Following Freeware: January 2011 releases

This month you can play a gang of 19th century French thieves, a demon seeking to release the power within him, or a pop star famous for her unusual clothing choices. You could also see what happens when poetry and zombies collide, experience an unusual approach to plot construction and help a young girl overcome her fears. Or you can simply try to spend some time in the company of a lovely lady, if you can get rid of your unexpected house guests first. All these opportunities await you in this round-up of the January 2011 releases from the freeware adventure scene.
 

Eddie’s Lament

Once upon a midnight dreary, Ed composed an e-mail query, sorrowing for his lost Lenore. But the departed Lenore is standing right outside, with a new lease on un-life and a hankering for some tasty brains. With his erstwhile beloved planning to turn him into a snack, Eddie needs to have his wits about him if he is to defeat her and escape his besieged home. Quoth the raven “Grab your gun.”

This game from Hamumu owes not so much a debt as a good-natured apology to Edgar Allan Poe’s classic gothic poem “The Raven”. Every action you take, including ones that lead to your demise, is presented in the form of an on-screen verse whose style and layout mimic that of the original. These are all also spoken in a deep and gravelly voice that suits the feel of the original poem well. The actual content of the lines is far less faithful to Poe’s work, being largely comic in tone – all the more so for being read in a serious voice. The graphical presentation is a first-person slideshow format with high resolution photographic stills depicting the various locations. The soundtrack is a slow, disturbing tune, reminiscent of old zombie films. The relatively simple puzzles are based around a small inventory, the contents of which also have text-only rhyming couplets as descriptions. The death scenes are worth finding for the related verse, as a single click will undo your fatal action.

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Eddie’s Lament can be played online at Kongregate.

Tales of Otubania

On the world of Otubania lives Aciducer. He normally works as an assistant, but sometimes he has to save the world and other times he has to perform complete nonsense. Today is definitely one of the latter days. When he woke up this morning, he knew with absolute certainty that he must put a frame on a barrel. So our hero bravely sets out to perform a plethora of unrelated tasks in order to achieve this worthy goal.

To describe Tales of Otubania as surreal is an enormous understatement. You could even suspect the plot had been created randomly, and you’d be right. TomatosInTheHead used his own tool, the Silly Story Maker, to generate the basic plot. This simple program randomly uses text lists to create a lead character, an ultimate goal and a list of tasks you need to perform to reach it. The tasks include most standard adventuring fare, such as talking to Non Player Characters and gathering and combining items. The outright silliness of the story here has been wholeheartedly embraced, making this a highly amusing adventure that even pokes fun at some genre conventions. The graphics are colourful but very simplistic, with detail consisting of liberal use of the Paint spray tool. However, everything is easily recognisable and this style actually fits the tone of the game well. A different tune plays in each location, an organ in the cathedral particularly standing out. The game is fully voiced, and whilst the acting is not necessarily of stellar quality, the feeling put into the lines enhances the on-screen subtitles. These voiceovers are a major addition, since nearly every possible interaction has its own unique dialogue.

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Tales of Otubania can be downloaded from the AGS website. If you want to play with the Silly Story Maker yourself, that can be downloaded at Box.

The Three Thieves

The year is 1892 and master thief Rob finds himself incarcerated in a Parisian prison. Fortunately, his skills at breaking in are also useful in breaking out, and he is soon back on the streets. Putting together his old gang, Meaty the powerful boxer and Slim the beanpole, he is eager to return to his life of crime. But someone has been keeping an eye on these three thieves and has other plans for how their skills can be best employed.

This point-and-click game from 2Dplay features a detailed, if slightly stylised, rendition of 19th century Paris as its backdrop. The city is mainly coloured in shades of brown and grey, reflecting both the setting in the less salubrious parts of town and the fact that the game takes place at night. The characters are much more exaggerated, as Meaty is completely round and Slim is impossibly thin with a strange, gangly walk. All three the thieves are smoothly animated, as are the other characters and moving objects in game. A French accordion piece plays over the opening, but the in-game sound is limited to sound effects only, such as the rattling of trains on the Metro. The game adopts a comedic tone, with the character text written to reflect a spoof French accent. On-screen buttons allow you to change the active character at any time, and each of the protagonists has a unique ability to aid in your quest. Rob can make himself invisible at will, Meaty can move large objects by punching and Slim can slide himself through thin pipes. The puzzles are relatively simple, revolving around these abilities and standard inventory use.

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The Three Thieves can be played online at 2D Play.

Belial: Chapter 2.5 – The Beast Within

At the end of Belial: Chapter 1, the son of Lucifer was offered two choices on how to execute his plan to overthrow Satan. The first, passage back from Earth to Hell to raise an army, was played out in Chapter 2 – Throne of Chaos. The second, staying on Earth and unleashing his true form, Baal, is played out in this new game. Here Belial must travel deep into his own psyche to unlock the gargantuan monster sealed within. Sent in with the bewitching demoness, Lilith, as his guide, he soon finds his supernatural powers are unusable in this setting, which means it’s time to apply diabolical cunning to the obstacles that bar him from his goal.

This game is predictably similar to the previous games by keybol in the way its looks and plays. The graphics adopt the same cartoon style with bright colours and simple but effective animation. Control is point-and-click, with drag-and-drop used to combine inventory or apply items to the environment. Despite the fiendish backdrop, the game is actually light in tone, featuring such locations as a film studio where Belial’s dreams are recorded rather than horror-filled vistas. A xylophone and string pieces back up the action, creating a suitable underworld feel. Although fairly short, a variety of puzzles are crammed in, ranging from basic inventory use to standalone logic puzzles. The latter come with a button for hints, which can be purchased using soul essences found scattered throughout the game. There is also a dialogue puzzle in which it is important to remember who the player character is.

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Belial : Chapter 2.5 – The Beast Within can be played online at Kongregate.