Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle

This game is very tedious, and it really shouldn't have had to have been. First, I hope you like dialog, and lots and lots and lots of it. I'm not exaggerating -- this has got to be one of the most wordy, verbose adventure games I have ever played, and I've played a lot. Cut it down! Dramatically! Sheesh. I ended up skipping many dialog sections, risking missing key information, because I just couldn't take it any longer. Second, the game is very, very fragmented. The story doesn't make any sense in many parts, and even taking that for granted for the moment, it's awfully pieced together. Take any 10 random adventure stories and settings and then jumble them all up and then put the same (or similar) characters in all of them, and you have this game. You can really tell that the developers didn't work together on their own individual sections of the game. It's incoherent, confusing, and pointless. There is no sense of progression, because you're still scratching your head at the resolution of every previous section, and the resolution of every section before that. Third, the puzzles! Many of the puzzles are downright confusing, and a few are just complete nonsense, or that you never would have guessed. There are many such puzzles throughout the game which do not make much logical sense, or that would have been about the 100th thing a rational person would have tried to do. I am also not a fan of puzzles which only "work" much later, after something else has happened in the game, despite the fact that the exact same action was taken as before. There are a lot of those puzzles. There are also a lot of "he said/she said" puzzles which require you to talk back and forth over and over. Boring. Let me say a few good things. The animations are a bit robotic, but overall pleasant, and at times stunning. The feel of the game is lighthearted, although it does take itself too seriously at times. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this one.

If you enjoy monkey island you may enjoy the subtle references in the game. The game play is slightly better than Runaway 1. Most NPC will remind or hint to player what items are needed and in-game item will hint at how to combine the items, but some puzzles are still awkward trying to be funny than logical, There are environment clickable that seems to be part of a puzzle but never materialize and there are environment clickable placed in close proximity of required item click which made it frustrating experience. The story is far-fetch out of the 3 and it's rather strange that it ended with to be continue but Runaway 3 never quite pick it up where it left off.

It's hard to say why the game is so 'unfun'. Nothing really stands out. The story is pleasant enough, the characters are ok, the animations pretty good. You sit there for hours playing and realize... hey...this isnt really fun is it, why am I continuing? I guess the downfall is the gameplay itself. At first each new level is intriguing; you get to explore, read all the hotspot text, snicker at the thin jokes, marvel at the art then its over pretty quickly. then follow hours of tiresome clicking all the myriad combinations of inventory items versus hotspots in order to get that vague progression text that moves the story along. Its not fun. Its just plain... not .... fun. No rage inducing annoying problems, no game ending glitches, no obnoxious characters (like the 1st installment) and the overt sexism is more toned down but still the game just ends up being hours of mindlessly combining inventory items with hot spots with a lackluster thin comedy plot. snooooooooooze

A classic adventure game from the days long gone. Interesting story, wrapped in a good portion of wacky 3d animation, puzzles and memorable characters. Must be played by anybody who liked the first Runaway.

I enjoyed the Runaway series more than the Broken Sword series. There, I said it! Because let's face it, if you are going to compare Runaway with another game, that would be Broken sword. And while the Broken Sword series started with a bang, they felt to be going lower with each release, while Runaway kept the bar on pretty much the same level throughout the trilogy. Mind you that, although a trilogy, they are three complete games, meaning there are no cliffhanger endings here, just three adventures with the same protagonists in the same universe. If I had to name the weaker of the three I would say the second (Dream of the turtle). It's plot does tend to be a bit all over the place, but the title alone should prepare you for that. But man, what a cinematic adventure feeling each title has! Gangsters, conspirators, money hunts, flamboyant characters, travels, exploration, twists, all wackiness is there for our entertainment! The graphics speak for themselves through the images and trailers, and the voice overs and music are well above average. In conclusion, play the first (wait for a discount if need be), and if you like what you get, proceed to the rest without fear!