Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love

I've been waiting for a while for this lucas arts/deadalic style adventure game. Very good voice acting and estethics. Love the Soviet era climate :)

So, if I was going to recommend an adventure game to someone, as if they had to play it before they died, this probably wouldn't be it.  However, it's still a great game for lovers of the genre if one isn't put off by the political "themes." I'm not really a political guy; I'm an adventure gamer guy. So, I can't speak to how seriously the game is trying to take itself politically and what its actual aim may be. However, its content makes it a little more inaccessible to all. The story itself keeps you interested enough, has moments. There were humorous moments, but I don't think I was ever slapping my knee laughing at this game. It had moments that I felt had the potential to soar in laughter, but it never really went there. It's a game that would have lent itself to over-the-top hysteria, similar to classic Lucas Arts games, but it doesn't really have moments like those.  For those who enjoy the genre, the puzzles are mostly solid. The game doesn't have any puzzles that are really unfair. There is one puzzle that I will try not to spoil too much, namely a musical puzzle that requires you to listen to verses of a song. Maybe it's a personal weakness, but I just couldn't memorize the words and what the hell verse the song was on. That's the only puzzle I really didn't want to "waste time on." The rest of the game I played legitimately. Sometimes puzzles are just too aggreviating, and the payoff isn't there. I like solving puzzles, but puzzles that rely on reflexes, memorization, or even lyrical "intelligence?" can sometimes be unfair. The characters ARE likeable enough; the protagonist grows on you, but at the start of the game, I was rather unimpressed by the protagonist. The characters all work; you get a background story for the main character, but it's sort of hard to care... All the characters could have been given better creative treatment, they are never really made to soar.  It's a great time killer for fans of the genre, but it could have been more.

A very interesting funny game. Really enjoyable!

Pros: I really enjoyed this game. Cons: Wish it was longer.

This game is an amazing treasure because it is a love letter to the great point-and click games of the 90's such as Lucas Art ones. There are tributes to these games everywhere! There are tributes to other geek culture elements too. And lots of funny situation that remind of british humor such as Monty Python, Benny Hills or Mister Bean. All of that made me have a real good time, with nice graphics and animation that support a nice story. Why 4 stars only out of 5? Because I wish there were more mini-games (the included ones were cool) and a more developed ending: lots of interesting characters were introduced, it is a pity they were not more used at the end of the game. Game's end was quite short compared to the rich lore that was shown during the game.