I played this after the last patch had come out and don't remember any big bugs at all. I liked the original's art style a lot and did initially get a bit of a rash from the new style, but soon forgot it had ever been changed. The new/remixed music works perfectly fine. I also didn't really mind the controls so much, though comboing certain actions takes practice for sure. There's differences in the gameplay, specifically puzzles and boss fights, but also other areas have been redesigned so there's certainly reason to replay it even if you played Treasure Adventure Game. I wrote an expanded review of this on Home of the Underdogs, which is a non-profit site so I hope you don't mind if I link to that one (wouldn't fit here anyway). There are also some tips as to how to avoid some frustration as you get into it. http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=5338
This game, as its own commentary track will attest to, went over budget and was cut heavily. You can tell. It just about justifies itself, but is less of a of timeless classic and more of an "another Lucasarts" game, which means it's still okay. It had great graphics for the time, and the remastered version, despite me first playing this through with original graphics, is easy to like. Pros: - graphics: original weren't always so pleasant to look at and look kind of murky but the remaster I can't complain about... much - rock 'n' roll soundtrack - mostly hits the mark in terms of atmosphere and its theme, and it is quite unique after all - mostly good voice acting, though a few lines are read wrong - interesting experimental gameplay - the audio commentary adds some insight into the game's development Cons: - short - some obscure puzzles that you shouldn't feel bad consulting walkthroughs on - not the greatest of UIs - the action mini-games are extremely primitive and other than the writing don't hold up to a decent standard at all: again, consulting walkthroughs for getting through them quicker is my advice - generally lower production values esp. in animation - ran into a bug on Mine Road that I think can be avoided by sometimes using the backspace key to skip fights (that and go to a location where you can save the game)
I gave this game multiple chances, even in different languages. The furthest I could get was the second visit to the second world (or so). While still on Stark, I was looking forwards to what it was going to evolve into. What stopped me: - Incredibly puerile story. Some total garbage about "restoring the balance". It feels like the worst stereotypical kind of fantasy-nerd-fantasy. I liked it up until the point when it expected me to take that shit seriously. And they just talk on and on and on... And there's no humor, no self-awareness. I would NEVER liken this to Lucasarts or Sierra in that way. It's what we call self-indulgent, bred from first-world ennui. I'm not surprised it's Swedish. - Some puzzles kind of difficult to guess at (to say the least). It looks great. I guess it has a nice soundtrack. I think I've said my lot.
Firstly, to get this out of the way, support for the REDUX version of the game seems to be gone, from the developers' side. Doesn't seem to be anything GOG can do to help you either based on a long support conversation. Instead you CAN get the NON-REDUX version running and it seems to work fine. This is under "extras". So I'm basically reviewing that version except they're not really so different. There's supposed to be a graphical improvement (since it's a newer Unreal Engine patch) but you honestly aren't missing much in my opinion. The game itself: good if you aren't expecting something other than walking about the environments, unraveling a plot and solving (mostly optional) puzzles. If you ignore the extra puzzles it might take you 5 hours to finish. If you try to solve all of them (gives you an additional little post-ending thing that you can honestly just watch a Let's Player play through), it might take 25 hours. I'm giving the plot a 4.5/5. A novel idea, and I was caught by surprise. Some people think it's moving, and while I'm not a very sentimental guy, I do like its themes a lot and feel it's a game with a very relevant topic. The pacing of the game is kind of funny since most likely, you'll run into 80% of the plot pretty quickly, after which you can spend a long time going around trying to solve more puzzles, then another 20% plot. Non-spoilery things you might want to know in advance: - I really overthought a lot of the puzzles. Usually, but not always, what you need is in the near vicinity and the obvious thing to do is the correct one. I would NOT rate this as super-challenging puzzle game. You ARE likely to overlook some details so don't be ashamed of looking at the walkthrough on Steam (it's really good). - You can use the artifact on all blue-glowy things (and nothing else). - Don't miss the mine entrance. It's between the harbour and the industrial center.
I wrote a much longer review for Home of the Underdogs which I might as well link here: http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=5330 Nutshell: PROS - atmosphere, audio, visuals, puzzles CONS - slightly dodgy narrative to the best of my cognition, have to replay to see both endings (or create backup save)
This game: -hours and hours of replay value because the regular game play is such ridiculous fun! -free camera replay options letting you relive the most hilarious moments of the race -the racing missions are very challenging and fun if don't mind the sub-optimal handling the physics afford your cars - don't be ashamed of going with the easiest difficulty setting which gives you more time to finish. -so it's not a racing game at essence and some of the other mission-type levels can be very frustrating as well -however laying havoc on your opponents is marvelous fun albeit the last guy can sometimes be a bit hard to track down: the opponents can literally teleport around the map when you're not in their direct vicinity -I remember playing just the first two city "races" for ages and ages because our copy had missing files or something that didn't let us play the second map at all so we couldnt' proceed. That proves it was fun!
