Recent reviews by captrench

This is a game thats all about ambience and story. The actual gameplay is limited, but this is cleverly hidden by the quality of the gameplay it does have, the atmosphere, graphics and story telling you experience on your way through.

Its not your traditional game that tries to impress you with in game mechanics and systems, permutations and sandboxy gameplay. Its a small game, exquisitely crafted and streamlined to be good at what it needs to be and nothing more. Its not a game trying to be a jack of all, but what it does do, its a master of.

Is it a game with lots of replayability? No.
Is it a game set in a massively detailed world with lots of interactive NPC's? No.
Is this a game for achievement junkies and Steam badge traders? No.

There aren't many games out there like this. In an industry where so many over hyped, max budgetted games under deliver on multiple fronts, it feels to me that the developers of this game wanted to craft a story experience, and focussed on that, rather than on all the other bells and whistles larger games include, and get wrong.

Would i recommend it? Yes.

This was a very enjoyable revisit to a great story and fun adventure. I played the original and all of its sequels when they first came out and even though i remembered roughly how the plot would flow, it was still fun and atmospheric to redo it, and a satisfying trip down my gaming memory lane.

Initially, i found the strength of Gabriels accent really annoying, and some of the lines really cheesy, but as i played that mattered less and less, and I focussed on the nicer graphics, story and plot.

There is a really useful hints function within your in-game diary that prevents the annoying stagnation and walls you can sometimes hit in puzzle/adventure games. There are two levels of hints. The first level is a gentle one, and wont completely steal the satisfaction of solving the puzzle or days tasks. The second level hint, if you use it, is a much more detailed "cheat", that will state plainly whats required. There is a timer function that prevents you clicking the hints straight away.

I really enjoyed replaying this game, partly out of pure nostalgia, and partly because it is a worthwhile modernisation of a fondly remembered game. I was especially satisfied by the art material and graphics from the original game being viewable within your in game diary also. That content gets unlocked as you progress.

If you have love for the original, and would simply enjoy replaying it with new clothes, buy this game (again). I did, and dont regret it.