Presentation-wise, Runaway is gorgeous. But everything else is terribly average. The plot is a confused effort that swings between a campy murder mystery to an "Indiana Jones" style mystic adventure. Add a few odd turns towards science fiction and you get a story that has trouble deciding where it is headed.
Some fun can be had from the colorful characters along the way, but their silliness is at odds with the serious atmosphere the game tries to convey.
It's a game that simply has trouble deciding what kind of story is it telling. Is it a serious crime drama? A light-hearted mystery? An odd-couple journey story? And all of these are simply at odds with each other.
The puzzles start smart but quickly become contrived and forced.
Runaway is by no means bad, but it is very average.