Issue #16 - March 2008 Overclocked - Adventure Lantern

Issue #16 - March 2008

OverclockedA History of Violence

Preview

Adventure Lantern Magazine / www.adventurelantern.com /Issue #16 - March 2008 2

At my middle school, students were required to submit a project during the spring semesterof each year. We were allowed to work in groups and put together the project in a subject ofour choosing. These assignments were considered equivalent to a regular exam. Traditional-ly, teachers were somewhat lenient in grading, giving students a chance to improve theirgrade in one subject.

The real goal of the projects was to teach students how to conduct research and write papers.Among the student body however, learning was hardly the objective. The focus instead liedon finding a way to earn the best possible grade with the least amount of effort. In my firstyear of middle school, I teamed up with two of my friends and selected Turkish as the subjectfor our project. Our instructor was also our homeroom teacher. She was the one who had toldus teachers did not usually grade the projects very harshly. She would certainly go easy onus. It seemed like a sure bet that we would get an A.

Before starting work on the projects, students were required to meet with the instructors. Theteacher would provide a list of acceptable research topics. Students could either choose fromthe list of recommendations or submit project ideas of their own. My friends and I wereconvinced that we had the perfect idea. We wanted to put together a magazine. It took someconvincing, but our teacher agreed to let us prepare a single issue as our project.

We did not have a theme. We had not considered a particular target demographic. We werenot sure what types of articles would be included or how long the magazine would be. In fact,our vision for the magazine did not go beyond piecing together a collection of articles with afew pictures and a shiny cover thrown in for good measure. After all, how much work couldpossibly be involved in producing a single issue? We had two months to get it done; somemagazines released new editions every week!

Several weeks went by as we made virtually no progress on the magazine. My friends wrotea couple of articles and I came up with a short story. Before long, we only had a singleweekend left before the project was due. We arranged a meeting at one of my friends’ housesand tried to write some additional articles. By now, it was quite clear that our content wasfailing to create a cohesive whole. There was no overarching subject matter or tone thatconnected our work. After struggling for several hours, we decided to cut our losses and piecetogether what we had.

This was before personal computers became an ordinary commodity at nearly every house.Many of our classmates had limited access to a computer outside the information technologyclass we attended once a week. Our group was no exception. One of my team members waslucky enough to have a computer, but he did not have a printer. As such, we would not beable to type our articles and turn in a printed version of the magazine. We had to doeverything by hand. Our publication tools consisted of scissors, glue, coloring pens, andpictures ‘borrowed’ from real magazines.

We assembled our articles by gluing the pages. The cover consisted of a random sampling ofimages we had clipped from newspapers and magazines. After spending an entire dayworking on it, our ‘magazine’ resembled little more than a sloppy attempt at making ascrapbook.


Adventure Lantern

Owner/Executive Editor: Ugur Sener

Chief Editor: Wendy Nellius

Editor: Thaumaturge

News Editor:Gnome

Copy Editors: Thaumaturge

Interviews by: Wendy Nellius

Preview by: Wendy Nellius

Reviews by: Nuggy Thaumaturge Tino Thompson Vhayste Wendy Nellius

Walkthrough by: Wendy Nellius

The pages kept coming apart, the pictures on the cover simply refusedto stick. Late into the evening, we agreed to complete a couple morearticles on our own and assemble the last set of pages just beforeturning in the project. Editorial changes were going to have to includewhiteout. Changing the sequence of articles was not an option.

By the time we turned in the project, we knew we had greatly underes-timated the amount of work involved. It had taken a great deal of timejust to come up with the content. We should have given much morethought to how we might actually assemble the magazine. Scramblingfor glue and newspaper clippings at the last second was not exactlyindicative of good planning.

However, despite the low quality of our final product, we had fulfilled abig part of the project goals. Sure, we had not seen how a realmagazine was produced, but we had still gained some insight into theamount of effort and planning involved. Most importantly, we hadlearned how to function as a team. Calling what we produced a maga-zine was certainly a stretch, but we were nevertheless proud of our work.

I do not know whether our teacher actually enjoyed our ‘magazine’,appreciated the amount of effort we put into it, or just took pity on threechildren. Whatever her reasoning, she gave us an A. It was the lowestpossible A, but we were not about to argue.

Thirteen years after I worked on that assignment, Adventure Lantern isthree years old. It started out with an amateur spirit not altogetherdifferent than what I shared with my friends more than a decade ago.Amidst millions of blogs and more gaming-related sites than I can keepup with, Adventure Lantern has been our channel to talk about some-thing we love.

Now, with Wendy at the helm, our issues look more professional thanever. However, actually printing any magazine I am involved with stillseems to be quite impossible. At least nobody has to decipher myhandwriting or rely on my skills with a stick of glue any more.

We are making a bit of a late start to 2008. But as always, the team hasreally come through for this issue. Wendy has done an excellent job ofputting everything together. And what better way to start off our thirdyear than welcoming a new member to our team? Be sure to check outTino’s first AL article as you browse through the magazine. Thank youfor your continued support and patience. Here’s hoping you will enjoyour first issue of the year.

Until next time,Ugur

For all your questions and commentsabout the magazine, you can send ane-mail to the editor at:[email protected]

To subscribe to our magazine and re-ceive and update when a new issue isreleased, send an email to:[email protected] sure the subject line of youremail includes the word “Subscribe”.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Adventure Lantern Magazine / www.adventurelantern.com / November-December 2007 4

C O N T E N T S

News · Gnome’s News Wrap-Up...........................................................................5

Interviews· Interview with Howard Sherman On Malinche Entertainment........................................................................7

On AdventureCon....................................................................................11

Preview· Overclocked: A History of Violence..........................................................15

Reviews· Something Amiss......................................................................................17· Sam & Max: Night of the Raving Dead & Chariots of the Dogs.................................................................................20· Portal........................................................................................................22

Reviews· Mass Effect...............................................................................................25· Heavenly Sword.......................................................................................28· Jeanne D’Arc............................................................................................31· Super Paper Mario...................................................................................33

Walkthroughs· Sam & Max: Night of the Raving Dead.....................................................36

Adventure Lantern Magazine / www.adventurelantern.com / Issue #16 - March 2008 5

A lovely adventure compilation by the Adventure Company has recentlybeen released and it really seems like a jolly good idea. The games includedare: Dead Reefs, Keepsake, Return to Mysterious Island, Nibiru: Age ofSecrets and The Secret Files: Tunguska. Hopefully more publishers willhelp establish a new compilation trend…

Apparently adventure gaming is alive and kicking, and thus those new releases keep coming. So, be happy,find out what’s going to come our way and prepare for some brilliant adventure games ranging from the tradi-tional to the utterly innovative. Cheers!

-Gnome

Or, to stay on the more informativeside of things, Ron Gilbert (and Mr.Kauzlaric) is back and will soon beunleashing DeathSpank upon us. Now,besides sounding all silly and naughty,DeathSpank will be an episodicadventure/RPG hybrid, that’s beingdescribed as Monkey Island meetsDiablo.

Have a look here:www.deathspank.com

Remember this one? It was the prom-ising freeware cartoon adventure thatwas soon grabbed by the frankly hilar-ious (and now defunct after releasingexactly zero games) Bad Brain andalmost banished to oblivion. Thankful-ly Daedalic Entertainment came tothe rescue and the game will finally bereleased in a very ambitious and quiteimpressive form probably sometimein 2008.

The Adventure Collection: Volume 1

The Whispered World Lives

First ResonanceScreenshots

Sighted

Finally! Xii Games released thefirst screenshots of its hotly antic-ipated, wildly innovative, indiepoint-and-clicker. They are allvery atmospheric, very pixel artsyand quite frankly very beautiful.Just like the one I’ve posted herefor your viewing pleasure. Forfurther eye candy and detailedinfo on the game visit the xiisite/blog.

Ron Gilbert is definitely back!!

http://www.deathspank.com

http://xiigames.com/


Actually, it still is, but unfortunatelyGameTap have been in a shockingmood and announced that MystOnline: Uru Live will no longer behosted on their service. Still, it willprobably last for a tad more than amonth before it’s finally taken down.For shame…

Well, ok, go on, call it The Experiment. Call it Bob, for allI care. What really matters is that the Americanizedversion of the brilliant Experience 112 should alreadybe available in stores across the US. Find out more onthis atmospheric, graphically impressive and highlyinnovative adventure over at its official website:

www.microapp.com/contenus_propres/sites_plus/experience112

There’s also a demo you can download, that will definite-ly be unlike anything else you’ve ever played.

Das Experiment

Dracula Origin: Website UnveiledProbably the hundredth Dracula in-spired adventure to ever grace ourdearest of genres and it’s got a brandnew official website too. Have a look atthe cunningly selected www.dracula-origin.com. Seems like quite a promis-ing new Frogwares title too. Highlyatmospheric graphics are to be expect-ed.

Finally! A game set in an insane asy-lum that’s actually NOT morbidly de-pressing. Enter Edna & Harvey(Harvey being the talking stuffed bun-ny). Could she really be wrongfullyincarcerated in an asylum? Again,Harvey....talking stuffed bunny. Hmm.Guaranteed twisted humor for all!

www.daedalic.de

Myst Onlineis no more

Daedalic annouces Edna & Harvey

AGS entersthe .NET world

AGS, the popular free tool that hasalready helped talented people cre-ate tons of excellent –mostly free-ware- adventures, has finallyreached version 3.0. Major changesinclude a fully rewritten editor all inthe .Net Framework, a vastly upgrad-ed graphics engine, Vista compatibil-ity, a shiny new look, bettermultilingual font support and a scriptdebugger. Grab yourselves a copyfrom the lovely Adventure Game Stu-dio website

www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/

TAC to publish Sherlock: NemesisThe Adventure Company has an-nounced that they will publish Sher-lock Holmes: Nemesis in NorthAmerica. As is the TAC way, thename has been changed; developedby Frogwares and originally titledSherlock Holmes versus Arsene Lu-pine. Though the name change maydrive you nuts, another AG release inN.A. should help ease the pain. Lookfor it in April 2008.

http://www.microapp.com/contenus_propres/sites_plus/experience112

http://www.daedalic.de/index.php?modus=games&lang=en


F E A T U R E D I N T E R V I E W

Do you ever wish you could go back to the time where imagination and story blended together seamlessly? Gameswhere we had multiple endings based upon OUR actions? Well, you can. Howard Sherman of Malinche Entertain-ment has been doing just that since 2002.In addition to keeping the text adventure genre alive and kicking, Howard Sherman is also the organizer of Adventure-Con 2008, a gaming conference dedicated fully to Adventure Games. Because AL had so many questions for Howard,we decided to split the interview into 2 parts to cover it all. Be sure to check out Part 2 of the interview featuringAdventureCon.Adventure Lantern thanks Howard for giving of his valuable time to answer our many, many questions. We thoroughlyenjoyed reading his answers and wish him much success with AdventureCon and continued success with Malinche.

[Adventure Lantern]: Please tell us a little about yourselfand how Malinche Entertainment got started.

[Howard Sherman]: I'd been kicking around the idea offiring up a modern interactive fiction publishing companyfor years. In the mid to late 1990s, I decided to take actionand made some excellent progress before I hit a brick wall.

My professional life as a senior executive got in the wayof my earliest plans. Before I hit the "pause" button, I hadcompleted the Pentari prequel and roughly 20-25 roomsof Pentari: First Light. Some years later, I just picked upwhere I left off when more free time presented itself.

[AL]: What made you decide to focus Malinche on inter-active fiction?

[HS]: Because nobody else made any attempt to cater tothe countless number of "orphans" out there left strandedafter the first age of commercial text adventure gamescame to a close.

The fans were there but there was no one around to caterto what the fans wanted. There are those in the amateurmovement out there who are probably jumping up anddown in hysterics right about now.

Good. Maybe that will motivate them to write interactivefiction that most people could actually enjoy. Perhapsinteractive fiction with mass appeal can one day be pro-duced by someone other than me. Until then, MalincheEntertainment stands alone in the commercial interactivefiction world because Malinche gives people what theywant.

And so the second age of commercial text adventuregames is here - made possible by what we're doing atMalinche Entertainment.

[AL]: What is the primary difference between a text adven-ture and interactive fiction? Or is there one?

[HS]: While text adventure games and interactive fiction

Conducted by: Wendy Nellius

Ah, the 1970’s. For those of us who were around then, it wascertainly an interesting time. There were a lot of things goingon at the time. I won’t get into the political events since thisis supposed to be an entertaining article, right? There wasthe emergence of disco and heavy metal music, the fashionhorrors of bell bottom pants, spandex and sequins, the innova-tiveness and absurdity of the pet rock and so much more.But, for all the gamers out there, the 70’s brought about thebeginning of the ultimate time consuming form of entertain-ment we could ever imagine.....the adventure game; specifi-cally the text adventure. I don’t think the intention was to turnus all into AG junkies. But, junkies we are and proud of it!Nowadays, it’s all about graphics, graphics, graphics.

--Wendy



are functionally identical at a primal level, the differencesbecome distinct when the adventurer delves deeper.

All works of interactive fiction fall under the umbrella of textadventure games in the larger sense. But not all textadventure games make the cut to be distinguished asinteractive fiction.

To me, interactive fiction has to be fully immersive to theplayer. The strength of the writing has to be as powerfulin creating mental imagery in the player's mind as thepower of a graphics engine in generating the pretty pic-tures the point-and-click players have come to expect.The power of possibility in the story has to be there too;how much can the player do? Do interesting things hap-pen (or almost happen) when they try something?

Text adventure games are almost always entertaining;interactive fiction takes that core value to a higher level.

[AL]: There are some out there who may not even beaware of text adventures. I’m sure I’m showing my agebecause I remember them well. Which text adventuregame stands out in your mind as the one that had youhooked?

[HS]: Any of my fans out there already know the answer:Zork. On the TRS-80 Model III. In a Radio Shack store inBrooklyn, NY. I was 12. It was late winter turning to earlyspring.

My life would never be the same.

I just had to figure out what the folded piece of plastic did.

I was euphoric after reaching the rank of Junior Adventurer.I roared in triumph when I finally killed the thief.

Zork grabbed me and pulled me in within a few secondsbecause the vivid descriptions, highbrow humor and thepromise of adventure all came together.

Other games that really shined through for me are BeyondZork, Suspect, Lurking Horror, Softporn Adventure (which

spawned the massive Leisure Suit Larry franchise), Ad-ventureland, Return to Pirate's Island 2 (for being WICK-ED hard!) among many others.

[AL]: Do you write all the stories yourself? Or do youemploy others to do so?

[HS]: I write every word myself. Malinche staff anddiligent volunteers help immensely (especially with test-ing) but when it comes to the writing, it's all me. Some-times, a play tester will make some suggestions about apuzzle or a patch of prose and I'll make changes that helpthe title flow better.

[AL]: Do you have a personal favorite when it comes tothe type of story? Science Fiction, Detective, Horror etc.?

[HS]: That's a tough one. I'm a fiction fan from the wordgo which makes it hard for me to pick one favorite. Let metry a shortcut to an answer; there is not a single romancefiction title in my personal library.

[AL]: When you released Pentari: First Light, what kindof reaction did it get?

[HS]: Explosive! The tremendous, positive response fromfans and game distributors along with glowing mediacoverage told me I scored a direct hit in targeting the textadventure game market for a commercial comeback.

[AL]: Do you find your fans to be more bookworm, gameror both?

[HS]: Definitely both. I think enjoying good fiction andappreciating a good game experience is a prerequisite forfully enjoying the interactive fiction experience.

[AL]: Your latest project is Saints in Sin City. Can you tellus a little bit about the story?

[HS]: Saints in Sin City is a crossover work blending themost exciting aspects of a spy thriller with the classicelements of a murder mystery. The player is a seniormember of MI-6 slipped into the scene under cover as



"merely" protecting the Prime Minister who is attending theopening of the multi-national Opimo hotel, resort andcasino.

But the player's job goes far beyond that; The CIA andMI-6 are positive that multiple terrorist cells are converg-ing on Las Vegas to take out the Opimo. Why? The Opimois the world's first $1 trillion piece of property so, naturally,its grand opening with several heads of state in atten-dance is getting an unprecedented amount of internation-al media coverage.

And that's exactly what the terrorists want.

Taking out most of the world's high-profile leaders who arecoming to celebrate the latest addition to global deca-dence with the cameras rolling is as good as it gets ifyou're a terrorist.

By throwing global terrorism into the mix, Saints in Sin Cityhas appeal to for almost anyone in perhaps three differentfiction genres.

[AL]: Sin City refers to Las Vegas. I know you havecreateda real-life travel guide for Las Vegas. What took you solong to base one of your stories there?

[HS]: Saints in Sin City is my first serious attempt at aninteractive fiction title set in Las Vegas but I have had theidea before...

I dabbled with Las Vegas in a previous text adventuregame some years ago. It's entitled BOFH: InteractiveFiction Edition and I co-wrote it with the legendary creatorof “The Bastard Operator from Hell” himself - Simon Trav-aglia.

Parts of my BOFH text adventure game take place in atop-of-the-line casino resort as a result of the player, anew BOFH, scoring a very serious junket under the flimsydisguise of a business trip.

[AL]: Will there be a lot of twists and turns in the storyline?

[HS]: Oh yes. With the global terrorism dimension, theplayer can take the story in a dozen different directions atalmost any point in time. Then, there's the complicationof several dead bodies showing up all over the property atprecisely the wrong moment which gives the player amurder mystery to solve to keep the local police out of hisway.

Just in case the player still wants more to do, the spythriller aspects are always there; attachés from a coupleof dozen countries are at the Opimo too. Some areobviously on his side and others are quietly workingagainst him.

Just two things are working in the player's favor; they havea "get out of jail free" card to do whatever it takes to stopthe terrorists without exception and they have full run ofthe property - including the private villas where the billion-aires stay to the security room and the surveillance camer-as to the less glamorous, but very useful, service corridors,laundry rooms and parking garages.

[AL]: How much do we really get to interact with the story?

[HS]: Alot. So far I've implemented The Vault; thetrendiest tri-level nightclub in Las Vegas, I'm nearly donewith the expansive lobby and most of the casino area.

The level of interaction at different points is going to bein-depth but not to the point where the player is distracted

Excerpt fromPentari:

First Light



from achieving their objectives.

On the other hand, it just occurred to me that Las Vegasis the Mecca of dalliances so the player getting side-tracked for too long in a Blackjack game might be a good,if unfair, idea where game play is concerned.

[AL]: What is the basic interface? Keyboard and blackscreen? Or perhaps it’s blue?

[HS]: The interface is keyboard, like always, for the gameinteraction. Since I've fallen in love with the Gargoyleinterpreter for Windows, the player will not be seeing ablue screen unless they really want to. (Windows usersshould never have the misfortune of seeing a blue screen,pun intended...) Thanks to Gargoyle, the player is treatedto a crisp display that's easy on the eyes. The keyboardis essential for the player to tell Sin City what they want todo in plain English.

[AL]: Do your stories always end neatly? Do you everend with a cliff-hanger?

[HS]: I like neat. My desk doesn't always exhibit thispreference but I do tend to wrap things up. Saints in SinCity will have a couple of minor character crossovers(Commander Davis from Endgame is scheduled to makea cameo appearance, for example) but I'm intending it tobe a stand alone title which doesn't leave a lot of room forcliffhangers.

[AL]: With all the emphasis in the gaming world placedupon outstanding graphics, how are you able to compete?

[HS]: I don't even try. For the graphically minded gamer

there is a simple formula: games=graphics.

I just write the very best game text possible. I continuallystudy my craft and improve my performance to makebetter and better games in every way text adventuregames are measured.

[AL]: When are you expecting to release Saint in Sin City?

[HS]: This year. Probably. [grin] I'm notorious for missingself-imposed deadlines so I just tend to go with the flow.I'm thinking of a summer launch but it'll probably be morelike fall.

[AL]: For those who have never experienced textadventure/interactive fiction, what are they missing out on?

[HS]: Interactive fiction is the next level in the evolutionof the book. Lots of people like a certain kind of book.They can enjoy more of everything they like about theirfavorite kind of fiction when they play interactive fiction

.[AL]: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

[HS]: If there's one thing I could impress upon peoplewho have a choice between visual entertainment andtextual entertainment it is this: try and pick textual enter-tainment more often.

Sure I have my own selfish reasons for saying this; I'd loveto move as many copies of Saints in Sin City as the latestsports game on a game console. Much more than that,though, is my desire to see people get smarter. Playing avirtual baseball game or shoot 'em up on a game consoleis not going to make you smarter. Reading a book will dothat.

Interactive fiction kicks that up a notch because you're notjust reading; you're thinking about every turn the story cantake and every decision you can make. When people tapinto their critical thinking skills like this, they can count onastonishing gains in mental capacity.

Malinche Interactive Fiction titles are compatible with allversions of Windows, any version of Mac OS X, Linux,Unix, the entire Palm family, Windows Mobile devices,most smartphones, Classic iPods, and Nintendo DS.

For more information, check out the whole Malinche site at:

www.malinche.net

http://www.malinche.net



Calling all Adventure Gamers far and wide! AdventureCon is back on and we have the interview with all the details. Letpart 2 of our interview with Howard Sherman begin!

Along with many others, I received the first email announc-ing that official planning has begun for AdventureCon2008. First, can you please tell everyone what Adventure-Con is all about?

AdventureCon is destined to be a magical event adven-ture game fans will cherish always. From the dawn of theadventure age with Adventure International, Infocom andSierra Online to the most modern releases of companieslike Malinche Entertainment and Dreamcatcher Games,there will be something for everybody at AdventureCon.

Some may already have heard of it via AdventureCon2007 which unfortunately did not come to fruition. I don’tthink everyone fully understands the amount of planningthat goes into an event, especially a brand new event.Like a game, you can get hit with a bug that causes aminor hitch or multiple bugs that brings it to an impasse.So, what’s the short story on what happened last year?

Bugs? Oh yeah, we had bugs to work out. It's been overa year and we're still in beta!

The short story? AdventureCon 2007 was a journey ofdiscovery for me. I am an insane entrepreneur in thesense that when I have a good idea I get fired up and getto work. Obstacles in front of me are briefly consideredthen immediately shrugged off.

I had absolutely no idea what I was in for when I set out toplan AdventureCon! [laugh]

Venue selection was brutish but fun. What's not fun aboutvisiting Las Vegas and deducting it as a legitimate busi-ness expense?

Negotiations with The Mirage hotel were exhausting butrewarding. I got them to change all the terms (the foodand beverage requirement being the true deal killer) andthe space allocations to drive the price down to what Icalculated to be possible. Possible means: covering allthe costs for renting the venue space, flying in all the VIPs,putting them up in hotel suites, wining and dining them,and catering to all of their wishes during their stay in LasVegas. Thank goodness I have an accounting back-

Conducted by: Wendy Nellius

Tentative Schedule as of 24 March 2008This Schedule of Events is Subject to Change

Without Notice.

August 29, 2008Private Reception Party for VIP Celebrity Guests and

AdventureCon Attendees Staying at The Water ClubLive action adventure begins!

August 30, 2008Al Lowe

Lori Ann and Corey Cole

August 31, 2008Scott Adams



ground. I ran a dizzying array of calculations assumingdifferent models of attendance and activities.

Then there was the really big question: when would Adven-tureCon happen? Determining show dates bordered onthe impossible since most VIPs had conflicting calendars.I made it an outright requirement for Scott Adams to bethere which meant that a VIP or two had to be excluded.Why must Scott Adams figure into my equations? ScottAdams is the man responsible for launching not just thecommercial adventure game market but the commercialcomputer game market altogether. We owe it all to him.

I'm faced with this same dilemma this year; GrandmasterAdams can attend AdventureCon over Labor Day week-end but he cannot make it July 4th. The legendary JaneJensen is considering attending but she can only do soover the July 4th weekend.

It was a shame to lose her to scheduling. If we ever do an"AdventureCon II" I'll make it a point to set it for July 4thand invite Jane Jensen first. Then Ken and RobertaWilliams.

I can tell that you are not one to let setbacks stop you fromreaching a goal. Why is AdventureCon so important forthe adventure gaming community and why did you decideto take on this venture?

"Somebody has to do it so it might as well be me!" [grin]

Seriously, the adventure game world should not be treat-ed like the bastard stepchild of the greater gaming indus-try. Why do we have to settle for being a footnote at othershows like GDC or Leipzig?

I am dauntless, resourceful and as you so graciously putit, relentless to boot. I'm also not averse to taking risks.

I remember last year’s planning had you collaboratingwith Randy Sluganski of Just Adventure. Will the samebe true this year?

Unfortunately, it looks as though Randy will sit this roundout. Randy is grappling with very serious personal chal-lenges so it seems I'm going it alone. Randy is alwayswelcome to jump in whenever he wants to - IF he wantsto. And, if he can't or won't, I completely understand. I'llcarry the torch and make sure he gets all the credit hedeserves for laying tremendous groundwork last year.

Word is that you’re aiming for Atlantic City, NJ as thevenue location this year. Is there a benefit to an EastCoast vs. West Coast location?

Big time. When we first discussed a venue Randy votedfor Pittsburgh and I voted for Vegas with Atlantic City asmy alternate choice. Randy expressed concern at Vegassince most people would need to fly in. But I wasn'thearing it. I was thinking BIG. I always think big, come tothink of it. What bigger or better place to host Adventure-Con? As we learned, hosting AdventureCon in Las Vegaswasn't in the cards.

Atlantic City really is the ideal city; it's within driving dis-tance of several major population centers, has rail, busand airline service as well as immediate proximity to amajor highway.

Picking which hotel to host it last year was a separate setof problems. Most of the big resorts wanted nothing to dowith a weekend convention.

This year it's easy: The Water Club at Borgata. They canaccommodate our dates and all of our needs while deliver-ing a superior experience. Our confirmed VIP guests can'twait to check in. Neither can I.

Price seemed to be a big issue of debate last year. Howdifficult is it to try and satisfy so many different opinions onwhat the price should be?

Virtually impossible, it seems. I hope that prospectiveattendees understand that AdventureCon cannot be doneon a dime. Not to burst anyone's bubble but nobodyshould expect a $49 weekend pass. Our VIP guests willnot stay in a cut-rate hotel and have dinner at a diner upthe street.



Bringing our guests in from all over the country, puttingthem up in luxury accommodations and keeping them fedand happy is not cheap. On average, it will cost approxi-mately $3,500 per VIP. That's $3,500 EACH. Line upChris Jones, Al Lowe and Scott Adams and we're startingout with a $10,500 up front expense before we rent evenone square foot of show space. Then if Steve Meretzkyconfirms (he's very interested but needs to get his sum-mer schedule settled) that's another $3,500 bringing VIPcosts to $14,000. With Lori Ann and Corey Cole confirm-ing we get a two-for-one special so it's "only" another$3,500 to get them both in.At this point we're looking at$17,500 in costs to cover for our celebrity guest list alone.

Such a small question, but so big: Food or No Food?

And a very fair question at that! I am very happy to say thatAdventureCon 2008 does NOT come with a meal plan! It'snot even an option.

As a public service announcement I must add that I heart-ily encourage everyone to eat three square meals everyday to keep their energy levels up. Since we're notproviding any food to attendees, everyone is on their ownin deciding which of the Borgata's 19 restaurants theywant to eat in when hunger comes calling.

What is your vision for AdventureCon 2008? Will there beworkshops? How about the live-action adventure game?Any plans for that in 2008?

Everything we planned for 2007 is on the table for 2008.That would be workshops, a live-action adventure gameon the Borgata property, an adventure game museum,autograph opportunities and more.

Who is on the invited guest list so far? It’s really early inthe planning stages, but have you received any confirma-tions yet?

Quite a few. Al Lowe and Scott Adams were the first tosign on. Lori and Corey Cole are on board. And in justthe past two days I heard back from Chris Jones and he'sconfirmed he’ll be there. There's a very strong possibilitySteve Meretzky will attend, assuming he can settle hissummer calendar. He's got a lot of balls in the air at themoment. Ken and Roberta Williams have declined but Iam doing everything I can to persuade them to attend. Iencourage everyone to join me in trying to change theirminds. I am flooding their mailbox with copies of fanrequests I've received. JOIN ME! :)There's a second listof VIP guests we're putting together now in response tofan requests. We'll go in order starting with the mostrequested celebrity.

Are you inviting developers, publishers or both?

Both. I think But, I'm not sure. I'm tempted to leave themout of the picture but I know that's not realistic. Last year,everyone was flaky. Two publishers first committed imme-diately to becoming major sponsors then never followedthrough on their commitments. That's part of the reasonwhy we had to postpone AdventureCon last year.

One major publisher (who I won't name even though Ishould) will not participate in a weekend event because,as he put it, "it's unfair to our employees and their familiesto keep them away for a weekend." My response then andnow is -- "Isn't it unfair to expect your CUSTOMERS totake off from work during the week to come to a conven-tion?" Weekday fan conventions won't work. My ownexperience attending dozens of conventions should'vetold me that. It took Al Lowe to shake some sense in me.This fat cat developer has no clue. I'd love to name namesbut my sense of professionalism prevents me... barely.

Another powerhouse in the adventure game world won'tlift a finger to support the event because, as the headhoncho put it, "We're not releasing any adventure games

The first person known to getan adventure game onto a per-sonal computer: Adventureland.He is also credited with start-ing the computer game indus-try we enjoy today.

www.msadams.com

Best known as the creator ofthe infamous Leisure Suit Lar-ry Series. During his 16 yearswith Sierra, Al contributed tomany legendary games suchas King’s Quest III and PoliceQuest.

www.allowe.com

This husband and wife duogot together and created Tran-solar Entertainment. Theyare the brains behind theQuest for Glory series andShannara.

www.transolar.com

Yet another legend in the gam-in world. Chris is best knownas the creator (along with Aar-on Conners) of the Tex Mur-phy series of games.

http://www.msadams.com/index.htm

http://www.allowe.com/index.htm

http://www.transolar.com



this year." I don't follow that logic entirely; if you're build-ing a brand you're always putting your name out there.Other publishers never committed to attend (or evenbothered to inform us they were thinking about it) but thenwere bummed out when they found out we had to cancel.Randy and I were amazed by this.

If you're a developer or a publisher and you want to be apart of AdventureCon then you have to step forward andsign up! Every time a company signs up, a fan's cost toattend goes down exponentially.

If publishers and developers want AdventureCon to suc-ceed then their participation and support of AdventureConcould make all the difference. I urge all interested partiesto contact me and make arrangements. Even the cluelessguy. I'll forgive and forget. Let's all unite and makeAdventureCon happen.

For those developers and publishers out there workinghard for the adventure community, why should they getinvolved with AdventureCon?

BECAUSE they are working hard for the adventure com-munity. What better way to show your customers andprospective customers that you're serious about adven-ture games than to throw your hat in the ring and supportAdventureCon?

I am committing 100% of Malinche Entertainment's re-sources to this project. From the girls who answer thephones, to my sales director and even the technicalsupport staff, we are all committed to seeing Adventure-Con succeed. I am paying everyone overtime to workAdventureCon and deliver an enchanting event.

I am personally clocking insane hours every day to makeAdventureCon happen.

Clearly, Malinche is demonstrating its commitment to itscore audience. Why would my peers in the adventuregame industry do less? Can they afford to?

Consumers are smarter today than ever before. Itwouldn't take much detective work to deduce which com-panies didn't step up and support AdventureCon. Custom-ers would be well within their rights to wonder if suchpublishers are truly committed to their satisfaction asadventurers. Consumers could then feel free to vote withtheir wallets accordingly.

Apart from the omnipotent force of customer loyalty, pub-lishers and developers can also look forward to powerfulnetworking opportunities with other industry leaders aswell as the customers who make our industry possible.

For the gamers, why should they attend?

For years adventure gamers had only one primary medi-um to interact with each other: forums and bulletin boards.Now a whole new playing field is possible. Isn't it time wetook our affinity to the next level?

Getting the chance to meet and talk with the people whomade their favorite adventure games has never beenpossible before now. Come and meet the legends of theadventure game world. Test your mettle as an adventurerin a real-time adventure game and let the world know youare a very serious adventurer.

I am implementing the real-time adventure game person-ally and I promise every player an adventure they willnever forget.

What's almost as good? Swag! Score some free adven-ture games and other sweet freebies.

Meet other fans all over the USA and the world and sharewar stories over dinner. Get your games signed by thepeople who created them. Hear them talk about their timeat Sierra, Adventure International and Infocom...

In a word: Get involved with AdventureCon and experi-ence magic.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with us aboutAdventureCon?

I can't do this alone. I can rent the hall, I can start themusic, but we need people to show up and dance.

AdventureCon is for adventure gamers. I think it's criticalthat everyone even remotely interested in adventuregames stand up and be counted.

Don’t miss out on AdventureCon 2008. To get notified ofupdates, visit the official AdventureCon websites

www.adventurecon.org

Be sure to sign up for the AdventureCon newsletter!

http://www.adventurecon.org

Adventurer’s Ravine


P R E V I E W

Preview By Wendy Nellius

Rain, Rain, Rain. It has been raining fordays straight and the city is restless.Violence has increased likely due to itsresidents being cooped up inside.

Five distressed souls stumble into thestreets of NYC, seemingly sufferingfrom some untold horror. What hap-pened to the 3 men and 2 women nowbeing held at the Staten Island ForensicHospital? That’s what everyone wouldlike to know. Unfortunately, amnesiaencompassing all 5 subjects will hinderthe flow of information tremendously;possibly permanently. There are manyexperts who specialize in cracking am-nesia cases and Dr. David McNamara,a former army psychiatrist, may be theone to do just that.

In Overclocked: A History of Violence,you will get to play as David McNamaraas well as all five patients at the hospital.Your job as David will be to somehowhelp these patients retrieve their memo-ries (presented as flashbacks) one snip-pet at a time. You’ll need to find just theright trigger through evidence collectedthroughout the game sometimes in con-junction with hypnosis. What is mostintriguing about the storyline is that youwill be working backwards through time

beginning with the most current situa-tion. During each flashback, you willplay as that particular patient and expe-rience their memory yourself. You’llexperience their conversation, theirchallenges and their emotions.

Unfortunately for Dave, his job is notgoing to be as straight-forward as hewould like. David is plagued by multiplepersonal problems and will also have todeal with an antagonistic doctor and hisassistant at the hospital. You would

think they would be happy to have thehelp, but this isn’t the case and it willtake the entire game to understand why.Add in the fact that the patients are sotraumatized they can barely speak andone is extremely violent. This will not bean easy task.

This 3rd person point-and-click adven-ture by House of Tales begins in a NewYork hotel room. Quickly examine theroom, check the answering machine,make a few calls and you’re on your way.

In order to help with your task, Davidhas a PDA which will allow him to con-tact NPCs, record patient sessions andcheck voicemail/email. Inventoryscrolls at the bottom of the screen andinvolves only one click in order to usean item.

Getting around is made clear with largedirectional arrows. Pressing the spacebar will allow you to see all availableexits. Double clicking will allow you torun during gameplay and also moveimmediately from one node to another.Some of the interface items in the mainmenu were still under construction inthis preview but are expected to becorrected in the final version.



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You will get to converse often withNPCs during the game. And, while youget to choose the topics courtesy of

“topic bubbles”, that’s where your partici-pation will end. The ensuing conversa-tion will take place via an animatedcutscene. So, those who don’t want tomess around with choosing dialogshould be happy. Skipping dialog or acutscene altogether is accomplishedwith the Escape button. However, un-less you’re replaying, it’s really not rec-ommended as you will miss importantdetails.

The puzzles range from easy to mediumlevel of difficulty. No real stumpers.There are inventory puzzles and logicpuzzles. A lot of the game focuses onfinding those memory triggers. While Idon’t think there were any real stumpers,as we’re all better at some puzzles;worse at others, I’ll leave this for you todecide.

The preview copy provided to Adven-ture Lantern is voiced in German withEnglish sub-titles. This was a little diffi-cult to get used to and the text wouldhave been better placed at the bottomof the game screen, but this should notbe an issue when the game is fullytranslated into English.Lip synching is on point….at least forthe German version. The voice actingseemed to be fitting (Ithink…well...perhaps…ok, I have noidea if they were good or not) but thiswill all change once English is supplant-ed into the game. We’ll just have tocross our fingers and hope that care istaken to do this right.

Since David’s job takes place primarilyat the hospital, he doesn’t have asmany locations to visit. But, more loca-tions are available through the memo-ries of the patients. And, House ofTales most certainly has a way of mak-ing 2D background come alive. And,these have to be the best damn water &rain effects I have ever seen. Look, alot of games out there have rain, right?But, there are few and far between whoactually take the time to make theground look wet and shiny with puddlesin conjunction with the falling raindrops.The turbulent ocean seen from the dockhad exactly the right movement to make

it realistic. In fact, all the backgroundsare immaculately detailed.

House of Tales also uses camera an-gles to enhance the storyline and bringemphasis to the seriousness of thestory. It works. Also employed is theuse of split screens. So, while you’rewatching a patient in the throes of aflashback, the memory will be playedout on the right side of the split screen.This adds a whole new dimension to thestorytelling. They’ve also added a spe-cial technique to a couple of cutscenesto crank up the drama factor in a touch-ing kind of way. You’ll have to play thegame to see what I’m talking about, butI loved it. Sound or lack of sound playsa big part in the immersion process.There is something you will also experi-ence with one of the patients basedupon sound and also the way he looksthat leads you to believe he’s going topounce and kick your ass at any second.Seriously, I found myself saying that outloud.

House of Tales has a fondness for im-mersive storylines and Overclocked: AHistory of Violence does not disappoint.You will WANT to know what has hap-pened to the five disturbed individuals.You may even find yourself questioningthe motives of all others in the gameand David himself. Keep in mind thatthe game does contain mature contentso it may not be for everyone.

Overclocked has already won an awardfor innovation in Germany. LighthouseInteractive has taken on publishing inNorth America. If the full conversion toEnglish goes well, this unique game willhave a strong showing for both Houseof Tales and Lighthouse-Interactive andbe a most welcome addition for theadventure gaming community.

Developer: House of TalesPublisher: Lighthouse-InteractivePlatform: PCGenre: AdventureEst. N.A. Release: Mar 31, 2008

http://www.house-of-tales.com

http://www.lighthouse-interactive.com/Overclocked-Productgame



R E V I E W

By Thaumaturge

Developer: Tucker BowenPublisher: Tucker BowenPlatform: PC OnlineGenre: AdventureRelease Date: 2007 (Sequential)

The MRI scan was supposed to beroutine. The events that followed,however, would seem to be far from it.

Sedated for the procedure, Alice Shel-ter wakes up to find herself still in theMRI room, alone, and, she discovers,with the exit door locked. She waits,and three hours pass with no release.

Where are the doctors? Perhapsmore sinister, why does a nearby plas-ma screen include the word

“experiment”?

At last Alice decides to find her ownway out – and it is here that our gamebegins.

The first chapter is concerned withthat goal – escape from the confinesof the MRI room. The second chapterpicks up where this leaves off, withwhat Alice discovers on escaping theroom – which is not at all what one islikely to expect on exiting a room in anurban hospital.

Thus far little of the story has been

revealed, but each chapter offers newmysteries. Few, if any, answers areas yet available, but hints are present.Depending on the direction taken by,and the writing found within the subse-quent chapters, this could become arather interesting story (although Ihesitate to say too much, for fear ofspoiling the revelations of these firsttwo chapters).

A few spelling errors aside, the writingis decent, and serves its purpose well.

Unfortunately, I do have two criticisms:First, the main character is not terriblywell-written, I don’t feel – specifically,she seems to show a lack of responseto events around her, which can leadto her feeling a little “empty”.

Second, I noticed a few points thatseemed to me to be a little illogical –such as a mention in a diary of drop-ping a compass in order to lighten aparty’s load. Just what was this com-pass made of, and how big was it, thatdropping it resulted in a noticeablelightening of load, and one that made

the subsequent loss of direction anacceptable price?

In terms of interface, the game issimple, effective, and primarilymouse-based.

Within the game world, a single clickof the left mouse button instructs Aliceto walk to the indicated point. Whenheld over an exit, the mouse cursorbecomes a red arrow, and in thesecases a single click initiates a transi-tion from the current region to the nextregion.

The player also has an inventory, lo-cated at the bottom of the screen, and

http://www.somethingamiss.com



R E V I E W

opened by moving the mouse cursorbelow a certain line. Within this panel,a single click on an inventory itemselects that item for use, the cursortaking on the image of that item. Adouble-click of the left mouse buttoncancels the selection of the currentitem, returning the cursor to its normalform.

Objects or areas that can be interact-ed with (including inventory items) areindicated by the cursor becoming redand the object or area’s name appear-ing at the bottom of the screen.

Interaction with such items or areas isperformed via a “verb disc”, a small,circular panel that appears when theleft mouse button is held down for ashort time while the cursor is over anactive object or area (again includingitems in the inventory). The verb discholds three icons: a mouth to indicatetalking, eating or drinking, an eye toindicate examination, and a hand toindicate interaction (including the actof taking an item). Selection of one ofthese options is performed by movingthe mouse cursor over the appropri-ate icon (with the button still held),which should result in that icon be-coming highlighted, and then releas-ing the button.

One element of the game’s interfacethat I rather liked was the page-turn-ing system, used when a book is read.This involves clicking and holding themouse button while the cursor is overone of the lower outside corners of thepages, and then “dragging” the cursortowards the opposite side. This

causes the page to follow the cursor,starting from the selected corner, andturning back or forth as the mouse ismoved, settling to show the new pageif the mouse button is released afterturning the page beyond a certain de-gree.

In a few cases Alice will have theopportunity to converse with anothercharacter. This is handled very sim-ply: a selection of possible topics ofconversation is presented at the bot-tom of the screen, and clicking on oneof them produces a brief piece ofconversation, that in some cases ad-vance events.

Finally, the game menu can be ac-cessed at the press of a key on thekeyboard (any key, it seems) – al-

though the game warns to not do thiswhile a region loads. And indeed, Ifound that disobeying this injunctionseemed to result in glitches, albeitones that were easily resolved (I thinkthat simply re-entering the menu andthen once again exiting to the gameresolved them).

Two types of puzzle are to be found inSomething Amiss. Most are invento-ry-based: certain items found duringthe player’s explorations can be col-lected, and most of those come tolater be used in the solution of someobstacle (although there are someinventory items that seem to be eitherplot hints or puzzle red herrings).Others are logic puzzles, involving themanipulation of elements of the envi-ronment in order to achieve a specificstate (or series of states).

For the most part these are reason-ably fair, and not terribly difficult. Afew do seem to me to have solutionsthat are a little odd, but, I’m glad tosay, not problematically so – I don’trecall any instances in which I felt thatI was required to “read the designer’smind” to determine the appropriatecourse of action.

Better yet, the game includes a built-in hint system, available via the gamemenu, which offers progressivelymore explicit hints for the situationsencountered.

On the down side, I found a few itemsto be either a little small or unobvious;thankfully I don’t believe that any actu-ally caused problems for me, but I can



R E V I E W

see them being potentially problemat-ic.

Graphically, Something Amiss pro-vides mixed quality. On the positiveside, the graphics overall look good –a number of the backgrounds in thesecond chapter in particular look verygood, and while others are less well-done, they are nevertheless generallyat least decent – although Alice’s ren-dered perspective seems to me to bea little off in some scenes.

It is in animation that the game’sgraphics are weakest, however.Many animations do not seem entirelynatural and convincing in their motion.Perhaps worse, Alice’s movements,while generally vaguely appropriate tothe action being taken, seem to useonly a few, non-specific animationsthroughout the game, resulting in arather generic feel to the character’sactions.

On a lesser note, when Alice walksher pace does not always match hermovement speed, resulting in herseeming to “slide” a little.

An interesting point (to me, at least) isthat Alice has been rendered in a styledifferent to that of the world aroundher. Where the game environmentsand characters are portrayed in a real-istic style, Alice is instead rendered inthe style of “cell shading” – hard-edged shadows and minimal high-

lights, giving the feel of anime or car-toon (the former especially).

This at first may seem to be an oddchoice, but it does seem to havesome advantages. For one, it helpsAlice to stand out in her environment.Perhaps more saliently, however, ithighlights the fact that Alice herselfwould seem to be somehow differentto the rest of her world – although inwhat way that might be is thus far lessclear than her difference in graphicalrepresentation.

As with the graphics, the sounds en-countered in Something Amiss offer amix of quality (outside of those en-countered in cut-scenes, which arehandled well).

The first chapter’s sounds are lessthan perfect – while of good quality,they are not always entirely fitting tothe events that they accompany. Thesecond chapter, I am glad to say,features more fitting sounds, whichremain of good quality – if perhapssparingly used.

The game’s music and ambientsounds are good, if perhaps not al-ways perfectly-fitted to the situation.

Finally, I did encounter one glitchaside from that mentioned previously.Sometimes, when first loading thegame menu before starting the gameitself, the menu will not appear, al-

though the backdrop does. This, how-ever, is easily solved by reloading thepage.

Overall, Something Amiss is an enjoy-able, if imperfect game. That it is freeto play forgives to some degree itsflaws, I think,, leaving it a game thatcan be recommended to those look-ing for an enjoyable adventure, evenif not one that I would recommendabove all others. Additionally, de-pending on the direction taken andquality of the subsequent chapters,this could become a very interestingstory.

It is perhaps worth noting that the firstchapter, which is the weaker of thetwo available at the time of writing, isquite short, while the stronger secondchapter provides the majority of thegame as reviewed here.

Two notes:

1) As of the time of writing, only chap-ters one and two of Something Amisshave been made available; it wouldseem that the chapters are being re-leased in a sequential manner.

2) This game is available to playonline, via one’s browser. While theoptions dialog of the game does men-tion an “offline version”, I have yet tofind a way of acquiring it – it may bethat it has not yet been made available.

Minimum System Requirements:Flash 8 or higher(Flash 9 recommended)Web Browser(Firefox recommended)Mouse



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By Wendy Nellius

Sam & Max…oh… Sam & Max.Where have you been all my life? I’ma little late to the series; got season 1for Christmas and smacked myself forwaiting so long.

Born from a comic book, Sam & Maxhas been adapted for a cartoon, initialcomputer game and eventually mor-phing into the current version wowingfans every month as they drool over anew episode. Unlike some other de-velopers, Telltale promises new epi-sodes and actually delivers. My creditcard got a little workout as I strove toget up to speed after being a slackerfor so long.

The episodes are short (about 3-4hours of game time), so I have nointention of ruining the fun by provid-ing too many details. But here we go.

Night of the Raving Dead:

Well, really, who doesn’t love a flam-boyant red-headed vampire whosefashion flair extends to prominently

displayed nipple rings. Ouch! But,you’ll meet him later. First priority isto saving the town from being overrunby zombies. After a brief cutscenewith Jurgen (the latest nemesis), aflashback will ensue to show how thiswhole drama began.

The game will begin at Sam & Max’soffice just like all the other episodes.Sam is on the phone being informedof the recent Zombie attacks and Maxis bathing in holy water. Neither ofthem is paying attention to the zombiewho has strolls right past them andsteals Jesse James’ hand right off thewall. Zombies sure are bothersome.Sam & Max get right on the case.

Some familiar characters will re-ap-pear in Raving Dead like Abe, Mr.Featherly, and Agent Superball. Sybil,of course, reappears with anothernew cracked life plan; this time to finda good man. Bosco, our paranoidbuddy, does not appear. He’s goneM.I.A. Could it have something to dowith T.H.E.M? Well, that’s a mystery

that won’t be cleared up in this epi-sode.Where will you go this time? Theoffice, of course, along with Sybil’s,Stinky’s and the TV Station. But, themain focus of your journey will be theZombie Factory, although it’s more ofa haunted, vampire thought invoking,Halloween inspired Castle with a spe-cial surprise inside.

Favorite Moments:v If you’ve even seen the movie

“Karate Kid” – Jurgen in the “Crane”fighting position

Sam & Max dancing their butts off.

Developer: Telltale GamesPublisher: Telltale/GametapPlatform: PCGenre: AdventureRelease Date: Feb and Mar 2008

http://www.telltalegames.com

http://www.gametap.com



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Chariots of the Dogs

For a new twist, Chariots of the Dogsdoes NOT begin in Sam & Max’soffice. Bosco’s Inconvenience Storeis where your journey will begin. See-ing as how Bosco went missing in thelast episode, it’s time for our duo tobegin the search. Could his disap-pearance have something to do withT.H.E.M? With Bosco’s obsession, itcertainly would make sense. Wonderabout the bathroom at Bosco’s?Don’t lie…you’ve wondered. Well, nomore. The urinal tour begins. And,that’s all I’m going to say. Chariots ofthe Dogs is an episode that begins theprocess of tying up storylines thathave been in progress all season andthere are surprises at every turn. Toexpound on them would likely ruinanticipation for those who haven’t got-ten to this episode yet. Oh…ok. Onemore tidbit. Time travel. Now, useyour imagination.

Are there repeat characters? Yes.Which ones? Can’t tell you, but I willsay that they are not the ones youwould expect.

Favorite Moments: Too many

Both Episodes

Puzzles (of the logic and inventorynature) are warped, crazy and innova-tive. While not tremendously difficult(but more difficult that Moai BetterBlues), you do have think outside thebox to solve them. There was ones inparticular towards the end of bothepisodes that had me quite stumpedfor a while. The Sam & Max requisiteDeSoto mini-game makes another ap-pearance as well in Raving Dead, buthas disappeared for Chariots. But forthe mini-game in Raving Dead, ifyou’ve done well with the previousepisodes, this should prove to be noproblem. Even if you do get stuck,there is an in-game hint system thatcan be adjusted in the options menuto give you varying degrees of hintsfrom very little to the most possible.While the hint system hasn’t alwaysprovided the best of help, Telltale has

worked on it in each episode and theresult in Chariots in much improved.

All the Sam & Max episode are 3rd

person point and click. The mouse isyour primary tool. However, in epi-sodes with a DeSoto mini-game chal-lenge, you do have the option to usethe arrow keys on your keyboard.There are a ton of clickable items tocheck out in every episode; eachbringing up witty dialog. Exits areeasy to find.

Something new in Chariots is mode oftransportation. In Raving Dead andprevious episodes, Sam & Max wouldsaddle up the DeSoto to get to differ-ent locations. No need to do that inChariots. But, the mode of transporta-tion is part of the surprise so you’llhave to see for yourself.

Graphically, both episodes are out-standing. Pure color-popping eyecandy! There is just a feeling a funand whimsy in every single episode.Truly original.

One element that bothered me in allthe episodes up to Chariots was thelonger load time when moving be-tween nodes. At first I thought it wasmy computer, but then realized it wasthe game. I was pleased to note thatthe load time was much shorter inChariots. Thank you to Telltale for that.

What makes the Sam & Max seriessuch a success is the outstandingcomic timing of the dialog and theoutlandish stories. Really, who thinksthese storylines up! I have laughedout loud so many times that I had tocome off headphones and allow myhusband to hear it as well. He’s not

even playing and he’s laughing at thehysterical banter which is Sam & Max.But, dialog won’t work without theright voices and Telltale hits the markagain and again in this aspect.

While Raving Dead brought you to aconclusion at the end of the game,Chariots will leave you hanging andpissed off that the final Season 2 epi-sode is not out NOW. What I likeabout the series is the continued im-provement. Did I think every singleepisode was stellar? No. There willalways be episodes that just shinemore than others when they’re puttingout so many of them. But, each andevery episode has brought me laugh-ter and fun.

I find that I have been taken over bythe Sam & Max phenomenon and willopen up my wallet without hesitationfor each and every episode. If youhaven’t yet taken the plunge, do itNOW. The laughter alone is worthevery penny.

Raving Dead Chariots

Minimum System Requirements:Windows XP , Vista1.5 GHz processor256 MB RAM32 MB 3D-Accelerated Video CardMouse, Keyboard and Speakers



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Valve software, the creators of thishead-scratching teleportation game,need little introduction to anyonewho’s played games on a PC any timeover the last decade or so. But thisquirky and highly enjoyable puzzle-based offshoot from the Half-Lifepublisher’s stable of curiosities meritscloser inspection...

Let’s begin with a little question ofdefinitions. In a typical game, espe-cially an adventure, we’d expect tofind gameplay involving the discoveryof new and exciting lands, the collec-tion of unusual objects, participation

in a world-altering story, and morecharacter interaction than a particular-ly violent session of a South Americanparliament.

Portal has none of those things. Thereis no adventure to be had, with whatwell-written but simple story it doeshave being more of an afterthoughtthan a driving force. What you do get,before you turn away in horror, is oneof the finest collections of engagingand original puzzles ever seen in asingle game. This is an out-and-outpuzzle game, hearkening back de-spite its technological sophisticationto the days of desktop puzzle gamesreleased for early versions of Win-dows. There is only one drawback tothe game as it appears fresh out of itspackage: its briefness. But that isn’tgoing to weigh too heavily on it be-cause in today’s remarkably busymodding world, in the time since thefirst reviews of this game were written,

dozens of players’ own levels havenow made their way onto a crop of fanwebsites.

The origins of Portal stem from itsindie-game predecessors: the nowfreely available Narbacular Drop fromwhich several of Portal’s design teamoriginated, and the whole sub-genreof the “laser game.” In these oftencunningly constructed games, theplayer’s task was to guide a laser from

an emitter into a receiver by placingmirrors and other obstacles to deflectthe beam, since it could not betouched directly.

Portal takes that idea and transfers itto full first-person 3D, and adds sever-al twists. Standing in the way of theswirling energy balls that have re-placed lasers, or foolishly slipping intothe mire at bottom of some levels willresult in, your increasingly crankyhost tells you, “a black mark on yourrecord – and your death.” Guiding anenergy ball to a receiver will activatesome device, be it a sliding door, amoving platform, or a piston – allow-ing you to pass over chasms andmurky dangers and past gleaming-eyed sentry robots.

The greatest twist of course is theportal gun itself. The in-game storyhas a funny little Half-Life universeexplanation about Aperture Sciencedeveloping these teleportation devic-es to rival the dominance of the BlackMesa Corporation, but basically theseare like the devices seen in the shoot-er Prey, only put to ingenious use inthat they take bullet form. Your gunfires out two portals which can bepositioned separately and which arepermanently linked: anything you startpushing through one, including your-self, will immediately begin stickingout of the other. So you can fire aportal on either side of yourself to seehow you look (the only way to do so),

By Tino Thompson

“Making serious mistakes, youare warned, will result in ablack mark on your record -

and your death”

Developer: Valve (Team formed from former DigiPen members)Publisher: ValvePlatform: PC DVD/DownloadGenre: Puzzle AdventureRelease Date: October 2007Game can be purchased by itself or as part of

Orange Box.

http://www.thinkingwithportals.com

http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html

http://www.valvesoftware.com



R E V I E W

or you can pump one into the ceilingand another into the ground and takea never-ending free-fall.

Inaccessible ledges at the edge ofvision suddenly become just a fewfeet away or even nearer when yourealize you can fire a portal at theground beneath your feet. As well asthat, with a very smart application ofskewed physics, your momentum ispreserved when you fall down into aportal. This lets you pop madly up outof the exit portal like a rocket-poweredgopher, hopefully finding yourself ex-actly where you need to be.

The actual puzzles are impressive innumber, with the later stages requir-ing you to make use of many of thelittle tricks you’ve learned so far andfor you to daisy-chain them together.On top of that, since making mistakesand killing yourself in silly ways is justas much fun as getting it right, youwon’t find yourself getting bored.The level design is very smart, withthe unlockable developers’ commen-tary confirming that their intention wasprovide a gradual learning curve – tothe extent that the entire purpose ofcertain level layouts was to coachusers for tougher stages later. Thisreally works very well, so you hardlyfeel the transition from “Put the box onthe switch” to “Keep yourself flying byrepeatedly firing portals in mid-air andguiding yourself through them.”

The small storyline that develops isworth praising for its originality of ap-proach and the coherent level designthat supports it. But it’s not going tohave you calling up Valve for the nov-el rights. You begin in a tiny glass-walled room next to your bed, alarmclock and a coffee mug waiting for youto use. You can’t help knocking themug over and breaking it. Your sur-roundings are a worrying aestheticblend of minimal art gallery, solitaryconfinement cell and laboratory, andthe audible presence of a sinisterlycheerful voice-over soon confirms youare doomed to carry out purposelesstasks under supervision like the labrat you are.

The voice belongs to a female-voicedcomputer called GLaDOS, and she’snot just the story’s strong point, butreally the only character. The player’sown character isn’t gone into at allexcept for the fact that you control awoman called “Chell” (whose name isonly mentioned in the credits). Justthat name and the fact that she wearssprings on her legs to cushion herfalls are all you learn about her.

Returning to GLaDOS, she is the onlyreason this game has any kind of astory at all. The game has naturallyenough been designed to show off theportal technology in stages of increas-ing complexity, and the voice is justthere to join up gaps between levels.Having said that, very few first-persongames have the benefit of a full narra-tion, and a plot does start to appearfrom it. The humor is consistentlysharp throughout, with some prettyhefty demands placed upon the voiceactress Ellen McLain, who also doeswork on the Half-Life episodes. Sheproduces a wonderfully varied set ofreadings, somewhere between a com-puter voice from an 80’s movie, acantankerous headmistress and apeevish girl. The voice’s sociopathicdescriptions of the pain, bloody injuryand death you may expect to sufferrarely fail to amuse.

Sadly good writing doesn’t alwaysadd up to great story, and this is aclassic example, with the short gamelength and lack of visual support forthe narrative except in the last twoareas of the game making a full storyespecially hard to construct. Just asthings start to get good, it’s all over.

As you’ve probably looked down atthe score by now, you may have real-ized that this game isn’t up there withthe best, although few games entirelybased on level after level of puzzles

Behind the frosted glass you find...office equipment. And there I wasexpecting 'Fascist Pigs' WivesMonthly' magazines everywhere

This little guy is literally bolted tothe ground. No wonder he's pissed

The advanced chambers knockthings up a notch

Cake - apparently a highly-prizedcommodity in the portal universe

“Good writing doesn’t add up toa great story”



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score this highly. The thing is that itsoutstanding puzzles and the high qual-ity of its soundtrack – not every gamehas a song released as a single – arebalanced out by a distinctly averageperformance in other areas. A classicgame would have elements that ap-peal to every kind of player – but ifyou’re not the kind of person who likesmethodically trying dozens of solu-tions to a puzzle, this game has littleto offer you.

It would be conceivable for such ashort game to make it among the best,but it would have to make use of everysecond of screen time it had – some-thing Half-Life notably did despite be-ing a much longer game. Think of allthose scientists marching to and fro intheir absent-minded way, those aliensscampering away with bodies, wholesections of levels disintegrating in

front of your eyes . . . that’s the rightway to fill out the moments wherenothing vital to the plot is really hap-pening. But Portal doesn’t have thoseelements, and it takes too long foranything you might call plot, as op-posed to Aperture Labs backstory, toarrive. Let’s hope that in future Half-Life episodes there are sectionswhere you move through areas whichare destroyed around you, and youare totally stranded there, but canthen use your portal gun to hop be-tween neighboring buildings to es-cape, disable security systems, thento sneak up on sniping enemies, oreven to launch grenades back at theirthrowers. Valve can really take this alot further than Portal did.To me it just doesn’t feel like a gameI’d want to replay, and I think manywill feel the same way; would you rubout a crossword or Sudoku and start

again? Still, the many puzzle fans andfans of novelty gaming, among whomI have to count myself, are not goingto be disappointed with the five to tenhours of mold-breaking gameplay ithas to offer, and the huge potential fordownloadable add-ons.

Some Laser games:www.gamelinkage.com/game/laser/

Narbacular Drop Official Site:www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/nar

baculardrop.html

Portal fan level communities:www.thinkingwithportals.com/

www.myaperturelabs.com/www.portalmaps.net/

Story The irony-laden humor of the game’s maniacal and facelessoverseer adds color and many a giggle, but not depth. Adven-ture fans will not be impressed by the late-developing story.

Puzzles These are the game’s meat, and its two veg. too, and ratehighly for their originality. Enough for a hearty meal forpuzzle-starved ex-Dreamfall players. Downloadable levelsup the ante for serious puzzle geniuses.

Graphics While underpinned by the technologically sharp and older-machine-friendly Source engine, the actual design is mostlyfunctional and minimalist. Fair enough for a puzzler.

Sound The story’s loss is the audio’s gain. Every action gets anamusing response from the superbly voiced overseer. Effectsare excellent, and the shriekingly bossy voices of the sentriesalso deserve a special mention.

Review in one line: Mold breaking, but not world shaking.

Minimum System Requirements:Windows 2000/XP/Vista1.7 Ghz Processor512 MB RAMDirectX 8 compatible graphics card5 GB Hard Disk Space

NB: Internet Connection required for authori-zation of both download and DVD-Rom ver-sions

Portals can work against you if you’re not careful Doing silly things with portal tends to bequite addictive

http://www.amazon.com/Still-Alive/dp/B0011UY1F8

http://www.gamelinkage.com/game/laser/

http://www.nuclearmonkeysoftware.com/narbaculardrop.html

http://www.thinkingwithportals.com/

http://www.myaperturelabs.com/

http://www.portalmaps.net/

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Deep space. Humans. Aliens. Ad-vanced technologies. These are nor-mally the essential elements in sci-fimovies, books and most of all, games.Bioware’s offering last year became ahit and a target of controversies. Yet,it is still one of the most popular titlesof 2007.

Mass Effect is a story where humansare at the pinnacle of their technology.The galaxy is not just an unchartedplace anymore. A galactic communityhas been formed, with free trade andcommunication to all advanced alienspecies.

Galactic space travel wouldn’t be pos-sible without the artifacts left by anancient race, called the Protheans.They suddenly vanished, almost with-out any evidence of their existence.The human discovery of a Protheanruin on Mars pushed forward humantechnology by 200 years, enablingspace travel and colonization of dist-ant worlds.

Players start the game as Commander Shepard, who can either be male orfemale. Aside from the two defaultcharacter models, players will havethe option to customize how their char-acter looks, to the minutest detail pos-sible. Then players will choose whichcharacter class they would like to playas. There are several classes tochoose from, each with their ownstrengths and weaknesses. Further-more, there are also options availableto provide the created character witha historic and personality background.Depending on the character’s back-ground, side missions and responsesduring conversations may vary be-tween each playthrough.

Mass Effect has a very engaging story.The plot is somewhat dark and seri-ous. It’s not your normal hero-saves-the-universe formula but somethingmuch deeper. The storyline alone isso very well written that players will beimmersed completely in the gamewhile delving into the deepest secrets

the universe has to offer. There aremany choices in the game and prog-ress will always depend on how theplayer interacts with his/her teammembers and NPCs. Each team mem-ber has their own story; some of themcan trigger side quests. In-game dia-logs and conversations are great aswell. The developers really put thatmuch detail into every alien species;not just in the way they look but alsoin the way they speak. Solid back-ground and story elements help play-ers understand how things work in thefictional world of Mass Effect.

By Vhayste

Developer: Bioware CorpPublisher: Microsoft GSPlatform: Xbox 360Genre: RPGRelease Date: Nov 2007

http://masseffect.bioware.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/games/

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Mass Effect is a third-person shooterwith RPG elements. Character weap-ons include a submachine gun, a pis-tol, a sniper rifle and a shotgun.Though all character classes canequip all weapons, some can only usespecific weapons that their class ismost proficient with. Weapons arecustomizable and have infinite ammo,since they utilize energy rounds. Play-ers can equip accessories and ammoenhancements on their weapons.From enhanced stability to armorpiercing rounds, players will have a lotof options to customize their weaponsand change them on the fly.

There are six party members that play-ers can choose from, with their ownclasses and skills. Players can onlybring any two of those members whenexploring planets and cities/colonies.There are achievements in the gamethat can be unlocked by using twomembers all throughout the campaign.Hence, players will need to avoidswitching characters if they want toget these achievements.

Players also earn experience points.Upon level up, they will gain skillpoints that they can allot to unlock orupgrade available skills for their char-acter class. Skill points vary by level;on lower levels, more skill points arerewarded upon level up compared tohigher levels. There are various types

of skills that can be unlocked. Thereare attack or support skills that can beused in real time. There are also pas-sive skills that take effect all the time.Proper knowledge of when and howto use those skills can be the lifelineof the player’s party during heavy fire-fights.

One of the unique fea-tures of the game isthat players can choosehow to respond in aconversation. They canbe courteous or outspo-ken. They can answercalmly or violently. Play-ers will even be subject-ed to morallychallenging situations,such as killing or releas-ing captives, enemies,etc. Additional choiceswill be available if theplayer increaseshis/her Paragon (goodrating) or Renegade(bad rating) levels.Higher Charms or Intim-

idate skills can convince NPCsthrough negotiations or brute forceduring a conversation. Either way,players can choose which approachthey would want.

The game features several main mis-sions and a lot of side missions.These include visiting different worldsand exploring colonies, caves, aban-doned settlements and even ancientruins. The navigation itself is quickand simple. Players will just need tobrowse through their galaxy map, in-side their ship, the Normandy. Thewhole game is restricted only to withinthe Milky Way galaxy. Players won’thave problems finding a mission sincethe location is also mentioned as partof the objectives. Once they locatetheir mission, all they need to do isselect the target and land there.

The ability to save anywhere (but notduring firefights) is also a major plus.There will be no need to look out forsave points. Aside from that, movingfrom one area to another saves thegame automatically. This neat featureensures players that they have anupdated save file every time.

The game’s visuals are stunning. First,there is no degradation in both actualgameplay and cutscenes. The gameboasts great graphics and detailedenvironments. Players can enjoy ex-

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ploring alien worlds or cities with somuch detail that they can be easilyimmersed and appreciate the sur-roundings. Facial expressions of thecharacters and NPCs are excellentlydetailed and can be clearly seen.Alien NPCs are intelligently structuredand created so that each of thembears the similar characteristics oftheir species. Battle effects are alsoanother thing. From explosions to re-charging shields and even disintegrat-ing enemies, players will be takenright into the action and intensity ofthe firefight.

Yet even with that strength, charactermodels are quite limited and playersmay notice that some human NPCslook strikingly similar to each other.The audio features of the game aregreat as well. The voice acting aloneis a testament to this; it’s like playinga movie itself. Ambient sounds andgreat background scores further en-hance the overall gameplay. If playersland on a stormy planet, all they willhear is the engines of the Mako, theunforgiving tempest ravaging outsideand of course, the isolating feeling ofsilence. The combat sound effects are

really good. Explosions, energy shots,enemy death screams, everything;they all add life and intensity to thegame.

Graphics: 85/100 Excellent visuals, beautifully rendered worlds and environment design are the game’s main strength in thiscategory. Though the game has issues in recycled or limited character/NPC models, the game’s overallgraphics score is still great.

Sound: 85/100 The voice acting of the game is absolutely magnificent. Players will be drawn into the conversations easily.Even the battle effects and background scores will immerse the player.

Controls: 85/100 The controls are simple and easy to learn. Using skills, changing weapons and interacting with the environmentis just a touch of a button away. The button configurations are very user friendly. Even the interface for usingskills and changing weapons is easy to launch.

Playability: 80/100 The actual battle system and character customization is easy to grasp. Missions are basically straightforward.However, character classes may confuse first time players a bit since the true potential of each class can’t beused unless players have proficient knowledge of how/when to use their skills and what those skills do.

Replay Value: 85/100 Most of the achievements for this game can only be unlocked by repeating the game two to three times. Someachievements can also be unlocked by using two party members consistently on all missions. With a lot ofcharacter classes and ally combinations available, the game has great replay value, especially to players aimingfor the achievements.

Overall: 84/100 Mass Effect is probably one of the greatest titles released for the Xbox 360. With superb gameplay, storylineand replay value, players will surely come back for more.

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Oh God of War, how gamers eagerlysalivate over your promising entry un-to the PS3 or XBOX 360. Oh well, themuch-anticipated distraction that isHeavenly Sword will have to suffice,sadly as a teasing rental. This heavily-hyped, hack and slash, action-adven-ture for the PS3 has been dubbed amust-own since it’s proposed releaseon the Xbox 360 and PC platforms,however, because it is an astonishing-ly short title, Ninja Theory’s newestgame actually falls short of being any-thing close to heavenly.

STRUCTURE:(STORY, GAMEPLAY, CONTROLS)

As the main character, a beautiful, yetbitter Amazon warrior Nariko, gamerswill cut, slash, slice, and gash theirway with a mythical blade called theHeavenly Sword in order to standagainst the maniacal tyranny of KingBohan who craves the sword for him-self as he commands a vast, blood-thirsty empire. Through narration,gamers are led from Nariko’s deathon the battlefield, to her earlier battles

introducing the ancient, life-drainingsword, then inevitably back to hersupposed death. It’s a very interestingway to play a game, though it’s astorytelling device that could havebeen further built upon. When playershold the L1 or R2 buttons, the sworditself will switch from its normal Speedstance to two additional stances,Range and Power respectively, todeal stylish damage interchangeablyto opponents. Each stance is identi-fied by color and since enemies usethese stances often, players will haveto match stances in order to success-fully counter. If not, they at least havethe option to dodge using the rightanalog stick. As the story progresses,Nariko will continue to unlock morecombos and what are called Super-Styles, these very cinematic (and verysexy) finishing moves that not only killthe target, but also help clear the fieldof surrounding opponents, (though ajump button for Nariko would havemade air combos a little easier to pulloff). What really helps the fighting isthat as long as players don’t messwith the embarrassingly impersonal

camera, they won’t have much of aproblem seeing the action in all itsblade-swiping glory.

Heavenly Sword succeeds in incorpo-rating a bit of strategy when facingadversaries so it is not entirely a but-ton-mashing title. If gamers don’t feellike activating a combo, they can justpress Square and Triangle all day.Works in theory right? Well, the prob-lem lies in the fact that the same kindof enemy tends to show up all toooften. You got your standard sword-soldier, some heavy-armor-wearingbastard wielding a huge hammer,some archers, some blue ninja girlsand these hefty creatures that look

By Nuggy

Developer: Ninja TheoryPublisher: SCEAPlatform: PS3Genre: ActionRelease Date: Sept 2007

http://www.ninjatheory.com

http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Games/Heavenly_Sword#

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like a cross between a bear and Wol-verine. And after a while, swingingthat awesome-looking sword starts toget a little repetitive. Luckily, NinjaTheory tries to rectify this problem byallowing gamers to pick up and throwweapons, dead bodies, even hats forsome reason.

With the use of SIAXIS motion-controlor left analog stick, players can prop-erly guide their projectile into the face,buttocks, arm or even the crotch oftheir poor, unsuspecting foe. In somecases it’s a neat little feature but ulti-mately, because motion-controlchops time in half, it can be very time-consuming, not to mention frustratingwhenever gamers are forced to chuckhats (which operate clumsily) intogongs in order to open up gates.

It wouldn’t be an issue if using thisobviously genius “hat-to-gong” formu-la wasn’t a paramount factor to com-pleting the game. Levers andturn-wheels are actually present whenopening doors and gates. Being easi-er and comparatively an enjoyablerelief to enable, the levers and turn-wheels provide balance against thescores of enemies impeding playersfrom actually utilizing these devices.

Next on the hindrance list is Nariko’swhimsical, yet strange sidekick, Kai, asort of Gabrielle to our Xena-esqueprotagonist. With Kai, gamers willlaunch arrows via crossbow at theirenemies which again can be con-trolled with SIAXIS or left analog stick.Ninja Theory uses both characters toestablish a bit of diversity to the title’sintended hack-and-slash focus andthis actually works for a time. I particu-larly love fighting boss Whiptail withNariko, while midway through switch-ing off to Kai in order to snipe oncom-ing guards from a high tower toprotect Nariko’s ailing father. The so-called balance would actually be wel-comed with opened-arms if not forKai’s abundant reappearance. As ascrappy, but scrawny little girl, poorKai is constrained to using crossbowsand must stay away from melees.This constrains the player to guiding

their projectiles into multiple targets innear-slow-motion, thus making it ap-pear as if more time is spent shootinginstead of fighting. Coupled with Na-riko being forced to throw weapons ina similar, and much more maddeningfashion, Kai’s missions tend to slowthe fun-factor of an already shortgame.

Heavenly Sword clocks in at a measlysix to eight hours which is worrisomeconsidering the amount of attentionthe game created before its release.

Sure, gamers are given the ability topress buttons in cinematic sequenceswhich allow passage to unreachableareas, gaining an upper hand in battle,or simply pushing the story along, butmany times, the game itself allowslittle time for input, causing playersscrew up easily. They’ll get anothershot, but once these sequences areunlocked, the game puts players atthe point right before they have toinput commands again. Convenientyes, but it does nothing to stretch thegame’s length. Nor does it help thatgames like Resident Evil 4, and aboveelse, God of War, have already incor-porated this method, except markedlybetter. Even tutorial notes that explaincombo operation and mission objec-tives do not stay on the screen forvery long, prompting the question

“What the hell am I supposed topress?” Panic causes button-mashing.Button-mashing causes an under-sized game to become easier.Though the game certainly boasts alarge level of variety and fun-value,Heavenly Sword doesn’t allow itselfvery long before becoming a littleover-done and even frustrating attimes. And before you know it, there’sno more game left to play.

PRESENTATION(GRAPHICS, SOUND, DESIGN)

Ninja Theory has done an incrediblejob in most cases with in-game mod-

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els. Textures are highly detailed,though some creases can be seen upclose, and instances are rare whenmodels will suffer the dreaded “load-pop”. And thanks to the motion-cap-ture directing talents of Andy Serkis(Sméagol/Gollum from “The Lord ofthe Rings”), characters act with asense of fluidity and much-enjoyedpurpose. Oh, how I do so loveBohan’s generals in this game. Theirbizarre yet imaginative design bringsnew life to a tired “I’ll get you next time”cliché of villainy. From Roach’s hid-eous, albeit adoring facial expres-sions to King Bohan’s hilariousone-liners, insane monologues andnonchalant gestures, HeavenlySword takes the cake as to how antag-onists go about their daily activities intreachery. Still, one can see howmuch attention certain characters re-ceived in animation (Bohan and crew)as opposed to others like the some-times rigid Chen and even Nariko.There are many instances whereNariko’s hair, a fundamental elementto her identity, just flows dumbly androbotically. It doesn’t take away fromplayability but it’s glaring in some in-stances where strands will sort ofjump upon surrounding objects beforetrying to glide smoothly in reaction togravity. Gamers will notice suddendrops in frame-rate as more enemiesappear on the screen, a little weird fora PS3 title, not to mention 30-secondto 1-minute loading times before amission begins.

Voice-acting is top-notch, and itshows that Heavenly Sword was sup-

posed to feel like a Hollywood sum-mer action flick. Though Nariko canfeel like a stale character sometimes,her monologues during scene-selectare oddly haunting. Even Kai, asstrangely upbeat as she may seem,benefits from scenes where she’sscared out of her wits. Environmentsare thought-provoking and in a lot ofcases, soothing. There have beenmany occurrences where I just stoodon a bridge and marveled at a far-away waterfall. However, level de-sign as a whole is atrociously linear.There is little to entirely no room forexploration whatsoever; players justtake in the scenery and go straight.They might have to solve a puzzle ortwo but unless they’re guiding point-less objects into other pointless ob-jects, then they’ll spend all of 5minutes fighting their way through anobstacle before moving on. While itsart style is highly detailed and cine-matic, Heavenly Sword is basically aseries of bridges and scaffolds thatidiotically seem to point the gamerinto the right direction, posing no realchallenge. If challenge is what you’relooking for, Heavenly Sword is not thegame for you.

In A Nutshell (Opinions, PossibleImprovements, Total Review)

I wasn’t expecting another God ofWar. In fact, I’m not even a fan of theseries. I’ve played through Kratos’violent campaign for all of five min-utes; it just didn’t strike me as specialor anything different. While I wantedto actually give a fair chance to a titlewith so many similarities, HeavenlySword doesn’t last long enough to beas enjoyable as it makes itself out to

be. Sure, gamers will marvel at themotion-capture animations and themeticulous amount of detail put intomodels, textures and backgrounds,but the game itself becomes repetitivebecause of the low-enemy roster andremains too simple because of a dim-witted level-design. Gameplay canfeel a bit unbalanced because ofprominence geared towardsthrowing/launching weapons, espe-cially during Kai’s missions. Perhapsif she had combos of her own thatactually dealt with using the crossbowor even if she had varying abilitiesinstead of just jumping over objects, itwouldn’t leave gamers constantly pin-ing for Nariko… and no, not in thatway. While it makes every effort totake itself seriously, the potential islost on this title. But don’t give upNinja Theory! It wasn’t a bad game,just a really good rental. I’d love to seeBohan and his creeps again!

A latent blockbuster that shouldunfortunately be returned to Block-buster.

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A girl finds a legendary armlet thatgives her magical powers and savesher homeland from an evil entity andits army. Sounds familiar?

Though the story may sound more likea generic RPG or anime theme,Jeanne D Arc is actually looselybased on the French heroine, Joan ofArc with a fantasy twist of course.

This last year's offering from the devel-oper that made such hits like RogueGalaxy and Dark Cloud, Jeanne D Arcis a S-RPG (strategy-RPG) exclusive-ly for the PSP. Level-5 is known forthe excellent cel-shaded visuals inRogue Galaxy and players can appre-ciate the same in Jeanne D Arc.

The story revolves around a youngpeasant girl who, under a twist of fate,finds herself in the possession of oneof the five legendary armlets used byfive heroes to suppress an evil entitynamed Gilvaroth. In the same night,her village is attacked and burned tothe ground by enemies (the Englishand their monsters). With her twoloyal friends, she sets out in a questto defeat the English and defend herhomeland.

Gameplay

Jeanne D Arc is a strategy-RPG.Players will still enjoy the elements ofan RPG game but the interface will bemuch more different.

Players won't need to run around toexplore places; they will be unlockedduring the course of the story. Play-ers can also do limited things likeengage in free combat, shop and con-tinue with the plot.

Battles are fought in a stage which isdivided by tiles or panels. Characterand enemy movement depends ontheir movement range; basically thenumber of panels they can movearound. Attack range and area ofeffect is defined by the number of tilesas well.

The battles have a fixed number ofturns. Players will lose the game ifthey do not meet the victory condi-tions or the set number of turns hasalready lapsed. A single turn consistsof the player phase and the enemyphase.

Aside from the normal allies Jeannehas in her party, there are also otherheroes that can wield an armlet likeJeanne. There are five of them in total.What is interesting is that these he-roes have an additional option avail-able from their normal menu; they can

transform into a holy warrior of sortswith enhanced stats and a powerfulspecial attack. More transformationsare made available by acquiring addi-tional gems. These gems can becollected during the course of the sto-ry or as prizes for free stages.

Character skills needed to beequipped in order (in the form of Skill-stones) for them to be used or active.Characters can have a maximum skillslot of 6. Skillstones have differentcategories. Some skills enable char-acters to use special attacks with vary-ing damage and range. There arealso innate skills (which are alwaysactive during the battle), spell skillsand support skills.

By Vhayste

Developer: Level-5Publisher: Sony ComputerPlatform: PSPGenre: Strategy RPGRelease Date: Aug 2007

http://www.level5.co.jp

http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP#/start/

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Graphics

The game features smooth, cel-shad-ed graphics and beautifully renderedanime cutscenes. The battle effectsare great, and even the stages arecarefully crafted and detailed. Thesmall character models are intricateenough to appreciate their attires,weapons and statures.

Sounds

JDA's voice acting is great. Thoughthe character voices are limited duringactual battles, the voice acting for theanimated cutscenes was excellent.Players can even appreciate the ac-cents of the characters, further givingthem life and immersing players in theactual story.The musical scores were not too shab-by either. The BGMs (backgroundmusic) were just right for specificscenes and places. Sound effects aswell as great visuals bring battles tolife.

Controls

The game's controls are pretty muchelementary. Since there is no runningaround or free exploring as with aconventional RPG, the controls arevery easy to learn, without using amanual.

Battle controls are smooth and pain-less. Like almost all strategy games,characters will just move around onthe panel where the player chooses.

Playability

Even first time players won't have anyproblems playing the game. Thereare in-game tutorials that will pop upat the moment players may need toknow about something. All the playerneeds to do is to read it.

The interface is easy to understand,and the options are basic. Even thenavigation and battle controls areeasy. Players won't be left in the dark

as to what their next objective will be.The game has the option to directlyshow on the world map the next loca-tion the player must visit in order tocontinue.

Furthermore, the learning curve onewill encounter to fully enjoy the gamewill just take less than half an hour.

Replay Value

After the ending credits, players willhave the option to save the game. Ifthey continue using their clearedsaved game, they will be taken backright before they enter Paris Castle.From then on, free stages and com-bats will have tougher enemies andbetter item rewards. The Cemetery(which contains the strongest armor inthe game) is a free stage that will beavailable and the Coliseum will startits second and third seasons, after theplayer clears it per season. The game,however, loses its magic after com-pleting all the secrets and extras.

Final Thoughts

Jeanne D arc is a must-have for mostPSP players. Engaging gameplayand good storyline is enough to keepitself ahead of some titles releasedduring its time

Graphics: 85/100 Excellent, cel-shaded graphics and awesome anime cutscenes will keep players occu-pied while threading the path of Jeanne and Co.

Sound: 80/100 Awesome voice acting and great musical scores immerses players in the environment

Controls: 90/100 Controls are simple and easy to understand.

Playability: 85/100 Game mechanics are easy to grasp. First time players won’t have any problems play-ing and learning at the same time since tutorials are given along the way.

Replay Value: 60/100 The game does not feature a New Game + feature but it does allow players to continuetheir cleared game, with access to a new free stage, more battles at the Colosseum andupgraded enemy levels/ rewards on original free combat locations. After that, the game

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Almost every gamer knows that Nin-tendo isn’t exactly known for its heftyRole-Playing Game library, so it’s nosurprise when the Big ‘N’ releasesone based loosely on one of its majorfranchises. A long, long time ago,(1996) Nintendo and Squaresoft(before it became Square-Enix) joinedforces to create “Super Mario RPG:Legend of the Seven Stars” on theSuper Nintendo, a little after a morepopular collaboration called “ChronoTrigger”. SMRPG is still hailed amongfans as one the best Mario games tobe released, but ever since that dread-ful falling-out between Nintendo andSquare soon afterward, fans havebeen left high and dry for a sequel.Near the end of the Nintendo 64 era,the “not-so-official” sequel “Paper Ma-rio” hit shelves in 2001 courtesy ofIntelligent Systems and, creating abrand new Mario franchise, thoughnot as deep as SMRPG, implementedmuch of it’s “timed-hit” gameplay with-in a pleasingly unique “2 1/2 –D”graphical style. Seven years later,

“Super Paper Mario”, the third entryinto the series (succeeding “PaperMario: The Thousand-Year Door”)has since become available for all the

Wii owners out there hoping for somePlatformer/RPG action. But the ques-tion is… should they even bother?Ultimately and unfortunately, unlessyou’re an avid fan of the series, youmight want to pass on Intelligent Sys-tems’ latest foray into Mario.

Gameplay: 71%

In this Mario game, it isn’t Bowserwho kidnaps Princess Peach but by amysterious Count Bleck who, throughactually marrying off Peach and Bows-er, unleashes “The Void”, an interdi-mensional tear in reality threateningto destroy the entire universe. In orderto stop this dastardly plan, Mario hasto collect eight Pure Hearts through-out different levels with the help ofspectral beings called Pixls. Basically,a little more of the same when itcomes to Mario RPG’s; nothing terri-bly new. In the Paper Mario’s of old,players controlled a sprite of Mariowithin an isolated 3D environment.When players ran into let’s say, aGoomba, a turn-based RPG battlewould ensue, allowing players to con-trol Mario, and an additional partymember out of five others to fight theopposing team of Goombas. For younon-RPG players out there, basicallywhat this meant was when it was theplayer’s turn to attack with either Ma-rio or ally, they chose whatever attackthey wanted off a menu and pressedan additional button in order to exe-cute more damage to the opponent. Abit redundant wouldn’t you say?Shouldn’t the player just attack theGoomba when they see it on the

By Nuggy

Developer: NintendoPublisher: NintendoPlatform: WiiGenre: Action PlatformRelease Date: Apr 2007

http://www.nintendo.com/wii

http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP#/start/

Uncharted Waters


R E V I E W

field? Intelligent Systems was thinkingthe exact same thing apparently andremoved that element in this PM in-stallment.

Now, when players wield Mario,Peach or Bowser on the field, they dodamage to enemies via stomp, turtle-shell, fire-breath or whatever itemsthey come across in their adventuresin order to add points to their scorewhich in turn, raises their experiencelevel and strengths. It’s kind of like theold Mario games from the NES toSNES era… except for one twist; withMario chosen, a push of a buttonallows players to switch from a 2Dview of their environment to a 3D view,giving them access to hidden items,enemies, shortcuts and other addition-al means to clearing the chapter(level) that they would otherwise miss.Not so old-school now, is it? Thoughit’s a unique element to the very famil-iar “run and jump” formula, the prob-lem is that Mario’s the only characterthat uses this flip function; as forPeach and Bowser, players have tohuff it in 2D-mode which kind of de-feats the purpose of having 3D in a 2Dgame. Add to the fact that the levelsmostly offer a straight-ahead view in-stead of a full-fledged environment(as opposed to some of the spaciousareas of older PM’s), this new flip

element, though refreshing at first,can get incredibly stale, incrediblyquick. Enemy encounters even loseflavor after a time; having to flip backand forth from holding the Wii-mote inclassic NES fashion for run-and-jumpcapabilities to regular remote style inorder to execute timed-hits and scorebonuses becomes little more than agimmicky waste of time. Many ene-mies can be defeated with a quick-stomp or fire-breath.

Then there’s the Pixls, these colorful,annoyingly talkative little critters thatadd more abilities to the characterroster. I say “more” instead of “new”because these floating, helper charac-ters simply take up space. Do wereally need a Pixl to help Mario exe-cute a Ground Pound when he’s beendoing it since Super Mario 64? At firstthese Pixl guys are adorably helpful,providing information for specific ar-eas, making players nearly invisible,even allowing them to hover acrosslong distances… but as level designsbecome more complicated, (literally)more linear, and less enjoyable, play-ers will find themselves opening upthe menu over and over again in orderto figure out which Pixl can help clearan obstacle, prompting the question

“Can’t I just perform this move on myown?” Until now, I’ve honestly neverknown a Mario game to utilize suchuseless features while at the sametime forcing them to be useful. Maybeif Intelligent Systems only made a fewPixls and actually allowed Mario and

the gang to learn their own movesleveling up, it would at least vary thegameplay a little more. Giving Playersaccess to assigning moves to certainbuttons would’ve also made choosingabilities less hectic. Though IntelligentSystems may have wanted to keepthe menu option as a means of retain-ing the RPG style, because there’s noturn-based battle system, theadventure/platforming elements canfeel few and far between, making thisold-school Mario experience, thoughnostalgic, feel very slow.

Sound – 75%

Simple, quirky and oddly reminiscentof those aging internet MIDI’s, themusic and sound effects of SuperPaper Mario are fitting for this entry.Never annoying, and always some-what fanciful, the game gives playerscrisp remixes of the old tunes theygrew up with, from the star-mantheme to the classic Mario anthem.Even the sound effects from the oldPaper Marios are back. New themeshowever… well, they’re not bad, butabout a day after playing the game, Iforgot them altogether. The music insome instances will bring back enjoy-able memories and overall, the gener-al tone of the music is oddly relaxing.However, players looking for thosecatchy, upbeat tunes Mario gameshave been known for will be disap-pointed. Not that Nintendo is recog-nized for voicing character dialogue inits cutscenes, but because Super Pa-

Uncharted Waters


R E V I E W

per Mario is an RPG of sorts, a genrethat is familiar with taking its time instory-progression, it would’ve beennice to hear more small voice sam-ples from other characters other thanyelps and grunts from Mario, Peachand Bowser. The standard N64 text-gibberish is pretty annoying too; itmakes Count Bleck and his batch ofcronies feel bland since theircutscenes are what pull the overallstory along. Though not bad by anymeans, there were so many opportuni-ties where Intelligent Systemscould’ve made the audio more engag-ing.

Graphics – 80%

Let’s be honest. Graphically, SuperPaper Mario isn’t “Halo 3” nor “FinalFantasy”. Heck, it isn’t even “Jak andDaxter”. But the light-hearted, flipbookstyle is what captivated fans of theseries in the first place. Intelligent

Systems revamped the whole PaperMario package, giving charactersmore of a highlighted look as theytraverse through a 2D perspective of3D levels and though the charactersand levels look flat and sometimesuninteresting, it’s all very stylizedthree-dimensional artwork. The gameitself feels like a giant book with morepictures than story but there are timeswhen line art and “rotating” 3D planescan only do so much visually. Lightingeffects and particle instances are es-pecially few in this game and that’snot nitpicking either; paper does re-flect light slightly, just like any otherobject. Though Intelligent Systemswere going for a slightly cartoony look,that doesn’t mean polygon workshould be the sole focus. The graphi-cal work in Super Paper Mario isn’thorrible but much like the sound cate-gory, there are areas where IntelligentSystems could’ve spent more time. I

applaud the development team forbeing able to push so many polygonsat once even though it doesn’t look it.There are few instances where play-ers will run into a slowdown in frame-rate and those are usually when theyuse items on multiple enemies (fire-flower, shooting stars). My favorite,the Star-Man feature (where charac-ters revert back into their NES coun-terparts, except as giants) looks verycool even though characters only looklike pixels. Much kudos Intelligent Sys-tems, but you could’ve gotten more.

In A Nutshell…

Paper Mario has come far from itsN64 beginnings, but I worry if SuperPaper Mario is the falling point in theseries. While the N64 and GameCubehad their limitations, I was surprisedto see Intelligent Systems try to ac-complish so much while really accom-plishing very little at the same time. Atthe end of the day, gameplay is theculprit. While the title proves old-school elements can still be fun, thereisn’t an exciting or stable balance be-tween platforming elements and role-playing elements. Super Paper Mariois enjoyable and very creative… butonly for so long. In this instance, pa-per can only do so much.

Graphics: 80/100 For a game about paper, it looks extremely good. But character animations are limited andlighting effects and particles seem constantly absent.

Sound: 75/100 A lot of tunes you’ve heard before but none very memorable. Goombas still don’t havetheir own noise? Count Bleck doesn’t at least have a laugh? Old-school, yes. New-school,no.

Gameplay: 71/100 Flip-flopping from 2D to 3D would be more fun if it wasn’t constrained only to Mario. Aweird abundance of menus and lacking level design causes the game lose its edge.

Overall: 76/100 Fun while it lasts but you really should save up for Super Mario Galaxy anyways.

The Guiding Beacon


W A L K T H R O U G H

Gameplay begins in the office. Zombies are running wild around the city. You can take another lookaround the office to see what has been added since last time. Exit the office.

Home

StreetSee the zombies wandering all around. Examine the beer stein near the parking meter.Try to enter Bosco’s, but it’s closed.

Sybil’sSybil is busy interviewing future boyfriends. Talk to Sybil about all topics. Look at the pictures on Sybil’sdesk. Examine the soul mater. Poor Abe has been crossed out of the pictures. Check out the presents andthe chocolate heart. Examine the ticket dispenser at the front door. Talk to “Harry the Mole” about all topics.He’s pretty much a Sybil stalker now. Exit Sybil’s.

Stinky’s DinerTalk to Stinky about all topics. You can try ordering food, but you don’t need to. Make sure you ask aboutthe sunlamp. Stinky will give you permission to take it. Head over by Abe and take the bulb from thesunlamp. Examine the pictures on the wall. Talk to Abe who is wallowing in the corner of the diner.

GarageTalk to Bob, Curt and Bluster Blaster. Keep talking until you’re offered the chance to win an antenna. You’llhave to use the CD launcher to help market the antenna. Agree to begin driving. The object of the test isto shoot the launcher and hit each zombie with a CD. Drive close to the curb and right click to shoot.Shoot 10 and get the antenna. I found I could hit the zombies further away if I pulled the trigger when thetarget was about 1-1/2” before the zombie. You can go back and try again to get some decals.

Desoto“Let’s go to Stuttgart!”

By Wendy Nellius

The Guiding Beacon



Stuttgart

Outside the Zombie FactorySee the zombies waiting in line. Examine the gargoyle on the wall right before the line of zombies. Youcan talk to the zombies, but you won’t get very far. Click on the entrance to the castle. It’s blocked byAgent Superball. Find out that you have to wait in line. Look in the trash bin next to the door.Automatically take the clove cigarettes.

Walk around to the side of the castle. Examine the open coffin. Examine the tomb. Examine the opengrave and Sam will pick up a brain. Examine the Sarcophagus and the gravestone. Go back to the frontof the castle. Use the brain on the zombies. It seems they’re really, really interested in it. Find thegargoyle on the wall. Use the brain on the gargoyle. The zombies will leave the line. Superball will yell

“Next”.

You can’t get in with the clove cigarettes. Use them on the trash container to throw them away. Click onthe entrance.

Inside the Zombie FactoryMeet Jurgen. Talk to him. Learn that Midtown Cowboys is a big hit in Germany. Learn that the zombieslove Jurgen’s rhymes. It’s open mic night at the Zombie Factory. Jurgen challenges Sam & Max to acompetition. Accept. Choose the following lyrics:

We’ll knock you out deader than Bela LugosiOur world is endless torment and sorrow.

Cause all creation ends in death and decay

The zombies love it. You won, but Jurgen steals your rhymes and then bites Max on the head. Ouch!

Walk around the factory. Examine the axe by the door. Walk to the right. Examine the spotlight up abovethe bookcase. Examine the bookcase. Walk right. Examine the portrait of Jurgen above the fireplace.Examine the fireplace. Walk to the right.Take the typewriter ribbon from the table. You won’t end up needing it, but what the hell. Go back to theentrance. Walk to the left.

Examine the bookcase to the left of the entrance. There is a poem that has been worn down – you can’t

The Guiding Beacon



read it. Examine the coffin. There is a poem on the coffin.

My dark mistress longs for deathTo return to her velvet sepulcher

Her only passion the void’s embraceOr else she’d reply to my letters.

Walk to the left, past the DJ Booth to the bar. Take a bottle of water. Examine the aquarium. Walk to theright and examine the DJ Booth.

DJ BoothIn the center are 3 rows of colored buttons. Push them one by one to hear the word attached to each.The word will then be displayed instead of just “button”.

Refer back to the poem on the coffin. Press the buttons representing the last word in each line: Death,Sepulcher, Embrace, Letters

Inside the Zombie FactoryThe coffin will open. Enter the coffin and end up on the balcony near the spotlight. Examine the spotlight.Use the sunlamp bulb from the inventory on the spotlight. Go back to the DJ Booth.

DJ BoothThere are 5 blue buttons on the bottom. Press the 2nd one from the right. The spotlight will hit Jurgen andburn him. Exit the factory

Take the clove cigarettes from the trash bin. Get in the Desoto and go to the WARP TV Studio.

WARP StudioSeems like they’ve been waiting for Sam & Max for quite a while. Talk to Featherly. Find out what he’sbeen up to. Get some acting tips. Learn about improvising. You can try to talk to Bessie, but she won’ttalk back. Examine the bag on the floor. There is a bottle of Malt Liquor in there. Talk to the director.Tell her you’re ready to film.

Watch the scene. Find out that Featherly promotes whatever product is in the bag on the floor and salesgo through the roof. Hmmm… maybe you can do that with something else.

Use the clove cigarettes on the bag. Talk to the director and tell her you want to film it again. Looks likeclove cigarettes are a big hit. Exit the studio.

Home

Sam & Max’s OfficeGo to Sam & Max’s office. Use the water bottle on the ceremonial urn. You now have a bottle of holywater.

Stuttgart

Outside the Zombie FactoryAt the front entrance, give the holy water to Max. He’ll drink it and get a halo over his head. Throw thebottle away in the trash container. Enter the factory.

Inside the Zombie FactoryImmediately challenge Jurgen to a rhyming contest. You can use the same rhymes as before or skip thesequence. Jurgen will retaliate by biting Sam on the head. The holy water doesn’t sit well with him. Hiszombies turn on him and he runs through an entrance in the fireplace. Follow him through the fireplace.

The Guiding Beacon



The bad news….Sam & Max get crushed by the spikes in Jurgen’s machine and are now zombies.

Outside the Zombie FactoryTalk to Zombie Abe Lincoln. Walk to the front of the castle and talk to the zombie outside the entrance.Learn that Jurgen keeps all the souls in the VIP lounge. Enter the factory. Abe follows you in.

Inside the Zombie FactoryTry to talk to a zombie and Flint Paper bursts through a window looking for Sam & Max. Try to talk to AbeLincoln. Try to take his brain and Flint Paper will block you. You’ll need to get rid of Flint. Enter thefireplace.

VIP LoungeExamine Jurgen’s monster, who is strapped to the table. Examine the monster diagrams. Examine thepower socket and the batteries. They’re dead. Take the bolt cutters from the floor. Examine the alchemymachine. Walk towards the fireplace. Examine the books on the table. Examine the alchemy book.See a page on turning chocolate into gold. Examine the wooden stakes on the wall. Sam will take one.Examine the painting of “Literate Jurgen”. He’s standing in front of the bookcase where the poem is wornoff. You can make out two complete words and 2 partial words:

Abyssors

Painrents

DJ BoothGo to the DJ Booth. Look for words that would fit with the 2 partial words you saw in the picture of Jurgen.The correct answers are:

AbyssRazors

PainParents

Press them and the bookcase will open.

Inside the Zombie FactoryEnter the bookcase. Come out the other side of the bookcase and startle Flint. Sam will take the brain.

VIP LoungeGo into the fireplace and use the brain on Jurgen’s monster. You’ll see a bunch of parts next to themonster. Try using different combinations on the head, heart and brain to see what each one does. PutAbe’s brain back in and pull the lever on the machine behind the monster. Talk to the monster and findout he’s lonely. Invite him to meet Sybil.

Home

StreetWatch a Jesse James’ hand run across the street into Stinky’s Diner. You can follow the hand or godirectly to Sybil’s.

Sybil’sThe monster is already at Sybil’s along with Harry and Featherly…. all potential suitors. Sybil has comeup with 3 questions that will help her determine who is the best choice.Click on each question on Sybil’s desk.

The Guiding Beacon



Question 1: How would you prove to me that you have a heart of gold?Question 2: How would you show me you are good with your hands?Question 3: What would you say in a romantic moment?

Our monster friend doesn’t really do so well answering the questions. So, you’re going to need to buildthe monster with parts that help him answer the questions better. He already has Abe’s brain which shouldbe good for question 3. For question 2, he will need an actual hand. For question 1, he needs a gold heart.

Let’s work on question 1 first.

You’ll need to obtain a heart. There just so happens to be a chocolate heart sitting on the table by Harry.Click on Question #3. When Harry is answering, try to take the chocolate heart. Harry will freak out andsay something that’s perceived as his answer to Sybil. He gets kicked out. (I felt kind of bad for him).Take the chocolate heart. If you remember the alchemy book, the page you looked at was for turningchocolate into gold. Let’s get over to Stuttgart.

Stuttgart

Outside the Zombie FactoryIf you remember, the batteries were dead on the alchemy machine so you’ll need a power source. Usethe bolt cutters on the antenna on the car. Enter the factory.

VIP LoungeUse the antenna on the alchemy machine. Pull the power switch on the other wall. Lightning will shootover to the antenna and power up the batteries on the alchemy machine. Use the chocolate heart on thealchemy machine. Voila – a heart of gold.Use the heart of gold on the monster’s heart. Now we need to get a hand. There’s one running aroundat Stinky’s.

Home

If you try shooting at Jesse James’ hand, you’ll notice that it jumps. Take note of the tar cake on thecounter. It looks pretty sticky. Perhaps you can get the hand stuck in it. Stand at the left end of thecounter where Stinky is tied up. Shoot at the hand until it jumps back near the cake cover and won’t moveanymore. Talk to Stinky and she’ll shriek. The hand will shoot at her and move right in front of the cakecover. Shoot at the hand once more (this will be animated) and the hand will get stuck. Take the handand go to Sybil’s.

Sybil’sThe monster should already be there. He’s really quick. Use the hand on the monster.Go to Sybil’s desk and click on the questions one by one. The monster wins….. but loses. Sybil runs offto find Abe. Take the soul mater and go back to Stuttgart

Stuttgart

VIP LoungeGo inside and enter the fireplace. No need to do anything. The souls will automatically fly into Sam &Max. But, they go into the wrong bodies. So, Sam is Max and Max is Sam. Jurgen will jump out andchallenge you with the “crane” pose.

Give the soul mater to the monster. Pull the switch on the soul sucker. Quickly enter the soul sucker.Sam & Max’s souls will transfer to the monster.

As the monster, go to the wall and grab another wooden stake. Use the stake on Jurgen.

Watch the final scene


While it may have taken us a little longer to get started, we’re proud torelease our 16th issue of Adventure Lantern Magazine and our first in 2008.

With this issue, we welcomed a new staff member: Tino Thompson. Weare most certainly happy to have him on the team and look forward to manymore reviews. Here’s a little bit about him:

We will be welcoming another new member to the team with the release ofhis first AL article in our next issue.

We have so many games to look forward to in 2008. It looks to be apromising year for gamers. And make sure you all mark your calendars forAdventureCon 2008.

We hope you enjoyed this issue. And, as always, thank you to all ourreaders for your valued support.

Wendy

Copyright NoticeAdventure Lantern magazine is the property of Ugur Sener and Adventure Lantern. It may not be reprinted elsewhere without written consent of the owner.

All articles contained within Adventure Lantern magazine or at the Adventure Lantern website are the property of their authors. Adventure Lantern does notclaim ownership of these documents. The articles seen here should not be reprinted or posted on other Web sites without the explicit consent of the originalwriter. If you have trouble contacting one of our staff members, please write to the site owner: [email protected].

We request the inclusion of a link back to Adventure Lantern if the magazine or articles we host are posted on a different Web site. Adventure Lantern allowsother sites to link to any of our pages.

Adventure Lantern does use a number of screenshots and other promotional images from video games. These images remain the property of the respectivegame developers. The images are used in our magazine and on our Web site solely for reporting purposes under the United States copyright law Fair Useexception.

Tino is a grad student making his way in the world ofjournalism. He's to be found educating himself in journal-ism- and editing-related practices, scheming on a PhDto be unleashed upon the world at some unspecified timein the future and, as you can see, fiddling about far toomuch on the Internet.

You can view his Blogger profile here.

http://www.blogger.com/profile/08772064350857739201

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Issue #16 - March 2008 Overclocked - Adventure Lantern