I guess $3.70 was an introductory price as it set me back $4.95. Still its not bad for a $5 game.
I guess they fixed some of the bugs as the only hitch I encountered was a clunky installation. The progress bar seemed to stop just short 0f 100%. After a few minutes I just said sod it, went into the directory and clicked the game icon to get started. After that it ran just fine on high detail, even on my three year old system.
Quickie spoiler free review.
The Story: Both were well told and kept my interest. They'd have made epic stories on the show. Definitely worth the price of admission.
Voice acting: Overall very good, though Matt's performance was very laid back. No sign of his usual energy and jumping around. Amy's non-stop snarkiness does get a bit old after a bit. However she makes herself indispensable more than once.
Game play: As someone mentioned above, it was pretty simple. Run about fetching objects to complete tasks while dodging monsters. They throw in the occasional minigame to accomplish things like removing an electronic gizmo from a machine, rewiring a circuit board, or reprogramming a computer. Not much of a challenge for the experienced gamer, which is understandable since they'd want to keep it manageable for the average young fan. Still, its a fun casual game.
Movement can be a little clunky, and you'll occasionally get hung up on some tiny obstruction if you're in a hurry. But nothing game-killing.
A couple of scene transitions were a bit clunky. Very abrupt like a film missing a few frames. Also in a couple of scens changes someone would start to speak, but then be cut off, only to continue the scene a moment later. Like there was a problem with scene branching. This only happened with the first part though.
Graphics: Pretty dated by todays standards. I didn't really see much sign of the motion capture they went on about during one of the DW Confidentials. Not much in the way of facial expressions, and they even cheated a bit, using the same character models for both games (you've got Amy running around in the snow in shorts. wtf?). I defiantly thought he graphics in part two were much improved, with some nicely rendered ice caves.
Theres a gimmick where you get to collect virtual character trading cards hidden about the landscape, which is stupid, but kinda fun. They even made an attempt at making the game educational, with certain fact files on certain click able objects, giving little one paragraph explanations of Nanotechnology for example.
Audio: Very well done. Great sound effects, and a nice selection of music culled from past Murry Gold scores. The background music never fails to set the mood.
Its all terribly linear, and not liable to impress the average HL2, MW2, or Left 4 Dead player, but then its not meant to compete. Its a free downloadable game after all.
Its definitely a great first effort, and certainly worth the $5 price of admission.
I can only hope that with the success of this, the BBC will consider taking a shot at a proper full length game with modern graphics, surround sound, etc.
