Runaway 3: A Twist of Fate

I bought this game based on the multitude of 5 star reviews and am sorely disappointed. The best thing about the game is the graphics. I have to give it 2 stars because they were stylistic. But that is me just trying to be fair. This game is just terrible. I have never played point and click adventure this bad. The graphics while great are sloppy and choppy. Animations are sluggish and character animations make the chars seem like they are in body casts. The music. Terrible. What little there is gets repeated over and over and over. The puzzles? Completely illogical and annoying. I do not want run back and forth between multiple areas for just about every puzzle. Logic? Lets put a water in a glove, freeze it, then put it in an urn? Serious? If a puzzle is illogical it must be funny or ironic. None of the puzzles in this game are either. The characters? I wanted to punch the screen at how annoying they were. It seems to me that people who wrote this game didn't know how to give life to a character without giving them an accent or making them move strangely. Every char in this game is based on a stereotype. This game wasn't even fun. I thought maybe that after awhile the characters and the story would get better. Nope. I didn't laugh. I didn't wonder what was going to happen next. If you can get over the terrible graphics of other point and click games... Play those.

First off, I'd like to thank Pendulo for making a very solid point-and-click adventure game series in the modern era of gaming. It is very respectable to create a trilogy of high production value adventure games in the age of shooters, platformers, and RPGs. Now, on to the actual review. I very much liked this game - it provided a very cinematic and engaging gaming experience. The characters are still quirky as ever, filled with great personalities and humorous moments. I enjoyed the fact that the story was not completely linear, as time jumped back and forth occasionally - it kept the suspense building nicely. What's better is that the story is more grounded in reality, and is not NEARLY as farfetched as Runaway 2, which I found very disappointing. The visuals are still strong, with some nice atmospheres and settings that aren't quite as diverse as Runaway 2's, but still gorgeous. Cutscenes are nicely rendered and integrate decently into the gameplay, though there are many more cutscenes towards the end, leading to a slightly fizzled finish (same happened with Runaway 2, though Runaway 3 has a much more satisfying ending, obviously). The puzzles are not nearly as ridiculous as the first two, though there is still some adventure game logic going on. What I found to be the most improved part of this game is the interface. Everything is just more streamlined, quicker, more finessed. It works better - there are no more pointless animations that are repeated every time you talk to someone or do something. You talk to someone, it's quick, you walk into a new area, it's quick. Another nice feature is the built in hint system. I also really liked the objectives map - it's sort of hard to explain, but whenever you need to do something you can click it in the inventory and Brian will systematically go through each objective you need to complete in order to progress in the game. Although this may spoon-feed you the answers occasionally, I greatly appreciate this because I found myself meandering and doing nothing in the first 2 game, but with this it is much clearer what I need to do. All in all, Runaway 3 is a solid, funny, and ultimately satisfying gaming experience. It is a tad short, but the experience is a good one. Highly recommended.

Runaway... certainly landmark games for the adventure series, as the first one came at a time when the genre was practically dead, with very few titles coming out and/or making any noise. However, Runaway came like a breath of fresh air with astonishing hand drawn graphics and cutscenes and an interesting mix of adventure and humour. However, plagued by tedious puzzles and average plot, it left gamers wishing for something more. Runaway 2 was an improvement, certainly a bigger game in scope, with an elaborate story but still plagued by silly puzzles and a cliffhanger ending that was for years left open. In fact, I had almost forgotten about the series when I stumbled on Runaway 3 in GOG. I promptly bought it and played it, excited to see what was in store for conclusion to the story. However, the result was mixed. Certainly visually it is stunning, even if the locations are not as exotic or varied as the first two games, still the graphics are outstanding, as well as the cutscenes, very cinematic and well done. The humor is still there and the voice acting of the english version is nicely done. The puzzles are more logical mostly, though there still are a few tiresome bits, especially in the madhouse. What disappointed me this time was the story. By itself, it's an ok murder/mystery story, but it felt like a rushed wrap-up of the previous one, just so to set up new locations and puzzles. It reminded me the Still Life series in that respect... after two great games (Post Mortem, Still Life) with a cliffhanger finale, the last game, Still Life 2 comes along, years delayed, lousily wrapping up the cliffhanger so that a whole new plot is set up. Certainly Runaway 3 is a MUCH better game than that debacle but at the same time I kind of expected more after so many years. At 10 bucks it's a greatly priced game and adventure game fans should check it out for a few days of entertainment, just don't expect something revolutionary, other than a decent, albeit visually impressive, PnC game.

I've been following this series since the first game and since then I always enjoyed it. Yeah, I know, the plot of the second game was ABSURD, but I think that here the story return back in line with style. However, this game is a good, solid graphic adventure, really enjoyable. Is it a perfect game? Of course not. In fact, it is a bit of a short game (it tooks me 8 hours to complete) and saddly, all the greatness that build up from the crazy second game's plot feels a bit small in comparison to the real story of the game. Still, I would reccommend a try. Start with the first "runaway" and if you think it is worth it, than I'll assure you that the whole series is not disappointing after all