A note about my hiatus.

I didn't expect to go on a hiatus, but I did. The summer here this year has been so beautiful and distracting. All I want to do is give myself over to the days. It was excruciating to have to sit still to play a game. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so we take our sunny days when we can get 'em around here.

The fall is already beginning. I think we are expecting a hot day tomorrow, the last gasp of summer. I think that in a couple of more weeks, sitting for hours in front of the screen will feel like a welcome activity. So this blog will become a bit more active then.

Hope you are all having a nice summer!

Phantasmagoria chat with the actors

Phantasmagoria is a game that I will always have conflicting feelings for. On the one hand, it's just not a very good game. It's an awkward attempt at making an interactive movie and just has loads of issues. On the other hand, I love this stuff. I truly enjoy cheesy FMV games even, or maybe especially, when they are as campy as this one.

Anyway, I ran across this little video of someone interviewing the actors on the set of Phantasmagoria. Enjoy.

Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the release of Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy. I decided it might be fun to take a little time playing through all of B. Sokal's games. Up until this point, I've never finished one. So it will be fun to play through them all and write them up.

At the start of Amerzone, the player makes their way up to a tower wherein resides Alexandre Valembois, former explorer of Amerzone. He has been making some recent attempts to gain grant money to travel back to Amerzone. Upon entering his home the player finds him gasping at a table. He's been clinging to his last breath to charge the next comer by with a quest. The egg of the white birds must be returned to Amerzone. Many decades ago, he took the egg to show off to the European scientific community, and it made him a laughing stock. Unfortunately, his removal of the egg was the beginning of Amerzone's problems. Since they discovered it. One of this fellow explorer's and friends, Antonio Alvarez, has become a ruthless dictator there and the people and culture have withered under his grip. Can the egg help to reverse all of this loss and despair?

The English version of Amerzone was first released by publisher Casterman in October of 1999. The Microids developed title was also released to the Playstation console at a later date. Even though the game is 10 years old, it is still a worthy play. The graphics are very good. It is a little foggy looking during the video parts. Still, the scenery is delightful to behold and the environments are fantastic. I loved all the strange creatures I encountered. The game is point-and click and entirely in the first-person perspective.

The puzzles are either inventory-based or light mechanical puzzles. They are not overly difficult. The challenge was just right, I think. There are only a couple of times where exploring the environment feels like a bit of a maze, though not an outright maze. I didn't enjoy those parts, but fortunately they are not protracted.

The sound in this game really takes the cake. The soundtrack is nice and unobtrusive, and the environment sounds are perfectly executed. Good sound really matters in making an experience enduring. I feel like the age of the graphics is offset by the clarity and appropriateness of the ambient sound.

There is very little character interaction, which I usually dislike. This time the world is so alive with creatures that I feel the absence of human characters very little.

One of the focal points of Amerzone is the Hydrofloat. It is an amazing vehicle that is a boat, helicopter, plane, submarine and sailboat. It is fun using it to access all the different parts of the world.

The game is short, which I didn't expect. However the ending is poetic. It all adds up to a satisfying experience that is more fun than challenge.

I traded for my copy on GameTZ, but this game can still be bought in stores and is available for download on The Adventure Shop. I also love stalking ebay for older titles like this.

There are some more in depth reviews at Adventuregamers, Just Adventure+, and Gameboomers.

Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun

Poor Poirot. He can never seem to get away for a personal holiday. Mystery follows him everywhere. And so it has to Smuggler's Island, the setting of Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun.

Released in October of 2007 Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun (EutS) is the third game in the series designed by Lee Sheldon for aWe Games and published by The Adventure Company. I have played one other game in the series, Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None, which I didn't enjoy, but I still wanted to give this game a try. I'm glad I did.

The setting is Smuggler's Island just off the coast of Leathercombe Bay. A popular spot for wealthy Brits to get away from the hustle and bustle of mainland life. Among the vacationers is the popular actress, and unfortunate murder victim, Arlena Stuart. What unfolds there is a spontaneous mystery that plucks the famous Hercule Poirot out of his relaxing vacation and plunks him right into a whodunnit with all his fellow guests on holiday.

The story of EutS is told in a very interesting way. Basically the events are being told from the memory of Poirot to his friend Hastings as a way to pass the time during an air-raid curfew. The character the player plays is actually Hastings, playing through the memory of Poirot. Sometimes, Hastings will say something Poirot never would, and a funny conversation will happen of camera between the characters. It added a levity that the last game in the series I played did not have. It was welcome. In my opinion, it's always good to chuckle a bit during a serious game.

It helped, too, that the voice acting was top notch. All of the sounds in the game were good. The ambient sounds supported the scenes without being too noticeable. The music was very well-composed and suited well to every scene.

Poirot as a character was very well modeled and animated. And he put his hat on and off depending on whether he is in or outdoors. The other character models in the game were very good, but they were animated poorly. Most of the walks were very strange looking, like they had a stick up the rear. And when they talked they could have used a lot more facial expression.

The background art in the game was fabulous. It was immersive and beautiful. The island was fun to explore and I never felt like it took too long to get anywhere because the player can double-click warp to the next screen. Kudos for that!

The puzzles were average. Some of them were really interesting. I got concerned the devs would put a maze in there, but we were spared that sort of thing. In fact, Poirot humorously refuses to go galivanting about. This made EutS much more enjoyable.

Overall, I liked it. I wouldn't say it's a classic, but it's definitely worth a try. I played this game on my Gametap sub, but you can purchase it just about anywhere games are sold online and they also have it at Big Fish Games and The Adventure Shop.

There are some other reviews at Adventure Gamers, Just Adventure +, and Gameboomers.

Happy Adventuring.

New Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper Trailer

Check it out here!

New Three Cards to Midnight Streaming trailer

I'm really looking forward to this new game from Aaron Conners and Chris Jones. It has a freshly posted release date of May 6th. Check it out here.

Machinarium video

Machinarium Preview 02 from Amanita Design on Vimeo.


This is in no way new, but I really want to play it.