The story isn’t where the pedigree ends, however, as the developers behind Captain Morgane are Wizarbox, responsible for the delectable and ravishingly sexy Gray Matter which we reviewed earlier this year, so we’re expecting it to look as hot as its titular heroine.  The game tells the story of Morgane Castillo and her journey to become the first kick arse female pirate Captain to sail the waters of the Caribbean.  Stepping into Morgane’s groin trembling thigh-high boots, the player is tasked with finding a legendary treasure (the best kind), exploring five islands while following the trail of a famous adventurer, Buckleberry Tanner, solving puzzles (naturally) along the way.

With Wizarbox at the helm and the sexy looking game boasting over fifty illustrated locations, this is on our ‘adventure watch radar’ here at GLHQ.  In what has been a great year for point and click adventures, this could well finish off 2011 nicely.

Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle is due for release on all major platforms (and the Wii) in Q4 this year.  More details can be found on the game’s official Facebook page.

Last year Telltale Games announced that they were going to make an episodic series based on both Back to the Future and Jurassic Park (yes, I still need to watch those films), and I was already frothing at the mouth to get more Marty and Doc in my life. The news kept getting better as it was confirmed that Bob Gale, one of the creators and writers of the series, was on board as a story consultant and Christopher Lloyd was cast to play Doc Brown again. This, together with the fact that the developers themselves are massive fans of the franchise meant that their tradition of creating amazing story-based point and click adventures was already looking to be fulfilled before the game even landed. The series has now reached its second episode, with the third being teased in March and the last two coming out in the months afterwards following a short break before Jurassic Park shows up.

Rev up the DeLorean and get ready. You’re going to see some serious shit.

The first game starts off with a loving remake of the iconic scene when Doc first shows Marty the DeLorean’s time travelling capabilities from the viewpoint of the camera used to record the experiment, with the opportunity to help create the scene line for line. It’s an amazing way to kick off the episode and I couldn’t help beaming from ear to ear as the scene played out. However, an unexpected twist occurs and you’re then thrown into the actual game. The game starts several months after the events of Back to the Future Part III, and Marty finds himself in Doc’s Lab once again. Unfortunately, Doc’s been gone for several months and, due to his debts, the Bank has decided to start selling off his possessions, which you discover as you arrive to find George McFly and Biff rifling through his belongings.

Doc’s Lab not only helps ease you in to the control methods and style of play if you’re new to the genre (or serves as a refresher to this game’s style if you’re a veteran) but is also where Telltale Games best showcase how safe the franchise is in their hands. There are plenty of references to the source material throughout the game but, at this stage, the point of it is for the developers to show you that they love the movies just as much as you may do; from the dog feeder to the amplifiers, as well as some puzzles being solved more easily if you remember the films, all your fears start being put to rest quickly and definitively.

Once you’re done preventing a possible catastrophe in the Lab, Marty steps outside to find the DeLorean show up with naught but Einstein the dog, a shoe and a tape recorder. You’ll find out later how the DeLorean showed up after the events of the third film, but for now the Doc’s in danger and you need to save him! It is at this point that you’re taken on a journey which, for the first two episodes, takes place primarily in prohibition-era Hill Valley, complete with gangsters, the McFly and Tannen ancestors as well as a young Emmett Brown currently more concerned about the law than the sciences.

I’d say that this is when you’re going to realise that Christopher Lloyd is the only returning cast member, but the majority of the time you likely won’t notice it at all. AJ Locascio does an incredible job as the voice of Marty McFly, and comes across as a perfect replacement; most of the time you’re completely taken in with how much he sounds like Michael J Fox and his portrayal is so convincing that he never becomes jarring, owning the role. Likewise, Michael Sommers, who replaces Crispin Glover for George McFly and also voices his father Artie in both episodes, is so brilliant in immersing you that I couldn’t help but smile. Another shout out goes to James Arnold Taylor, a videogaming voice-over veteran, who voices the young, pre-doctorate Emmett Brown and who I can’t say enough positive things about. All four aforementioned voice actors do a stellar job and I’d dare say that the game so far has some of the best voice acting in a Telltale Game to date. It’s vital in a game like this that you’re able to pay attention to the story and what’s happening around you, and the voice actors do such a terrific job that I simply can’t heap enough praise onto them for the remarkable work.

In terms of the gameplay, it’ll be instantly familiar to anyone who has played a Telltale game in the last couple of years. Movement is controller through the ASWD or regular arrow keys, with the shift buttons allowing for faster movement and the mouse to highlight and interact with the world around you, select items to use and so forth. In other words, there’s no fundamental surprises popping up in the gameplay style if you’re familiar with their other games, and there’s nothing too difficult to get used to if you’re new. You’re gradually eased into the puzzles and the world around you through the opener and the bit at Doc’s Lab, so by the end of the episode you’ll be more than adept at the whole process.

Saying that, there were a couple of odd snags that kind of bugged me, two of which were long standing problems with the whole genre that their Sam and Max series fixed in its latest season but which, for some reason, seem to have returned in this game without explanation. The first of these is the classic problem that some point and clicks have where, when you choose the dialogue for your character, they’ll either entirely ignore what you say or say the written line pretty much verbatim anyway, meaning that you’re essentially experiencing the same line twice. The first part of that is nearly always done for comic effect and so can be forgiven, but the second part was fixed by only giving the topic or a general idea of what the final line would be, which this game only occasionally does. It’s not a big issue, but it’s just confusing to see something fixed, then practically ignored later on. The second of these issues that the third season of Sam and Max fixed, and which returns here, is the visual clue that a line of conversation had been exhausted. This is, again, another minor thing, but this was fixed by dimming that line in the dialogue tree to make it clear that clicking it wouldn’t yield anything new, but no such obvious visual clues are present. Again, this is not a massive issue, but it’s a confusing and slightly disorientating decision considering the steps the company had previously taken to eliminate these problems only to bring them back.

The following problem may have just been me, but I also found that occasionally in both episodes there were moments where the solution to a puzzle wasn’t clear or well telegraphed at all. Granted, the game offers to give you hints if you’re struggling for too long, much like the Professor Layton and Puzzle Agent games, with the final hint basically telling you how to complete the puzzle. There’s not a limit to the amount of hints you can get as far as I’m aware, but it doesn’t feel satisfying to solve a puzzle with the hints, so you’ll likely avoid using them due to a matter of pride (I went through with an earlier save file to test out the hints so I didn’t spoil any current puzzles). While the hints are useful to those who are new to the genre or who want to progress quickly, it’s a shame that some of the puzzles seem not to offer a clear solution and result in a bit of pixel hunting, or are too easily telegraphed. It seems that, after getting the balance perfectly right before, they’ve very slightly skewed it this time. It’s not a truly negative thing though, as I appreciated the hard-earned “Eureka!” (or should that be “Great Scott!”?) moments when I’d finally solved the problem, but I doubt I’m going to be the only one who experiences this minor setback. Be aware also that some puzzles have the same solution, and so going with your gut reaction is a safe bet the majority of the time. Some puzzles also come back in the next episode, and while this isn’t a negative, it’s a shame that a recurring puzzle becomes a bit too obvious.

The first episode leads up to its conclusion in a brilliant manner though, and you end up with a finale that, to any Telltale veterans, is in some ways quite similar to the ending of the first episode of Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures, but ramped up with higher stakes. Some of the tension can be downplayed because it’s the first episode of five, but I found myself thrilled by the way the finale is set up and the way that the end of the first episode plays out, with a cliffhanger ending and a trailer for the next episode that leaves you salivating for more. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long at all as I bought the series when episode two was released, and got to play it straight afterwards.

Keeping in the same era as the first episode, the second episode hits a slight snag at the beginning with a sequence which lags slightly due to the fact your movement is severely limited and a lot of what happens feels too out of your control. This feel dissipates as soon as the sequence is over and, apart from one little snag that presents itself afterwards, the rest of the episode was clean sailing. You see, upon arriving in the past in the first episode, you get to pick a name to be called by, continuing Marty’s tradition of naming himself after characters from films. You pick from one of three names and throughout the episode the characters would refer to you by that name, but in the second episode no one seems to be sure of what the character’s name is. Some will call you by one character name throughout, and some will call you by one and then another later on. It’s slightly disorientating and puts a tiny damper on what was a great touch in the first episode.

After this, the second episode hits the ground running and delivers right off the bat with a great sequence where you have to work around yourself and your actions in the first episode, which is a great touch and made the time travel aspect feel more prevalent in the story, especially with the resulting sequences that occur. In fact, the second episode is when I most noticed the fact that the traditional mission structure used by developers is shaken up here. While older games would employ three main obstacles to overcome, or items to obtain, and be quite obvious about this, Back to the Future doesn’t do this, or at least hides it to a point where I couldn’t notice it, which is a testament to both episodes.

Another great thing about the way the episodes play is that while the first episode uses a lot of references to help make puzzle solutions easier and to help throw you into the world that’s been created, the second episode slows this down, focuses on the world itself for puzzle solutions, and never are the references a crutch but something that brings a massive smile to your face every time. Once the game starts focusing on the game’s world rather than the world of the films, the quality never drops or even stutters. Also, both finale events so far have been simple, quick and inspired, never overstaying their welcome or going too far and managing to change the pace of the game without standing out like a sore thumb and luckily feeling like a natural progression of the story of the episode.

To me though, the highlight of both episodes has been the impeccable writing. One of my favourite things about any Telltale title is that you’re introduced to a series of characters who are amazingly written as well as a world filled with its own special brand of humour and a great understanding of the source material for any franchise they take on. That tradition continues here, as I don’t think I could possibly say enough positive things about the writing. It shows a perfect understanding of the already familiar characters in the franchise; Doc and Marty are pitch perfect to what they were in the films despite the game taking no safe bets with what to do with them. Exploring Doc Brown’s past feels completely natural and brings up a new side of his character that doesn’t jar with anything previously established. Any new characters introduced never feel like they’re over-imposing or stick out; they all feel as though they have a natural place in the proceedings and never outstay their welcome. The approach and feel of Back to the Future is thoroughly in place throughout, with the style of the writing perfectly matching what you’d expect and shows that the writers loved the source material without ever going too far with it. Coupling that with the spot-on humour, which will have you smiling from ear to ear at worst and rolling on the floor at best, the humour captures the spirit of the films and combines it with Telltale’s previous experience. It doesn’t take the forefront, with the game always being about the story and the writing, and as a result I couldn’t help but feel this was possibly Telltale’s finest hour thus far, purely from a story and writing standpoint alone, and for those factors alone it is well worth a purchase from anyone who considers themselves a fan of the franchise or genre.

Gray Matter is a 2.5D point and click mystery spanning eight chapters and is largely set in and around Oxford. We come on the scene just as Sam Everett, a street magician, gets lost and breaks down on her way to London where she was to try and gain entry to the famous Daedalus Club.  It is, in the best mystery traditions, a wet stormy night, and she takes shelter at Dread Hill House posing as the new assistant for Neurobiologist Dr David Styles. Styles, once a respected and famous doctor, has become a recluse since the tragic death of his wife Laura and rarely leaves his large mansion, preferring instead to conduct his own personal experiments in his basement labs. After weighing her options, Sam opts to stay and maintain her charade until she can repair her dilapidated bike and sets to work rounding up test subjects for the grumpy doctor. What starts out as a number of seemingly harmless experiments into the ability to derive benefit from exercise with mere imagination soon turns into something decidedly more alarming, with a series of bizarre and unexplained events stalking each experiment.

While Sam sets out to unravel the mystery, Styles has his own issues to deal with as his dead wife seems to be making her presence felt once more at Dread Hill. As part of his own experiments, Styles, desperate to hang onto his beloved wife, has been using his research into the mysteries of the human brain to try and focus his energies on Laura to help give her the ability to manifest in some form. With the odd events both in and around Dread Hill House, he begins to believe he has been succeeding and redoubles his efforts. Sam in the meantime is convinced the whole thing is a sham, designed as either a cruel prank by jealous colleagues to discredit and torment the lonely recluse or is otherwise a ‘Big Game’ being orchestrated by a master magician seeking their own entry to the Daedalus Club, and is determined to put a stop to it. The story, as it twines together these various strands, manages to juggle three balls until the closing scenes – those of supernatural, science, and illusion, and it is never certain which way they will eventually fall, the potential being there to genuinely be any one or more of them.

You'll be spending a fair bit of time here

One of the game’s greatest strengths is the ability to play as both David and Sam in (mostly) alternating chapters. This mechanic allows the player to sink further into the narrative with the benefit of a different set of eyes, motives, and understanding that offers a welcome level of depth and balance which would otherwise have been missing. The two characters are in direct contrast to one another: Sam is an ex-goth with sexy dress sense, who has been working as a street magician, hoping to eventually gain entry to the secretive Daedalus Club – a dark home to the most talented magicians in the world. She believes in what she can see and hear, and that there’s nothing which can’t be explained in the form of an elaborate ruse; this attitude sets the tone of her side of the story. She is hard, ballsy, and smart, though her tough life has left her mistrustful and genuinely surprised by any act of kindness.

Styles, on the other hand, was born into wealth and was a leading neurobiologist with some controversial theories on the untapped potential of the human brain and the possibilities it could point to. His theories led to some professional and personal derision from others, but he was flying high until the accident which claimed the life of his wife and left him wearing a half face mask to hide his disfigurement. He subsequently closed his clinic and retracted from the outside world, becoming obsessed with the memory of his wife. David Styles is troubled, moody, and impatient, even unpleasant on the face of it, but we see beneath the abrasive personality to the lonely, haunted man, tortured by the absence of the woman who was his whole world and this gives his story more of an emotional anchor. Overall, the characters are compelling and likeable, despite their flaws, and I genuinely cared about their fate.

In perfect compliment to the wildly different characters, the chapters that they dominate mirror their personalities. Sam’s are more dynamic, extrovert, inquisitive affairs as she runs all over Oxford leaping to conclusions, seeking clues, asking questions and generally tricking and manipulating her way into everything. In addition, she is tasked with solving a number of elaborate riddles to try and snare an invitation to the Daedalus Club. David’s chapters take a far more sedate pace. Full of nostalgia and melancholy, he drifts through his days, absorbing and recalling memories, losing himself in hallowed, precious moments with Laura and trying to build enough sensory fingerprints to aid his intense visualisation exercises. David’s scenes contain the most flashbacks, as we glimpse his happy, former life and the man he was, compared to the curmudgeonly, mournful shell that he has become.

The contrast between the two is a welcome relief and allows for a distinct grinding down of gears at just the right moments. While Sam’s chapters are more puzzle intensive and therefore feel more ‘action packed’, I honestly preferred David’s – though there are many who will undoubtedly feel that they slow down the pace too much or cause everything to drag. With few NPCs in sight, I found exploring David’s melancholy infused life sad, but oddly fascinating. These chapters may be a lull for the more impatient gamer, or those who like simply charging through an adventure, manipulating inventory items like a juggling squid, but they are important in laying the emotional foundations of the story; not only that but they help explain David’s motivations and lend the character a sympathetic slant.

David’s chapters are relatively puzzle-lite compared to Sam’s, preferring instead to let the player explore and absorb while jogging the story along and throwing up more sand to fog the ultimate outcome to the game’s puzzling events. Running through Gray Matter, along with a number of literary themes, are strains of loneliness, helpless frustration, guilt, the power of the human mind, and isolation. In her way, the confident Sam is just as shut-off as David, just in a different way, finding an unexplored kinship in their similar grief.

Gray Matter’s interface stays largely true to most of its modern point ‘n’ click kin by keeping the screen blissfully uncluttered. Everything of use is restricted to the top of the screen where a swift mouse-over reveals the inventory and buttons needed to access the menu, progress bars, and map – also accessible via keyboard shortcuts. While these things only really see subtle changes from game to game, Gray Matter’s handling of the inventory is a touch frustrating, with the player required to first load an item into Sam’s hand before she uses it. Items such as keys and ID cards requiring repeated use don’t automatically get used and have to be located and loaded every time which is a pain, especially in the Xbox360 version – more of which later.

The map is a convenient fast travel device and the only way to nip between the location clusters, but it also acts as an indicator of where you may have missed tasks or bonus points. Your progress throughout each chapter is broken down into puzzle sets and presented as a number of progress bars for each one; the tasks and interactions to complete these can be tackled (for the most part) in any order. Bonus points can be gathered from a variety of trivial things from chattering to certain NPCS to interacting with most objects in a location, but they are optional and easy to miss if you aren’t the sort to test all hotspots to destruction.

Hotspots representing objects to be interacted with come in several flavours, depending on whether you can use, look at, or talk to them and, as has blissfully become a genre staple, can all be toggled on and off at the press of a button. In a surprising move, perhaps demonstrating an eye on a slightly more mainstream audience of adventure virgins or returning drifters, the game’s map has made things easier by colour-coding the location titles depending on what, if anything, you still have to do there – bonus points, primary tasks, etc. This is welcome in that is does reduce backtracking and mooching around when stuck, but it risks opening itself up to accusations of dumbing down from the more diehard or masochistic aficionados.

The number of locations is actually surprisingly small and, as such, the game feels deceptive in its real size. Although there are great in-game places reflecting the real Oxford cityscape such as the Bodleian Library and Christ Church College, some consist of little more than a lone screen. While this seemingly compact size suits the intimate feel of the game, and isn’t an uncommon adventure occurrence, it was a touch disappointing – I suppose I expected a little more breadth given that Gray Matter appeared to be a bigger release with more fanfare and interest than most adventures are afforded. It was mainly a let down from the point of view that the locations were so well realised – of course I wanted more.

The graphics are beautiful, with each location presented in absorbing detail and colour, down to trivia such as graffiti scrawled on walls and rooftops to shelves and offices full of bric-a-brac. The environments are true to the 2.5D formula with the characters being fully 3D; David and Sam are especially well presented and detailed, down to Sam’s eye catching boob tattoo. What did jar visually, however, was the subtitle bars – they threw up a rather sinister 3D talking head which looked as if it had been inflated with a bicycle pump. As disconcerting as these were, they could be switched off in the options, though I wouldn’t recommend this for those playing the Xbox version, since there are some sound balance issues.

The game’s cut-scenes have been the subject of some online debate, given that they are wildly different from the in-game art style. They take the form of frozen hand-painted, almost ‘anime style’ montages, with a pan and zoom, linger and cut dynamic. It is purely a matter of taste, but I’ll shrug and hold a lazy middle finger up to the critics and say that I genuinely enjoyed them a great deal. Whether the developers opted for this style purely for aesthetic purposes or there were underlying budgetary concerns, I don’t know, but it didn’t phase me. The contrast was a welcome one and the art was well presented and suited the, often, emotional scenes and haunting music. What I did find mildly irksome with however, was the fact that the cut-scene David was far more dashing than his dour, often dowdy in-game counterpart – though his taste in coats remains second to none, regardless.

Overlaying the game and, in particular the cut-scenes, is a beautiful score which includes a number of vocal tracks by real life band The Scarlet Furies. The soundtrack is comprised of a number of haunting, goth/folk style songs and pieces, infused with a gentle melancholy which compliments the difficult lives of both protagonists and helps to enrich the journey through David’s memories in particular.

As far as the game’s puzzles go, they are not overly taxing and won’t take long to overcome. They range from the usual inventory based puzzles to setting up RNG machines, tracking down sensory items for an experiment, and conning your way into various locations. Not willing to pass up the opportunities afforded by a magician character, the game introduces what is, on the face of it, an innovative puzzle mechanic. In Sam’s possession is a book of childhood magic tricks which can be adapted and employed to overcome a variety of in-game problems. Using one takes you into a screen where Sam awaits like a slightly tired Vitruvian Man, ready for you to select a number of actions which have to be queued in sequence in order to successfully pull off the required trick. This is great in theory, but sadly falls down in practice, since the game is especially pedantic about being exactly on the money. Perform the correct actions but starting with the wrong hand and you’ll be starting over. Why? Because it says so. What’s the difference? None. Mostly, you’ll have the magic book open and it is just a question of copying the list of actions verbatim, as dictated by the trick page, with no leeway for creative freeform/interpretation and this on-rails interaction leaves you with odd by-the-numbers moments which don’t offer any kooky or entertaining cut scenes as a reward and as such it feels like a wasted opportunity, although the idea was a sound one.

While many of the puzzles and interactions were smart, others were oddly easy, with some items appearing right beside the person or problem in question – the most ridiculous perhaps being a puzzle box – needing water to activate it – being found in an actual fountain. Often the game would frustrate by refusing to jog along until you hit some unknowable trigger and some puzzles could be a little vague. I had no idea for instance that I should use the cell-phone to call a character’s mother, or ring another that I’d spent over an hour searching for (and trying to trigger a cut scene to reach). Other snag points included a fuse box related puzzle that was oddly annoying given that I knew exactly what I had to do and how to do it if the game would just let me.

While these things were irritating and disrupted the pace, it was never to the point of wanting to abandon the story. And the story is very much where it all is with Gray Matter. Some adventures are just a thin skin of generic story stretched to breaking point over a bulging sack of puzzles until you can almost see through it. Gray Matter on the other hand, offers a blissful depth with many layers, dead ends, red herrings, and intriguing backgrounds to keep the player immersed until the final reveal.

As with many narrative driven games, there are usually weak spots and all too often these occur at and risk derailing the ending. While Gray Matter’s end didn’t exactly disappoint, I wasn’t overly satisfied either; the big reveal was doled out in the last few cut scenes and was surprising, delivering a blend between disappointingly normal and bizarre (or hypernatural for want of a better term) and not something that the player could have necessarily foreseen. That said, there were several tantalising supernatural threads left hanging amid some unexplained events, which lent a more satisfying and open touch to the outcome and raised some interesting hopes for a sequel.

A number of potentially fruitful paths were left unexplored; the professional rivalry between David and Linkweller for example felt truncated and underused, serving only as a disappointing red herring among the many on offer. The separate elements of the Daedalus Club and Sam’s quest for membership however were an interesting diversion and allowed some creative and outlandish locations to be thrown in when she reaches this opulent den of illusionists. The puzzles here are smart but never taxing, though one has to wonder what contractor they hired to install a swamp in their extensive basement network.

Gray Matter has been a long time in the making and, now it’s here, it doesn’t disappoint much. While there are frustrations with scene triggers, some questionable puzzles, technical issues with some animations, and some odd inclusions such as the near-useless diary, it succeeds more than it fails. Gray Matter presents a well written, absorbing story with a depth which should be the envy of many and the study of more, both in the adventure genre and mainstream at large. While the ending can be viewed as something of a sharp direction change, and therefore a let down, there were enough tiny threads left hanging to salvage it.

The characters are well realised and play out their roles against some beautiful backdrops and (mostly) satisfying NPC foils and the dramatic cut-scenes were enjoyable, if somewhat controversial. The superb score was a standout not often seen in games of this nature, but for me it was the story and characters that made it a success. The twin protagonist system gave the game balance and a depth, allowing the story and characters to develop and shine, which, to me, is the most important aspect.

Xbox360 version
The Xbox360 version of Gray Matter was always going to be interesting, hamstrung from the start by the nature of this type of game. In recent times we have seen point and clicks released or rebooted on the console, so there is no real reason why Gray Matter can’t succeed, is there? Yes and no. The game is identical – the story, characters, and animations are the same and although the Xbox can’t compete graphically with the PC version, it puts up a very respectable fight. Map and progress bars have been mapped to various buttons and bumpers and feel very natural, although the interaction is where everything sticks.

Rather than simply moving the pointer over the screen, RT pulls up a wheel which highlights hotspots and allows you to interact with them. Nudge the thumbstick and press A and you’ll select the item/person and kick off the desired interaction. In theory. In reality it can be a frustratingly skittish affair, with the thumbstick swinging wildly past your elusive target. Unless the player has the hotspots almost permanently enabled, it would be very easy to miss objects using this method alone. To get around the problem of selection, I discovered that the stoic D-pad offered a much more sensible approach and when combined with the thumbstick to land me in the general area, I began to make progress. Sound is also something of an issue; during the cut scenes the music cranks up to the point that it drowns out the dialogue, leaving you reliant on subtitles.

Aside from scooping achievements, there is no real difference, aside from those stated, and if you aren’t phased by the interaction issues, then the Xbox is a fair choice. Mouse aficionados and the more graphically conscious will be better off sticking to the PC version, especially as the loading screens beat the Xbox hands down. And you’ll be seeing a lot of those.

Mrs Peacock may have been a man, but Miss Scarlet certainly isn't, as Mr "Reverend" Green will attest!

Being a long-time PC gamer, I’ve played my share of PC games in the past, and then some.  By far the biggest collection of PC games I own are “point and clicks”, which to the uninitiated involve walking around, picking stuff up, solving puzzles, MacGyvering stuff together, and chatting people up (Well, interrogating them really).  So I’m here to share my love of this overlooked little genre.

“The Secret Of Monkey Island” was my first, followed by “Simon the Sorcerer”, but the one that really cemented my enduring love of this particular game type was “Cluedo Fatal Illusion”.  The graphics were state-of-the-art at the time (1999 – god I was 17!) and I’d never experienced anything like it before; not just the graphics but the immersive first person perspective that made you feel like you were really there.  The whole murder mystery, whodunnit thing had me head-over heels.  I’ve always been a sucker for the old ‘group of people stranded in a mansion and being picked off one by one’ scenario, so this was gaming heaven for me. (Sexy Miss Scarlett being a bonus!)

Something wooden... something devoid of life... night vision camera... all that's missing is dodgy mascara and a gobby northern lass!

Fast-forward to today and you’ve got outstanding titles like “The Lost Crown” and “Return To Mysterious Island” among many others ranging from the easy “Nancy Drew” series to the near ‘impossible to do without a walkthrough’ ones like the “Myst” games.

So, first person or third? Personally I don’t really have a preference. For me things like the story and gameplay take precedence over whether it’s first or third person, so this doesn’t factor into whether I buy a game or not.  It’s nice to be immersed in the game first person style, interacting with characters, feeling the atmosphere, and having the shit scared out of you on occasion.  However, it’s also nice to see just whose life you are meddling with and get a little more attached to them and the story, not to mention sending them places and getting them to do things that you would avoid in real life, because you watch movies and you know the ‘rules’. But hey, it’s not you right?

Then there’s the inventory. Aaaaaah, the inventory. If it’s not nailed down then it’s destined for your Tardis-like pockets.  Anything from bread to ladders, it’s coming with you whether it belongs to someone else or not.  I get a weird sense of satisfaction every time I pick up a new item, thinking “Yeah, inventory!” Or muttering under my breath “InvenToryyyyyyyy.”, with a smug little smile on my face. And it feels even better when you finally figure out where to use that bloody rubber chicken or knock together a battery out of some coins, cloth, bamboo, and a lemon (Seriously). Still, you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for your character hauling around a sack of cement or walking around with a giant banana picker stuffed down their trousers, I mean, that’s gotta chafe, right?  But like it or not, they’ll do as they’re damn well told, because you WILL need that chocolate fountain at some point, implausible as it might seem.

Before Harry there was Simon... and he didn't need two "hangers on" and an owl to make things happen! Just a mouse.

I do have a few gripes with these games though, one being that they are just not long enough (with the possible exception of “The Lost Crown”). Another is when a game won’t allow you to add stuff to your inventory until you’ve seen where you can use it. (Yes “Rhiannon” I’m talking about you.) I mean how annoying is it to pick up something like a torch that you just KNOW you will need, but not be able to take it with you until you’ve clicked on the dark stairs? Answer: VERY! Having to traipse around every bloody area in the game trying to find that poxy oak branch you saw earlier but don’t remember where, can be extremely frustrating! As to graphics, some of them are quite dark, which makes for a great atmosphere, but when it’s SO dark you can’t even find the bloody door handle, it kinda irritates!

Despite their various flaws, some anti-climactic endings, and a format that some might call repetitive, you can’t help but keep going back. Adventure, horror, mystery, puzzles, and murder, this genre has it all. And you’ll see it all too: ghosts, vampires, druids, pirates, books that transport you to another world, machines from the future that consume people, giant moving stones that turn you into a pile of ash, and monkeys called Jep.  Oh, and normal people too. Wonderful escapism that will consume hours of your day and night, but in a good way.

So say goodbye to sleep and hello to the multitude of lives out there just waiting for you to take over and see through to their end again and again. And so, “point ‘n’ clicks”, in the bellowing voice of Whitney Houston: “I will always love youuuuuuuuuuuuu!”