Normality

Normality is a very odd combination - an adventure game with a Doom-like engine. Sounds odd? Yeah it is. There are some minor issues with that presentation but I'll mention it when I'll go on... Normality is a Orwell served with a heavy rock/punk sauce. The titular normality is complete subjection to the ruling government, that means... yeah. No TV other than the boring NORMTV(TM)which runs normal (read: boring) programs for normal (read: boring) people, no rock music, normal books only (anything that isn't normal is of course either censored or disposed off). Hell you can't live in a NORM world eh? Take control of Kent - a young rebellious (or just wanting to have fun) chap and overthrow the boring government! That's pretty much the story of the game. As for the actual substance - the game requires scanning the environment carefully (Not too careful though, thankfully it isn't a pixel hunt), pick up the puzzle pieces, use them, converse - the usual adventure game stuff. One thing though: the puzzles are HARD. Play on words, tongue in cheek humor or just sheer surrealism is the basis of this game. So watch the conversations! Throwing a spanner in the works might have to be taken literally. The 3D interface works out... so-so. It's weird and the voodoo doll interface needs to get some using to. Buuuuuttttttttttt... it works. That's pretty much the best summary: The game works - the dry and quirky humor, the weird control scheme and the revolutionist storyline all goes well together. 5 stars and must get for any adventure game fan. If you're a new to the genre though, reconsider the purchase for it might leave you clutching your head for days, trying to solve a particularly hard puzzles.

Okay, so the game is not perfect, but it's an enjoyable ride through a normal town. So let me go through what I like and don't like about this game: Music: It's horrible. Seriously, it's vexing. However, you can just turn it off, which is highly recommended. After 30 minutes, it felt like someone was playing a single 15 second midi sample again and again and again and again and... Sorry. Where was I? The music. It's bad. Avoid it. The graphics aren't that bad though. They look a bit like Duke Nukem 3D. The first 5 seconds will tell whether you can stand it or not. Odds are, you can. The animations have not aged well though, and the walls everywhere are really noticeable. On the other hand, they do capture the feeling of a walled in surveillance state. The gameplay is you classical point and click affair with a major difference. You view the world through the character's eyes. This works rather well. However, be adviced that the keyboard controls are clunky, and that you can move around with the mouse as well. (You use the arrow keys, to be specific.) The voodoo doll menu is pretty neat though, and predate The Curse of Monkey Island, and is a welcome sight. What sucks though are the dialogues. Don't get me wrong, they're well written, but you cannot skip it! Who's idea was that anyway? If you like adventure games, and have played the other more classic ones here such as Syberia, The Longest Journey, etc. by all means grab it. Otherwise grab those instead.

Normality has humor and is well paced, the puzzles can be hard for this post-syberia times, but it is just a matter of using lateral thinking and the 1984-style story is adequate enough to make you push the game forward. I never understood why Adventure games didn't use more the heretic/hexen/doom perspective. It is much better than the node-to-node alternative, yet there are are few that used it (a noticeable exception being gabriel knight 3). The Gog version runs pretty well, only some minor stuttering in a cinematic but otherwise rocks. If you are new to adventures I recommend using a walkthrough and a little bit of patience, part of the fun here is reading the descriptions, figuring out how to combine items in the inventory, etc. Overall, a very good game.

good game. the voices is not a problem for those who played European version. and there is a patch on gog forum that can convert it to American. I love it. and it reminds me of good times. highly recommend