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Intense Degree’s AGS gaming journal
I miss this journal. It was a great idea Intense Degree!
I’ve really enjoyed the recommendations so far.
Hmmm, i’ve been planning to get this up and running again for a while, I think I had even started a couple of reviews before I went on “hiatus”! I might have to give it another go.
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
That would be great!
Prodigal
OK, following a long break for this thread it’s now back up and running with an old AGS horror/thriller classic - Prodigal. Released back in 2005 this is a great little game with high production values (although more on this below).
I should start by saying that I’m not always into horror games and this is because they often aren’t done very well, relying on loud noises and gory images which frankly I’m not really interested in. For my money, the best horror is more subtle and sneaks up on you, it isn’t the seen, but the unseen which really does the job. Obviously this is hardly original thinking but this game does exactly what I like, you think you understand the horror as you are playing but a cruel twist leaves you with quite something else at the end.
The premise is simple. One day, out of the blue, Jacob (the player character) hears from a brother he hasn’t seen, or wanted to see, for some time. However, he is persuaded to meet Mike who tells him of some mysterious situation he is getting into with some unknown people. He wants Jacob to come after him if anything happens.
Sure enough one dark night he goes missing, his car left by the side of the road with no discernable sign of a struggle or any other reason for abandoning the vehicle in the middle of a wood. It isn’t long before Jacob tracks down an apparently empty (although clearly recently used) shack some way into the wood. As you would expect, strange things start to happen as you explore the area and the shack presents clearly more than meets the eye. However, don’t be fooled by the apparently standard clichéd start, things get better the further on you go.
Graphically, the game does look good for a freeware game although there is quite a variation in graphics as the screenshots will show (disclaimer - most of them were taken on my phone and therefore the quality is quite poor). Largely the backgrounds are 3d modelled with 2D characters, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea for starters. The character models are noticeably not as good as most of the backgrounds but are functional and OK. In cutscenes, particularly in the intro, close ups of characters are hand drawn in quite a different style. In short, there are quite a few different artistic styles going on which is strange at first but generally the whole holds together well.
(This last one is a view in a mirror which then pans out to see the room proper)
The intro is mainly in 3D with the hand drawn close-ups and runs together as a film with moving cameras and some really very decent backgrounds. Most of the game itself is more static, with the 3D rendered backgrounds and 2D characters.
The backgrounds are animated however, from smoke rising from a chimney and flies moving in lamp light to rather more sinister “horror” type elements which will be familiar to horror fans.
The sound is atmospheric by and large with typical “horror” sounds and creepy ambience which backs up the “empty” feel of the game (or certainly the first part of the game). Although it is a 3rd person game it somehow has the feel of a first person game to me, which may come down to the heavy exploration focus of the game.
However, the game is not in any way devoid of puzzles and chances are you won’t breeze through that far before having to employ the old gray matter to progress and track down Mike. Generally the puzzles are of a good standard and what you would hope for from an Adventure Game although there is one that falls into the “pixel hunt” category which annoyed me!
The story is a simple one - find the “black sheep” brother, but it is well executed and develops nicely over time. I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but it is fair to say that while you may think you see more or less where this is going from relatively early on in the game the ending definitely delivers on the horror front in quite an unexpected and chilling way.
The game is, in some ways, a bit of a hotchpotch of good things and not so good things but take it as a whole and the experience was certainly positive for me. It is quite a long game by AGS standards, easily a couple of hours and possibly rather more depending on how stuck you get.
If you can look past the oddities of the game and enjoy a horror/thriller scenario then this is well worth a look. The game won the AGS Award for “Best original story” in 2005 and was nominated for several other categories.
Download it here.
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
After a long hiatus, the thread that dips its toe into the murky depths of AGS games resurfaces like it was never gone (and let’s be honest, as no one reads this anyway who cares! )
Donald Dowell and the Ghost of Barkwell Manor
[Disclaimer - it has been a bit of a while since I played this so this may be slightly inaccurate in places]
Produced almost entirely by a one man Italian team, this is a wacky comedy game which is surprisingly big and fleshed out with a lovely hand drawn art style and a light and enjoyable tone.
Released only last year, it was nominated for no less than 12 separate AGS awards, but lost out largely thanks to the release of Heroine’s Quest which scooped up 11 of them.
The humour is wacky and offbeat in many places (and only very occasionally terrible!) with plentiful references to popular culture, be it films, comics, TV shows, books etc.
The premise for the game is both familiar and different at the same time. You play as Donald Dowell, a man well into his 80’s and faced with the prospect of living the quiet life in retirement. However, a nagging wife and a desire to stave off boredom leads him to the conclusion that he needs a job, and not just any job, but one full of adventure and excitement! Undeterred by the refusal of many employers to take on a man in his 80’s, Donald sets his sights on paranormal investigation and sets out to become the assistant of Bob Delano - the foremost occult detective in Ireland!
The story tracks Donald’s journey in becoming a mighty ghostbuster and investigating the haunted goings on at Barkwell Manor.
Although off beat humour and wackiness is the order of the day, the story is cohesive and well thought out (something that is so often lacking in failed comedy games) and there is so much more to the game than a few cheap and infantile gags - although there certainly are plenty of cheap and (occasionally) infantile gags for anyone who enjoys that sort of thing as much as I do!
The ghosts and mystery of the house are not as simple as they may first seem and I was quite surprised to find that there is a fair bit of in-game history and sense to what is happening and why. Don’t be fooled by the deceptive easy going and funny exterior.
It’s clear from the beginning how much love and effort have gone into this game. The intro itself has an extraordinary number of backgrounds which we whizz through to set up the story. So often in AGS games the intro feels rushed or you get walls of text trying to explain the set up in a boring way. Not here. We get an introduction to the game, to Donald and to the style of the writing in a very enjoyable and watchable way which puts us into the action after a little while, but not too long.
The characters are wacky and exaggerated and a lot of fun to converse with, help or trick as the case may be and it is only a pity that the game is not voiced to really put the icing on the cake.
There are, as mentioned, a very large number of playable screens in the opening sequence and throughout the game as a whole and I kept being amazed at new areas opening up and just the scope of the game world you are given to play in. There are around 120 playable rooms in this game, which is not to be sniffed at even in full commercial games nowadays.
The puzzles are nicely varied, going much beyond “find key to open door” and are pretty challenging in places. The old staple of “do X for character Y so he will do Z for me” is certainly present, but each character has his (or her) own distinctive personality (exaggerated and stereotypical as they are - in exactly the right sort of way for this type of game) and the dialogue, interaction and puzzles fit nicely with each.
One particular stand out novel and funny puzzle idea comes from the “seduction” by an 80 year old man of a lonely old lady (or perhaps that should be the avoidance at all costs of the lady by our hero…) and Donald getting the job done at, well, maybe not ALL costs, but in an entirely humorous and tasteful fashion.
All in all this is a life affirming and greatly enjoyable game which is surprisingly challenging and huge. This one will take several hours to get through but is time well spent and will cheer you up no end, leaving you with a smile on your face and a sense of achievement at having got through it.
Get it here for everyone’s favourite price - free!
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
After a long hiatus, the thread that dips its toe into the murky depths of AGS games resurfaces like it was never gone (and let’s be honest, as no one reads this anyway who cares!
)
Who says no one reads this. I do :-)
I really enjoy AGS games especially on my android tablet, it’s the perfect way to spend time in a train or a plane and I like coming back to your journal to discover games that I haven’t played yet. I’ll definitely play Donald Dowell sounds right up my alley.
as no one reads this anyway who cares!
)
with a lovely hand drawn art style
Oh yes, definitely!
Released only last year, it was nominated for no less than 12 separate AGS awards, but lost out largely thanks to the release of Heroine’s Quest which scooped up 11 of them.
That’s unfortunate…
Sounds like this game could use more love at the forums.
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
Hey, come on guys, a bit of British self-deprecating humour there! Thanks for kind words anyway.
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
Hey, come on guys, a bit of British self-deprecating humour there!
Exactly. And what better to accompany that than a good panning?
The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka
I played this some time ago and stopped because of a completely unnecessary level of crudity at one point. I mentioned this on AG in a thread elsewhere and the creators PM’ed me asking about my complaint. It turns out, if I recall correctly, that the game was made by 2 Italian females and the bit that was needlessly crude was part of a translation created by somebody else who thought that the misspeaking of the word count was just English humour. I don’t know whether they corrected this or not but it put me right off the game as it was so out of context - and believe me I’m far from being a prude.
Otherwise the game itself is very good although a level of criticism can be made at all of the walking about required - a map would have been very welcome with locations being added after the first discovery of same.
Life is what it is.
... the bit that was needlessly crude was part of a translation created by somebody else who thought that the misspeaking of the word count was just English humour. I don’t know whether they corrected this or not but it put me right off the game as it was so out of context…
You know, I had completely forgotten that, it is very much out of character for the rest of the game. I expect it was more than likely a translation issue but the result is that there is some strong language in there often repeated.
...a map would have been very welcome with locations being added after the first discovery of same.
Completely agree with this. The game world is easily big enough to mean that going from one end to the other takes a seriously long time and a map with fast travel would have been very welcome.
3.5 time winner of the “Really Annoying Caption Contest Saboteur” Award!
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