The Light in the Darkness

For as long as I can remember there has been much discussion about whether video games are or can be “Art”. Often dismissed as mainly for children or as an inferior mode of entertainment (even though from the early 80’s at least video games have been telling varied and adult stories whilst entertaining millions of people worldwide) it’s only the last few years that video games have begun to be taken more seriously. While The Last of Us tv series demonstrated to a wider audience that games CAN tell good stories, games have begun to deal with more difficult and sensitive topics such as sexuality, mental health, the effects of war and immigration to mention just a few. That said there hasn’t yet been a game that I am aware of that deals directly with the holocaust. Until now.

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Seoirse DunbarComment
The Night is Grey

“If you don’t behave, the wolves will come at night. They will take you away, as you scream. Do you hear me, you spoiled little brat?”

So begins this game with this less than cheery quote. Who this is and who they are speaking to we do not yet know. But it’s certainly intriguing and sets the tone for what’s to come in this dark, mystery adventure game. We then see a man who has just escaped out of the woods from what appear to be some hungry wolves. Seemingly safe now, he takes a breather but just then he sees a light flash just ahead. Exploring a little further, he comes across an isolated house. Upon entering the house, he is surprised to see a little girl holding what appears to be a rifle pointed directly at him. Her mother has gone out to the generator but has yet to return. After convincing the girl he is not a monster, he decides to set out and bring the girl to her grandparents and if possible find out what happened to her mother. However, that will be a lot easier said than done as this means they will have to go back through the forest and hopefully avoid those wolves and other dangers which may be present.

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Seoirse DunbarComment
Into A Dream

Over the last few years more and more games have been dealing with mental health as a primary focus. We had Rainswept, Life is Strange, Sea of Solitute and many others. There is even a mental resources pack for gamers called Checkpoint. The latest game to tackle mental health is Into a Dream, the first game from Filipe F. Thomaz, who quit his day job in order to concentrate fully on making this game. It was a brave choice so let’s see if it was worth it.

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Seoirse DunbarComment
Beyond a Steel Sky PC Review

Revolution Software may be best known for their Broken Sword series but before Broken Sword, Revolution released Beneath A Steel Sky (now available for free on GOG). This game would prove to be immensely popular and since then fans have been clamouring for a sequel. Now, 26 years later, a sequel has finally been released. So is this a welcome return to Union City? Or would we have been better off staying in the Gap? Let’s find out!

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Seoirse DunbarComment
Marcella Moon: Secret on the Hill

There aren’t many games set in Ireland. So it was a joy when I discovered Marcella Moon: Secret on the Hill. Add to the fact that that this game is a Nancy Drew inspired mystery where you also learn about Irish culture and mythology and I was hooked. So is this a secret worth investigating or is it better left unresolved? Let’s find out!

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Seoirse DunbarComment
The Hand Of Glory (Part One)

As anyone who listens to the podcast knows, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was my first adventure game and remains my favourite game of all time. Everything from the story, the characters, the writing, the puzzles and the graphics have left a lasting impression unlike any other game I have ever played. Clearly I’m not the only one who still has an affection for that game as last year Madit Entertainment announced their first game, The Hand of Glory, was to be inspired by Broken Sword. On June 9th 2020 the first part of the game was finally released. Is this game a glorious release? Let’s find out!

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Virtuaverse

As the famous saying goes, you wait ages for a really good cyberpunk adventure game to come along and then two come along at once (or something along those lines). A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to review the fantastic Cloudpunk and now I have the opportunity to review the other highly anticipated cyberpunk game, Virtuaverse. If you are on the lookout for a retro game that feels like the adventure games of the good old days then read on!

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Seoirse DunbarComment
Summit of the Wolf

It’s not often that a game begins with a disclaimer that warns of the dark themes the game you’re about to play is addressing. The Summit of the Wolf, developed by Storycentric Worlds and published by Unimatrix Productions, is one of those games. The content warning was for strong references to child sexual and emotional abuse, and depictions of suicide. This makes it clear that The Summit of the Wolf is not gonna be a light experience, and sets the tone for the entire game. 

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Cloudpunk

We have been blessed with a number of cyberpunk adventure games in the past. We had the excellent Blade Runner set in the same universe as the film (which was also re-released on GOG thanks to SCUMMVM late last year). A few years ago we also had Technobabylon from Wadjet Eye. And more recently we also had NeoFeud which was included in the top 25 cyberpunk games of all time. But while all three games were very well received one thing that would have added to those games is fly around those worlds in hover cars. Ionlands look to change that with their new game Cloudpunk which aims to literally and metaphorically take the genre to a whole new level.

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The Complex

That Full Motion Video (FMV) games can be hit and miss is something I explained in my review of She Sees Red in February of this year. This particular adventure game sub-genre has a ton of potential. That game, to me, was proof that developers were taking it seriously again, and not using it as an excuse to show some female flesh (I’m looking at you, Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties), or use a famous actor to trick people into buying your product (that’s you, Tender Loving Care). With The Complex, Wales Interactive gives us a brand new entry into the FMV genre; one that is eerily current too, for the COVID-19 society that we’re in right now.

Full review here.

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The Blind Prophet

Demon hunting is usually a profession left for the first-person shooters or hack-and-slashers. Who didn’t like a nice game of Doom, or went mental on those pesky demons in Diablo or Silent Hill? But the point and click adventure game genre is surprisingly light on this subject. Granted, Monkey Island’s LeChuck is all kinds of evil, and recently Unavowed and Mage’s Initiation dabbled with demons, but it’s not as common as you would think. Developer Ars Goetia decided to change that, and they came out with The Blind Prophet (published by Ars Goetia, Plug In Digital and Maple Whispering Limited), in which you play a very specific hunter of demons

Full review here.

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Tomas BecksComment
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout – Anniversary Edition

Edna and Harvey: The Breakout is a point and click adventure game by Daedalic Entertainment. The original German version came out in 2008 and the English translation came out in 2011. Then why, you might ask, are you reviewing this game? The answer to that is simple: Daedalic Entertainment released an Anniversary Edition of the game, improving gameplay, polishing the dialogues and cleaning up the graphics. And that is the version I played.

Full review here.

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Tomas BecksComment
She Sees Red

Full Motion Video games (FMV) are quite hit and miss. On the one hand, we have classics like The 7th Guest, Phantasmagoria and Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, and on the other hand we have stinkers like Tender Loving Care, Night Trap and Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties. Even Netflix got on the FMV train with the recent Black Mirror episode “Bandersnatch”. It looks like FMV games are making a comeback, and now we have a new entry into the genre with She Sees Red, developed and published by Rhinotales.

Full review here.

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Tomas BecksComment
The Flower Collectors

1977 was an exciting and turbulent time in Spain. Their leader General Franco had just died in 1975 after four decades in power and Spain was just beginning to transition into a democracy. Despite this, however, the old guard traditionalists were unwilling to give up their power easily and were prepared to do just about anything to hold on to it. This is the unique setting of Mipumi’s latest game, “The Flower Collectors”.

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Seoirse DunbarComment
Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived

I love adventure games They put me in the shoes of someone I am not in real life, and allow me to do things I am not capable of in the real world. I love adventure games that take place in fantasy, horror or sci-fi environments, but also ones that take me to places on our planet that I have never seen before. This doesn’t always have to be an exotic location; it can also be a relatively mundane location, but with anything but a mundane story. This is exactly what the dark narrative game Interrogation: You Will Be Deceived gives us.

Full review here.

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Tomas BecksComment
Whispers of a Machine

Post-apocalyptic settings have always been popular in entertainment, and video games are no exception here. Especially in the RPG and shooter genres, this is an extremely popular setting, with the Fallout franchise as the most important title. And we’re not even looking at the countless zombie games that exist! But in the point and click adventure game genre this setting isn’t as common as you might think. With Whispers of a Machine, developers Clifftop Games and Faravid Interactive and publisher Raw Fury give us a new entry in an underrepresented genre in the adventure game world.

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Tomas BecksComment
The Secrets of Jesus (2019)

The Secrets of Jesus is a religious point and click adventure that takes a look at the story of Jesus after the crucifiction. Jesus did not die, but was rescued by friends and is now in hiding trying to escape the Romans. In order to do so, he must solve several problems and spread the faith around the Middle East in the 1st century. The game is developed by Amir Matouk and he calls it a “a real adventure with a lot of black humor and you decide at the end whether it’s a real story or a fake story.”

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Tomas Becks Comment
Night Call Review

“You are a taxi driver. Paris is your city and you know every corner of it.”

Paris has been the subject of many art forms. The city inspires people around the world, and has a huge history that someone can use to tell a story. MonkeyMoon and Blackmuffin Studio developed, and Raw Fury released a game that allows you to experience Paris from the viewpoint of a taxi driver: Night Call


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Tomas BecksComment
Heaven's Vault Review

Sometimes you’re playing a game, and you immediately know you’re playing something special. Very rarely, you will come across game and know immediately you’re playing something really special. Heaven’s Vault is that kind of game. It’s the latest game by Inkle Studios, who brought us the much acclaimed 80 Days (4 BAFTA nominations and Time Game of the Year 2014). I was really looking forward to this game, even though it only appeared on my radar a few months before its release. My expectations were high. Were they met?

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Tomas BecksComment