AdventureX 2022 – Round-up

When I left another enjoyable AdventureX in 2019, I expected to be back again the following year. Unfortunately, for reasons that will be obvious to everyone, the convention has not been able to take place for the last two years. The event’s camaraderie was kept alive with Game Jams and online video chats, but it wasn’t the same as meeting in person. 

On Saturday, 5 November, the opportunity arose again. At its new venue, the Stockwell Street building of the University of Greenwich, AdventureX was back. It had not lost any of the charm of previous events; it had managed to come back bigger and better. With a new capacity of 600, it was a chance to meet friends and connect with fans of the adventure genre. 

There were also an eye-watering 22 games being exhibited across three rooms. With exhibiting now being so popular, games are vetted beforehand, and it was no surprise that every one was a quality production. It was still amazing to see the huge variety on offer. Art styles ranged from early console retro to detailed 3D. Stories covered horror, comedy, westerns and fantasy, among other genres. Controls made use of game controllers, keyboards and mouse. With some already released and some to look forward to in the future, these are the games that were on display. 

Rosewater

Harley Leger steps off the train in the remote western town of Rosewater in Western Vespuccia. She is there as a writer, looking to take on a job at the local paper. Her first impression of the town is not favourable, with a pair of pickpockets trying to trick her out of her wallet. But neither this, nor the man flying out of a window in front of her at the newspaper office, is enough to put her off. Her first assignment, to interview a local entertainer, seems dull. Little does she know what is around the corner. 

Francisco Gonzalez, also known as Grundislav, is a well-established indie game developer. This game is set in the same world as his last game, Lamplight City, with the lead character being the sister of a character from that game. The grand urban setting of that game is replaced by the dusty streets of a frontier town. The graphics have the same high-quality late LucasArts-style of his previous game. The rough buildings sell the setting of a classic Western town, and the characters are all smoothly animated.

The game is also fully voiced, with Francisco having managed to secure an all-star voice cast putting on top-notch performances. Using traditional point-and-click controls, he has yet to skimp on the gameplay either. Players can go directly to the newspaper office or explore the town first, with conversations and events playing out slightly differently depending on what route you choose. Player choice will have a long-term impact on the game, with your relationship with the companions you acquire set to change the third act significantly.

Rosewater can be found on Steam and is expected to be released in the near future. 

 

Loco Motive

Arthur Ackerman, an estate lawyer, was only expecting to deal with a change of will for Lady Unterwald. Even being invited on her train for the meeting and being asked to change into a bright blue jacket did not throw him off much. However, just before announcing her new inheritance plans, Lady Unterwald is killed when the train enters a dark tunnel. Having lost the paperwork showing the changes, Arthur has to investigate to find out what her plans were and possibly unmask a murderer.

Robust Games, co-founded by brothers Joseph and Adam Riches, offer a comedic retro adventure. The main art style is retro pixel art with a 2.5D presentation. Moving along the train that is the primary setting, the player can shift left and right, but broader mobility is available in various rooms. Animations are adroit, with character expressions still clearly visible despite the limited detail in the faces. Cutscenes have a more detailed cartoon style, giving more depth to both the characters and the setting. The game isn’t voiced but includes a nice variety of sound effects, with the ongoing thunderstorm the train is racing through proving a particular highlight. Despite the central murder plot, the tone is light-hearted. Arthur, sporting a huge quiff, is clearly out of his depth. He only starts investigating because his carelessness with the new will resulted in it getting blown out into the storm. Herman Merman, a crime writer who thinks that makes him a detective, will also be a playable character. Left-click is used to move/interact, and right-click examines hotspots. Using these controls, I took cruel advantage of a guard’s allergies and thwarted the plans of a casino cheat.

Loco Motive can be found on Steam and is expected to be released next year.

 

Backfirewall_

As a smartphone update assistant, you have one purpose: to update the OS for a phone. Not everybody is happy with this idea, most notably OS 9 who is not keen on being replaced. At first, it seems that this will not be an issue, with OS 9’s attempts to thwart you proving easy to evade. However, when you find out what completing the update means, you find that allying with OS 9 might be your best choice after all. 

Naraven Games present a surreal adventure set in a device most of us carry daily. The comedic tone of the game is shown from the outset. OS 9 is only too happy to guide you through the audio setup for the game before he finds out what you are. The character is fully voiced, with a genial comedic tone that reminded me of Wheatley in the early parts of Portal 2. Once you complete this, OS 9 finds out what you are. This takes you out of the low-resolution menu of the opening and into the realistic, if bizarre, setting of the full game. Shelves and boxes look normal, but OS 9 is a floating eye above a suit and cloak combination. There are also numerous “log” files, their branch-like shape mirrored in USB sticks available on the day. Using a controller or keyboard and mouse, you will negotiate this world in the first person. Getting close to an item or button allows you to interact directly with it. Having got OS 9 temporarily out of the way, the update protocol leads you through a series of mini-games that teach you important controls for later. The final action starts a process to destroy you, which you can abort with OS 9’s remote help. From there, you head down into the bowels of the phone, seeking to save everything and yourself.

The demo for Backfirewall_ is available on Steam, with the full game expected early next year. 

 

Cryptmaster

You find yourself in a dark and dingy dungeon. The Cryptmaster, the ruler of this realm, regretfully informs you that you are dead. If you are to escape these ruined depths, you will need to recover your companions and find a way to appear alive to the guardian of the exit. A maze filled with hostile monsters stands between you and your goal. Can you and your companions recover your powers and defeat your foes? 

Paul Hart and Lee Williams have taken the classic dungeon-crawler genre and given it a new twist. The graphics are purely black and white. Despite the lack of colour, the game is full of detail, from the rough walls of the setting to the horrific glowing-eyed Cryptmaster himself. You view the world in first-person with node-based movement on a square grid. Control is entirely through the keyboard, a necessity for the game’s most important feature. You start by simply exploring the surrounding area, soon finding a strange blockage with names on it. Typing those names releases your companions, giving you a total party of four. This consists of you as a warrior, accompanied by a thief, priest, and mage. Each has many actions they can undertake, but you must discover these through typing. As you explore and find items, the letters of those items fill in the blanks next to each character portrait. By guessing and typing the full words, you unlock new skills for each character, with a new word to guess replacing them each time. These become available in combat, earning more letters from monster names. The creepy Cryptmaster comments on your progress in a suitably sepulchral voice, and combat has suitable sound effects. 

Cryptmaster can be wishlisted on Steam, with a hoped-for release next year.

 

PRIM

Prim does not find it easy being Death’s teenage daughter. The Land of the Dead is a gloomy place to live, and Death is fiercely overprotective. In particular, he has warned her that she must not go to the Land of the Living, as she is not ready for what will become of her there. But Prim has been having dreams about a boy who is crying out for her help. Locked in her room after an argument, Prim must first find a way to break out. That mysterious box that has appeared next to the window may help.

Common Colours offer a cheerfully comedic tale with a dark premise. The graphics are entirely black and white, hand-drawn with a lot of detail. Prim herself is a small girl with curls of hair sticking out either side of her head and dark eyelids. She is smoothly animated, as are all the other characters in the game. The mysterious box contains a spider-eye, a demon whose body is one big eye. Using left-click to interact and right-click to look, your first task involves catching this elusive creature. This requires several steps as you must remove it from the ceiling and trap it.  The Mousewheel calls up your inventory, where you can find your Swiss army scythe and other items you collect. Once you have caught the creature, you can send it through a crack in the wall to access areas you cannot reach. This section has you controlling the demon instead, with access only to the inventory items it can carry. PRIM is fully voiced with the slightly gravelly voice of a teenage girl. There is also a suitably dramatic backing soundtrack of strings and violins.   

The demo for PRIM can be downloaded from Steam with the full game expected to be available next year. 

 

Midnight Girl

Paris in the 1960s is a land of opportunity for a girl with the right attitude. For tomboy Monique, cat burglary was the name of the game. Unfortunately, her last heist did not go as planned, resulting in her ending up in jail. However, it looks like her fortunes have taken an upward turn as she makes a new friend. Together they escape confinement and set off on an even bigger heist than before. Will their endeavour meet with success, or are they destined to return to prison?

Italic have taken inspiration from Belgian comics and heist films of the 1960s for their game. The art style is pure 2D, with each scene presented from the side. The graphics are a colourful semi-realistic cartoon style reminiscent of the pulp fiction of the past with smooth animation. While the graphics are 2D, doorways in the foreground and background give the map a full 3D shape. The demo covered a chapter in the middle of the game, where the two thieves find themselves in an abandoned metro station. All they need to progress is a bolt cutter, but that will take some doing. For example, a wire that electrifies a flooded corridor between it and the generator makes powering a door more difficult. Clicking with the mouse moves the character around, with action icons appearing when you walk next to hotspots. When you pick up an object, a close-up and description appear on-screen. From there items move to the bottom of the screen, where they can be selected to use on other hotspots or on each other. There are no voices, but a wealth of sound effects including creaking hinges and the protagonist’s footsteps.

The demo for Midnight Girl can be downloaded from Steam with the full game expected to be available early next year. 

 

Albert Wilde: Quantum P.I. 

Albert Wilde is a Private Investigator down on his luck in the uncaring city. His landlord is on his back, he is in debt to some shady characters, and the police are tired of his antics. With his gambling habit not giving him the money he needs, Albert is in need of a lucky break. Then an article in a newspaper gives him hope. A strange body has been discovered in a warehouse, and a hefty award is available to whoever can solve the mystery. Albert is on the case in the way only a man with a cat’s head can be. 

Beyondthosehills have created a classic film noir game with a surreal difference. From the opening titles, the tone is embraced, the titles mirroring those of 1940s black and white films. The black and white grainy film tone carries over into the main game. Despite that, the graphics are detailed 3D, looking entirely realistic apart from the animal motif. Every character is human in shape, apart from the head. As well as the feline Albert, you will meet a bird-like newspaper vendor and a moose-headed backstreet money lender. Albert’s inner monologue is fully voiced in the gritty noir detective style. Appropriate animal sounds represent spoken dialogue sounds, with subtitles showing what is being said. Without giving away the surprise, Albert finds something very odd when he inspects the body, suggesting that the animal heads are just the start of this game’s weirdness. 

The demo for Albert Wilde: Quantum P.I. is available on Steam. The full game is expected to be out next year. 

 

Arctic Awakening

You awaken to find yourself lost in a snowy landscape. Things do not look good for you with no shelter and a blizzard raging. At least you have your court-mandated therapy bot with you, though its lack of survival systems will limit its assistance. Things seem bleak with your crashed plane never able to fly again and your companion, Donovan, lost elsewhere in the wilderness. Will you find out what sliced your plane in half and escape back to civilisation?

GoldFire Studios present us with a first-person fight for survival. The game is rendered near realistically in 3D with you viewing the world from a first person perspective. The cold wilderness in which you find yourself trapped is covered in thick drifts, while your slow progress is backed by howling wind and crunching snow. The camera angle wobbles slightly to match your tough passage, with the character you play occasionally putting his hand up to shelter his face from the wind. Your robotic companion is a flying orb with arms and a cheery demeanour. Its helpfulness is limited both by its lack of practical systems and its unalterable instruction to stay close. You, the robot, and your colleague, who you contact via radio, are fully voiced to a tiptop standard. Exploring the landscape reveals the wreckage of the front half of your plane. You then have to find a way to get a fire started; a task made more difficult by all nearby wood being damp from snow. Once you have resolved this issue, you will need to find your lost companion and try to find a way home together.