A Golden Wake

I bought this, because it was published by Wadjet Eye Games, riding on the quality they made us expect from the products they ship. Unfortunately, this is a half-cooked game. The nod towards Miami history is nice, and the voice acting is good, but those the only pros of this game. The writing is bleak, the protagonist is not likeable (it makes you wish he just dies halfway through), the puzzles and hints are badly designed and ambiguous, the controls are unresponsive. Sadly, it's not a good game.

3/5 stars - A unique storyline that somewhat follows the real history of Coral Gables, FL. That's fun to watch play out and the characters are pretty cool. I thought it was a fun playthrough overall - however, as with most games of this particular style, there can be moments where lacking a single element may stall you and send you all over the available map clicking on every conceivable thing trying to figure out what minor thing you have have missed. Fortunately there are internet walkthroughs available if you are less patient. With A Golden Wake, the options you have are very limited and there aren't really any alternative scenarios to speak of, so one play and you're done. I bought my version for $3 on sale. For that price, I'd say it is worth it, but anything higher than $5, I'd recommend looking elsewhere for point and click adventures. In terms of the puzzles in game - they are very basic and don't provide interest challenges to the player.

Francisco Gonzalez first commercial release (after his freeware AGS releases such as the Ben Jordan series). This is a work of historical fiction in the guise of an adventure game, following the trials and tribulations of Alfie Banks, a New Yorker looking to make a name for himself in 1920s Florida. Tells an interesting, mature story with a complex main character, covering more sophisticated ground than most adventure games of its type. It does a good job of conjuring up the atmosphere of '20s Florida, is fully voice acted and has a colourful cast of characters and a lot of locations to explore. The music is good. There are a few downsides: the puzzles are fairly perfunctory, being limited to simple inventory or dialogue puzzles and some (fairly crude and occasionally frustrating) minigames. The graphics are bright and colourful, but aren't as sophisticated as in Francisco's later games. The game is fairly linear, with only a few locations being available to explore at any given time. The fact that the story and protagonist is quite sophisticated also means you never quite identify as Alfie - he's too strong and too flawed a character to act as a cipher for the player, and it often feels like you're along for the ride, rather than living your own adventure. Not really a criticism, more an observation. Overall it's an interesting take on the genre. Play it for the quality of the writing, the unusual setting and the mature story rather than thrills and satisfying puzzle-solving. I'd give it 3.5/5.

I found this to be a fun little historical based game. The story weaves in actual historical events with the adventures and misadventures of Alfie Banks as he makes his way through the Roaring 20's. There is a lot of detail in the game, even though it can seemed rushed, and it does set the tone well. The puzzles aren't too hard, though there were a couple of bang my head against the wall ones. It's an oddball story, set in a time and place that isn't often visited by video games. Definitely worth checking out if you like point and click / adventure games.

I love Wadjet Eye games (especially the Blackwell series) and got this in one of the winter sales at a good deal. First, the good: I like the main character and the setting - the new city of Miami at the start of the 1900's is interesting, especially when they use real historical people, places, and events as backdrop and story elements. That's really cool and well-thought out. And it utilizes a time and place in history not many people think much about, despite it being one of great social and technological change. But, that said, few of the puzzles are stumpers in any significant way (there may be three interactive things in a room, with one the blatantly obvious solution to another in that same room). It has times when you can approach puzzles in several different ways or orders, but I didn't get the impression than approaching it from one way or the other would actually lead to potential failure--just different solutions to the same problem. A few times it isn't entirely clear what you need to do, but usually that's not with the puzzles themselves, but when the game makes you do something suddenly different than you do at any other point in the game (like chase someone through an alley). Overall, I'd aim to get this one on sale, but if you do, it's worth the play-through (shouldn't take you more than ten to fifteen hours or so, so it isn't a huge time sink). And it is worth it to explore a little, oft-ignored corner of history in an interesting, if sometimes a little too linear, way.