While classic adventure games come in all settings and sizes, they mostly come in two genres: Comedy and Horror. There are amazing examples of both genres, with writing decades ahead of most modern games, but it's still nice to see games which don't obey the rule. While the Journeyman Project 2 isn't afraid to joke around, it plays its sci-fi premise charmingly straight, and does so pretty well. The story is good, if a little sparse; most of it takes place at the beginning and end of the game, through moderately well-acted FMV cutscenes. Due to the time-travel plot, the rest of the game you avoid speaking to anyone; in fact there's only one real character you can interact with. You will, however, gain a companion you can take with you for the rest of the game, who provides you with company and some historical commentary. The graphics are pretty good; while you can only see through a small window, what you can see doesn't hold up too badly, even today. You may be wondering why I only gave this game 3 stars; well, as with many adventure games, the story is great, but the gameplay? Not so much. Let's start with movement. While the pre-rendered backgrounds allow this game to have the graphics it does, it also means movement is clumsy and unintuitive: you can turn left and right, but when you do, you turn instantly, by a completely arbitrary amount. While you do get used to it, it can be very disorienting. You can also turn up and down, which, since you can't move forward when you're looking in the wrong elevation, gives another chance to become completely disoriented. Did I mention that one level takes place in zero gravity? And that's the level most people recommend you do first. And the puzzles... Okay, it's a classic adventure game, so frustration is to be assumed, but the time travel adds a new element to the usual frustration. At any time, you can travel to one of five times and places, and three of them require items from one of the other time-lines to complete. Often these items are, thanks to the interface, very easy to miss; there are two items you need to get from Gage's apartment in a way I would never have thought of without a walkthrough. The fact that levels reset themselves (but for items still in your inventory every time you come back to them, combined with the clumsy movement, can make repeat trips a chore. And occasionally you need to write down long alphanumerical codes, to later repeat verbatim, just to gain necessary items. All that said... I do like this game. A walkthrough can alleviate most of the gameplay problems, and the story is pretty good. It's a unique game, and I'm glad I played it; if you like adventure games, I'd gladly recommend this one. If you don't, and want to try one... I'd probably point you towards Monkey Island. Or Gabriel Knight. You know... Comedy. Horror.
