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Runaway 2: Dream of the Turtle (PC DVD)
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4/5 |
It's good if you like this kind of thing..
(February 20, 2008) |
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I wanted to try something other than Sims. These are cartoon characters in a 3d world, the graphics are great however I am not Miss Marple and like games with free play. To those wanting a game where you un-cover clues, inspect items, solve problems this is fantastic, its hard and will get you thinking but it is a great game.
I only got as far as I did using a walk-through otherwise I would have Un-installed it 5 minutes after install.
To sum up: A Fantastic game for you if you fancy yourself as an explorer/detective and have the patience. If you don't like puzzles - avoid!
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5/5 |
Great game all round, although a little too much speech...
(August 19, 2007) |
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Overall a great game and if you have played the first Runaway game, then you will absolutely love this game. It brings back a lot of the key characters from the first game and creates a genuinely brilliant storyline. It took me 3 full days to complete this game and I have to say, this was one of the best adventure games I have played so far (perhaps close to Monkey Islands Series and Longest Journey, if you have ever played those).
Although there are a few flaws in the game, firstly I thought there was far too much speech in the game and it didn't always get to the point right away. The puzzles were a little tough a times and seriously made you think since not all of them were straight forward. Lastly the game left the series open-ended (i.e. expect a Runaway 3), which I don't really like, but since I had so much fun playing the entire game I can't really complain.
Anyway definitely worth the GBP 12.99 that I paid for this game and I recommend this to all fans that played the first Runaway game.
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2/5 |
Majorly Flawed
(August 04, 2007) |
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This game left me with a bad taste. The graphics were fine. The sound was terrible. The music drowned out the voices. I turned off the music and turned up the sound. Great, until quitting the game when windows shut down the exit sound nearly blasted the ceiling off. Gameplay, very linear. Hotspots appear in previously searched areas. Re-searching is tedious. Pixel hunting in dark areas is more tedious. A couple of times a walkthrough was consulted, why? Because the solutions were in the category of "How was I supposed to know that?". Humour, not a lot and what there is is childish. Character empathy, none. The main character is certified as being of low moral standing during the game and rightly so. He cheats on his girl, binge drinks and thinks that sending another character to his probable death as the result of a joke is OK.
Finally, the game only gives half the story. It ends with "to be continued...." an obvious mrketing ploy. The original aim in the game, to rescue Gina, his girl, is not even attempted.
This is one game to avoid. |
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3/5 |
Great game let down by poor ending.
(June 01, 2007) |
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Runaway 2 is much like the first in the series; a good old fashioned point and click adventure with modern graphics, a great story, some funny jokes and fun (if sometimes a little frustrating) game play. The story really does have many twists, and while the game isn't overly challenging, to play it without any hints will take anyone a while.
I do have a gripe with this game though, and that's the ending. I am not going to ruin the game by telling you the story, but it ends seemingly half-way through the story with a 'to be continued'. While the game up to here is quite long, it does leave you a little disappointed. Whats worse is that at the time of writing this review I have been unable to find any details whatsoever about a Runaway 3, let alone a release date.
Should you buy this game? If you bear in mind what I've written above and are okay with a somewhat disappointing ending, Runaway 2 is a great game, and will keep you occupied for a long time. The only other thing I would add is that you should try and play Runaway 1. While Runaway 2 doesn't continue from from that game as much as Runaway 3 would this game, it makes it more enjoyable to know the background of the characters. |
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3/5 |
Decent effort
(March 22, 2007) |
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Runaway 2: Dream of the Turtle is the sequel to the largely critically acclaimed Runaway A road adventure, which turned out to be one of the most enjoyable adventure games of recent years. It had an engaging storyline, some clever puzzles and an assortment of interesting, offbeat characters. Spanish developer Pendulo Studios has taken four years to try and recreate that same level of achievement with this offering. Did they succeed? Well, not quite. Starting out with a plane ride in Hawaii, Brian Basco and Gina Timmins, the main protagonists from the first game, find themselves in a spot of bother which, surprise, leads to Gina being placed in a dangerous predicament. Naturally, Brian won't tolerate this situation and sets out on another globetrotting adventure to rescue her. For a second time.
Visually, Dream of the Turtle undoubtedly looks good, with detailed, colourful, stylish cartoon backgrounds. From the jungle, to golden beaches to snowy Alaska, exploring these environments is a gratifying and immersive experience. However, the same cannot be said for the soundtrack, a mixture of pop/disco, which sounds like the kind of thing a rejected boy band might churn out. Some of the voice acting is also questionable, with an Australian surfer that just doesn't sound Australian and an embarrassing Japanese scientist as just a couple of examples.
Gameplay is in the traditional point n' click style that inevitably involves pixel hunting, a mouse sweep of the entire screen to seek out objects and clues, it was bad in the first game but has been vastly improved upon this time around. The overwhelming majority of the puzzles are inventory based, with Brian using and combining items for the correct solution. Most of these are entirely logical and easy to work out, there are a couple of exceptions though which could serve as a lesson in obscurantism. Consulting a walkthrough for the answers, I was left wondering, "How on Earth was I supposed to work that out?" But thankfully these are few and far between and can be solved by trial and error if necessary. The difficulty of the puzzles increases the further you progress and on the whole they are quite well balanced.
The story is, as you might expect, a bizarre set of ideas involving aliens, artefacts, ancient civilizations and anything else you care to throw into the mix. The script is littered with references, some subtle, others not so, to other well known adventure games and to popular culture in general. It's generally well written if not a bit convoluted towards the end and although the humour feels a bit forced at times it does manage to raise a good laugh now and then. It's pretty clear as to where the developers got their ideas and inspiration from, and instead of being seen as a derivative work, it should perhaps be looked upon as more of a eulogistic one.
The characters encountered throughout the game are, possibly without exception, ridiculously overblown stereotypes, ranging from a scantily clad barmaid "the man collector", a war obsessed army vet "the corrupt colonel", an evil dame "the venomous beauty" and other such types. Whilst they may accurately portray what they are supposed to be the writers clearly didn't give much thought to originality. Brian's transformation from uber geek in the first game to cool dude in this one actually fits in quite nicely with the new surroundings, and although this may lessen some people's inclination to root for him, he manages to retain a likeable personality throughout.
Dream of the Turtle is a flawed game in many respects, yet there's something about its convivial atmosphere and joyful enthusiasm that draws you in and keeps you playing to its conclusion. Albeit an anticlimactic one. It contains six chapters and takes around ten to fifteen hours to complete depending on your patience/frustration threshold.
Is it a return to the halcyon days of LucasArts and Broken Sword adventuring? Absolutely not. But for now this is as close as you're likely to get.
Given how stagnant the adventure genre has become in the past few years, any attempt to revitalise it should be thoroughly commended. |
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