When I got asked to review a PC game, I jumped at the chance, and when I was told I would be reviewing a point and click adventure game, I was over the moon. My gaming history really starts back in the day with my Amiga 500, which I still have today and get out from time to time, and back in those days there was nothing but point and click adventure games. So what game is it? I hear you ask. It is called Resonance, from indie game developers XII Games.
Resonance really kicks the Adventure genre off in a good way, mixing old style game play and graphics with a modern story line. You really feel at home right from the get go, as they have kept what was good from those early point and click adventure games. The game will see you take control of 4 people whose story lines will criss-cross as you make your way through the story, which really made it all the more interesting as you start to find out how all these people have a part to play, and how some of them meet unexpectedly.
The graphic style of the game is kept in keeping with the look and feel of the old school games. Everything is hand drawn and there are some really great looking sets and with the new technology to add to this it really makes for some lovely eye candy. Alongside that you have the voice acting which is above quality as well, what I did find interesting, is that they only use speech when it’s needed, such as helping you understand what’s going on in a dramatic scene, and then they will switch back to text based chat. At first I really did not get on with that, but after a while I found that it worked really well and got me so wrapped up in the game it was silly. Music in the game is used sympathetically and I found myself not getting annoyed with it, if anything it just added hugely with moments of tension and just run of the mill parts of the game, it all was outstanding.
The game controls and interface have been streamlined. You have your standard inventory but also alongside this is two other tabs, which let you drop things into them but not just from your inventory – it also lets you pick things that are selectable from around you. So when you talk to people you can select them, which really is a nice way of doing things and it really opened things up in the game to make some of those hard puzzles (yes, hacking the mainframe puzzles I’m talking about here) interesting.
With all this it still keeps what I love about this genre, the puzzles, and let me tell you it’s full of those. Some of them will have you banging your head on the desk, or have you clicking everywhere to try and find out what you have missed. We have all been there one time or another. The puzzles don’t get in the way, they really enhance the story and you will soon see the passage of time, as 1 hour of playing turns in to more and more. For those of you who like achievements, they have those too; as you solve puzzles you will get points. You don’t get them on all the puzzles but you will need to run through the game a few times to get all of them, which is good for the replay value.
Overall this game is amazing. I loved every hour I spent playing Resonance and was a tiny bit sad when I had finished it. But never the less for an ‘old school’ but modern point and click adventure game, it makes me happy to see that there are developers still making them and keeping a great genre alive. Its only downfall is it’s too short, but it’s still a must-buy for all you adventure geeks out there, especially for the price tag of only a few quid.
Reviewed on PC
System requirements:
Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Pentium IV or better CPU, 512 MB RAM (1 GB for Vista/Win 7), 256 MB graphics card, 1GB hard-drive space. Will also work on Linux with Wine.
thanks for introducing me!