It's unusual for expert adventure game makers ERS Game Studios to stumble. The company's a well-oiled machine, cranking out top-selling hidden object adventures at an unbelievable rate. Perhaps it's speed that's to blame for the so-so success of its latest adventure, Dark Alleys: Penumbra Motel. Whatever the reason, this title, though exhibiting all the quality ingredients of an ERS production, never really comes together. In the end it does little justice to the ERS name.
Ancient aliens have invaded the popular consciousness in recent years, so it's no wonder that their reach has extended to the universe of Nancy Drew in Tomb of the Lost Queen, the franchise's 26th installment from Her Interactive. Where conspiracy theory, unsolved archeological mysteries, curses, and eternal love intersect is 100 kilometers outside of Cairo at the University of Kingston dig site. There you'll ferret out the fact from the fiction by investigating a burial tomb and interrogating members of the expedition.
Will Fight For Food is a role-playing...fighting game? Two genres that you don't often see slapped together. Imagine a 2D side-scrolling RPG with areas to explore, items to collect and fetch quests galore, then throw in a truckload of button-bashing fighting sequences. Let it simmer for a few hours, and you've got this latest release from Pyrodactyl Games.
If by any chance you're reading this and have missed out on the joy of putting together brightly colored bricks in an effort to build something awesome, then step away from the screen and grab a LEGO set. Like previous entries in the franchise, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 resonates best with those who've revelled in the joys and frustrations of crafting and ruling a universe of coloured blocks… before the days of Minecraft.
The long-running Nancy Drew franchise will be growing larger this month, as Her Interactive has announced Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen, which will be launching on May 8 on PC and Mac.
It's pretty much universally acknowledged that Telltale's Jurassic Park games were terrible. They were really nothing more than poorly implemented quicktime events. The story was ok, but slogging through the gameplay wasn't worth the story bits you got out of it. Suddenly all of the announced games in Telltale's line-up were called into question, and enthusiasm was tempered. Would they have time to avoid similar pitfalls and right the ship? Now we have an answer with The Walking Dead. That answer is.... mostly.
Old houses don't need a bloody history in order to be spooky: their very existence alone is unsettling. Most old houses simply smell evil, or have a million centipedes as tenants (you're welcome for that mental image). Maybe that's why Furious Apps chose a rickety old house for its upcoming iOS point and click game, The Haunt.
When I was a young'un, the things we would consider video games or digital entertainment was wildly different than what we enjoy today. This isn't a "you kids today" talk, because I'm not saying it was better back then... it's just changed a lot. Text adventure game were a legitimate genre back then, and they were compelling, and decidely low-tech. Really more akin to a choose your own adventure book than what you might think of as a video game. There's not many around these days, but Fallen London does a good job of evoking the feelings of playing one while bringing those feelings to date.