, especially for a free fan game.  Ben Jordan's voice did take a bit getting used to, especially since his is the voice you'll hear the most in the game, but as the story started heating up, I had definitely warmed up to it.  There is also a man who is voiced well, but he speaks softly.  I had to turn my speakers up to hear what he was saying.  People who are hearing impaired or those of whom English isn't their first language will definitely need to opt for subtitles over voice work.  You can do so in the setup program by unchecking the voice pack option.

Luckily, the story line is entertaining enough to sustain interest in the game even without the voice work.  The search for the Skunk-Ape is interesting, and there are quite a few twists in the story line along the way.  The characters that Ben Jordan gets to meet and interrogate along the way are each given quirky, but believable personalities.  They are all a bit extravagent in their own way, but their appearance in and around a state park is completely reasonable.  The storyline is mostly serious, but there is a lot of humor sprinkled in.  Both the serious and the comical lines are written well, and the game straddles the fine line between the two very well.

The game is set up like Sierra adventure games from the 1990's.  You can choose icons to walk, talk, and look either by hovering your mouse at the top of the screen or cycling through them with your right mouse button.  The inventory, as well as the save and load screens, are also accessable at the top of the screen.   The Sierra influence goes beyond the interface.  When you use an icon with an item, there is a narrator who will make comments.  This will yield useful information, but it is also the source for much of the game's humor.  You'll find some references to classic adventure games tucked away in these comments.

The art work is very well done.  It's all low resolution, in the style of the early 1990's adventure games, but it's done very well.  Like those classics, they get a lot out of the small pixel space they have available.  The background art is lovely, done in a realistic style, with a nice amount of detail in each scene.  The characters are also done well.  The sprites are understandably limited, but the close up art of the characters are done well.  The aren't photo-realistic, and border between cartoon style and realistic, but they fit well with the style of the background art.

The puzzles are very much an homage to classic games, as there is no in-game hint system.  However, each puzzle is designed very well, so for most adventure gamers help shouldn't be needed.  Some of the puzzles require thought beyond what you are used to with the rest of the puzzles, which makes these puzzles some of the most creative in the game.  Another thing I liked with the puzzles is the notepad system.  Like all good investigators, Ben has a notepad and a pen.  He will often automatically write down important information in regards to a puzzle, and his notes are available to the player by clicking on the paper icon in the menu at the top of the screen.  This is handy, as there are times when you get stumped trying to determine how to obtain an item, only to forget the other items that are needed to complete a puzzle.

Case 1: In Search of the Skunk-Ape is a great start to the Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator series.  The deluxe version is definitely the version to get, since it offers many improvements over the original.  The art style, puzzles, and story are all fantastic.  The game manages to combine humor and serious tones quite well.  The voice work is mostly good, with a few exceptions.  However, the characters who aren't voiced as well aren't on the screen for long, and don't hamper the experience.  The one major drawback is the inability to have voice and subtitles on the screen at the same time.   The more quiet characters fall into the category of annoyances as a result, which is a shame since they aren't necessarily voiced poorly.   It's also  a short game, but this can be forgiven since it's available for free. Even with the game's flaws I still highly recommend this game.  It's one of the best free adventure games I've played.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Dreamweb Is Now Freeware at ScummVM.org

ScummVM has successfully negotiated with another copyright holder of a classic adventure game to release the game for freeware for use with ScummVM. The game in question is Dreamweb, a mature (15+) adventure game by Creative Reality from 1994 following a bartender who has been having some disturbing dreams. The versions available from ScummVM include both English versions (the uncensored UK version and the censored North American version) (as well as the UK floppy version), and French and Spanish versions.

Metal Dead Review

Metal Dead is a horror comedy adventure game that proves to be an impressive first game by Walk Thru Walls Studios.

The game stars two heavy metal music fans who find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.   The zombies seem to be heading towards a genetic research building, and the two soon find themselves in the middle of the infestation.  Luckily, the zombies seem to be distracted by their car, for reasons unknown, so the two set forth into the building to see if they can find some answers.

The graphic style is simple, but it works very well.  The characters have a charming look to them.  They are drawn in a cute chibi art sort of fashion, and it makes for an interesting contrast for the apocalyptic action happening around them. The backgrounds have a surprising amount of detail for the simple art style.  The whole game takes place in the research building, but there is a surprising amount of variance in the different rooms that you encounter.

The characters are interesting, and each one adds to the game's humor in their own way.  There isn't any voice acting in this game, but the writing is sharp and clever, so it makes up for it in a big way.  The humor is done right, and the writing is right up there with the best of the comedy adventure games by Sierra and LucasArts.  They also make humorous note of their influence, so you'll find some subtle references to the games from those companies in Metal Dead's dialog.

Despite the name and the premise, the game's music has very little heavy metal.  It's synthesized music, but as the classic adventure games from the early 1990's have shown, this can be very effective if it's done well.  Thankfully, it has been done well here.  There is a varied amount of music styles here, and each song fits the scenes perfectly.  It would have been nice to have a few more tracks, as you will hear some of the songs used multiple times, but they all are used well, so it's not a nuisance.

The puzzles are what make an adventure game, and they are done well here.  Like many puzzles in the comedy adventure genre, you have to make a few leaps of logic, as some of the puzzles don't match real world physics.  But once you realize that it's a cartoon world, and use that knowledge to solve the problems, all of the puzzles work well.  There are some clever puzzles here, and while none of them reach the head scratchers of the early adventure game classics, they do rank right up there with the best puzzles from companies like Telltale Games.

The Metal Dead is a satisfying comedy adventure game.  While there is no voice acting, the music, art, and especially the fantastically funny writing make up for it in spades.  The game is a bit on the short side, but it is not only a fantastic first effort by Walk Thru Walls, it is one of the best pure adventure games to have come out so far in this decade.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Blackwell Deception and To The Moon In Fall Bundle

The Indie Royale Fall Bundle includes the adventure games Blackwell Deception (part of the Blackwell series by Wadjet Eye Games) and To the Moon by Freebird Games, along with the games Oil Rush, AVSEQ, and Reprisal in a pay-what-you-want bundle, currently going for a minimum of $5.23 USD.

Harvey's New Eyes is Out in English Now

Harvey's New Eyes, the sequel to Daedalic's cult hit Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, is out in English now.  Rather than Edna and her toy bunny Harvey, This game focuses on a girl named Lily who sees goblins.  The game can be purchased online at many online retailers such as GOG.com, Steam, and The Adventure Shop for around $20 USD. In addition, the GOG.com and The Adventure Shop deals include the original Edna & Harvey: The Breakout for the same price.

Adventure Games in MacHeist 4

The Macheist 4 Bundle gives you 12 applications and games for Mac, for only $29 USD.  There are 3 more games and apps that will unlock at a point when a certain amount of bundles are sold.

Three adventure games are included in the bundle: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and Jurassic Park: The Game, all of which are through Steam.

The other games and applications in the bundle are: Artboard, Bejeweled 3 (through Steam), Courier, DiscTools Pro, Evernote, HDRtist, Radium, and Scriviner.  Additionally, Firetask will unlock for all bundle owners after 25,000 bundles are sold, and Bioshock 2 and Painter Lite will unlock after an unrevealed amount of bundles are sold.