Blackwell Bundle

I was long lamenting the loss of classics like Monkey Island etc and although I'd come across a few of this creator's games, I'd not played them and definitely not heard of the Blackwell Series. I came across the Bundle where I purchased the first 4 games in a pack and after playing through them all was so smitten I purchased the fifth. They are all a little different from each other visually, but the improvements are consistent and you can see the developer growing with each title. Play them in order, relish in the incredibly rich story. I have to talk about this. The man is a fantastic writer! I've never played games with such quality storytelling. My wife and I were lost so deeply we could not wait to play them each night. The end, well, it's so good I can't even mention a spoiler here. If you're after classic point and click, with gorgeous pixel art worlds, beautiful jazz music and a story and characters rich and engaging then give this a go. What a treat. We're sad to have finished the series, but now we know of WadjetEye games, we're working through his whole collection. Just buy them!

I didn't expect much, but I had fun with it. Potential players should bear in mind that this is a dialogue-based adventure, not an inventory item-based one (like Monkey Island and most traditional point & click adventure games). That means you will solve puzzles mostly by talking to people and making your own deductions by combining notes, then talking to people some more. Item puzzles are few and far between, and in the first game you can't even use an item outside the inventory. The puzzles themselves are quite easy, and I never got stuck, except when I forgot about the right-click button to examine things more closely. The design of the first game has an amateurish feel, but the series becomes more polished and fleshed-out as it progresses. All in all, you won't be disappointed.

I'm not normally an adventure gamer. My experience with adventure games was the first King's Quest (and I'm still procrastinating about getting to the second one), but I played through all four of the Blackwell episodes in one sitting. The first one had me hooked. If you know what Wraith: The Oblivion is, and you liked it (as I do), then the Blackwell Bundle will really appeal. The main characters are interesting, complex people and the story keeps getting richer with every iteration. I only have one minor gripe, and that's the there's not a lot of direction (and not being a fan of the adventure game genre, I resorted to walkthroughs for all episodes - one puzzle in Deception is really easy to mess up). My major gripe (and why I didn't give the Blackwell games 5 stars) is that the episodes are really short unless you spent a lot of time wandering around wondering what to do. Deception is the longest episode, and I'd have to say the most interesting, since the hints of a larger world and what's in store for the future are tantalizing, compelling, and I can't wait for the next chapter. As a guy who doesn't get zombies, but loves spirits and ghosts... the Blackwell games tickled that particular fancy, and I don't regret my purchase. I've been waiting for this level of writing in games... and it was here all along.

Thought they seemed cheesy but they turned out to be great fun. Well worth the money as well. Each individual game is short but together they total around 12 hours. To go forward in the story you need to discuss with various characters. You rarely need to combine or give items to characters as often is the case in adventure games. Sometimes, you need to ask a question several times to get a truthful answer. That's something worth to remember, most of all for the second in the series.

I admit I'm wary of indie scene. It can be a place giving a birth to unique and good games but more often than not it doesn't. When Blackwell was sold for $2 here, I gave it a try. This bundle was first thing created by Wadjet Eye Games I played and I was intrigued. The ghost theme and episodic nature discouraged me at first but it turned out well. Authors managed to add an interesting twist, spreading over the whole series, to your usual ghost stories which made me feel like I am really moving somewhere instead of not just dealing with "monsters of the week". Although I had to get used to macho Joey, characters are likeable and believable most of the time. Music is great; a compilation of jazz, electro and ambient. Visuals are old-schol yet Wadjet Eye experiments with different approaches. I don't have to like them all but I appreciate the constant effort to improve. And voice-over is pretty awesome for an indie title. It also contains the most innovative system I have recently seen in adventure games. There is something like cross-reference where you can combine different conversation topic as and create a new clue. It felt natural. I would welcome more locations and characters in first 3 episodes; they felt kind of short due to it. 4th one is well-balanced and probably my favorite. I enjoyed the series and I look forward to play more episodes when they'll come. Note : If you don't like a cliffhanger, be aware of the fact this series isn't finished. While each case is closed per episode, the overreaching arc is left open.