Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turle Review

|Tap-Repeatedly|FFC Archives

           

Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle

Review by Old RoosterJanuary 2007

“An Unforgettable Day at the Tiki Falls” —Flying Platypus Tours Brochure

Do you remember Brian Basco? We first met him in 2003—a boyish, charming, naive student on the verge of an ordinary life. Ordinary, that is, until he met the stripper Gina and was thrust into an improbable situation with the Mafia and other assorted quirky characters. Their adventures translated into a game, Runaway: A Road Adventure, that met with mixed reviews, some liking the colorful graphics and bizarre storyline, others panning the obtuse puzzles and frequent repetitiveness. Four years later, how are Brian and Gina doing?

We find our couple vacationing in Hawaii. In an effort to find a more secluded spot, they hire an ancient pilot with an ancient plane. After all, who could resist the lure of the Tiki Falls? Near the end of the flight, the pilot collapses, Brian pushes Gina out with the only parachute, and Brian himself somehow crash-lands the plane in the middle of a jungle. What Brian doesn’t yet realize, but we do, is that Gina appears to have been shot on her way down.  And so our adventure begins.

This huge game will have us visiting over 100 different locations, including the aforementioned jungle, a secret military installation, Alaska, a yacht, tropical beaches, a Tiki temple, and a sunken galleon.  Through six chapters, we’ll meet 30 characters no less diverse than the locales: Joshua, the mad scientist; Lokelan, a man collector; Tarentula, a venomous beauty who loves spiders; the corrupt and rather mad Colonel Kordsmeier; Knife, an Australian surfer; plus, of course, Brian’s beloved Gina and others, both revisited from A Road Adventure and new to this story.

“Keyboards Are for Pianists” —Manual

Let’s get technical for a bit. The manual is one of the finest I’ve seen for any adventure title. It’s clear, funny, helpful and even provides a synopsis of A Road Adventure. This look at Runaway 1 is also displayed through static scenes within the options section of the game itself. A mini-walkthrough is included for the first part of the game. An example of the humor is displayed when discussing graphic options if “you have a computer as old as Otto’s cuckoo.” When encouraging the need to thoroughly explore the environment for clues, the manual suggests, “Be patient, nobody will laugh at you, except me sometimes.”

Runaway 2 gives you the option of two install sizes: 2.6 GB for the base game and one chapter at a time, or 5.7 GB for the full game. I chose the latter and found the game installed from the DVD in about 10 minutes, without the initial 1% hang up some have reported. As an aside, I’m remembering one of my early PCs that had a 1.8 GB hard drive for everything. It doesn’t seem that long ago. How times and game requirements have changed!

As the section title indicates, Runaway 2 is completely mouse-controlled. Brian is presented in third-person fashion and moves throughout individual scenes looking for clues (hot spots), gathering inventory, talking with characters, using that inventory to solve problems. The manual advises that if you can collect it, it will be useful at some time. Each of the six chapters is self-contained, and there’s no need to go back again to visit, although that option is there. Inventory doesn’t carry over to the next section.  A left-click on an object brings up a description, while a right-click presents possible options, such as use, open, push. Moving the mouse to the top of the page brings down a menu or inventory tab. Saving can be done at any time.

Although the manual suggests your inventory may include a “miscellany of things worthy of a flea market,” I found that generally it wasn’t overly cluttered. Through direction from Brian, it’s typically clear what needs to be used, combined, etc. Perhaps one problem has to do with the occasional need to revisit the same location or conversation in order to find a clue not present the first time through. This was a major concern with Runaway 1 and still is a concern now, but less so than earlier.

“It’s Amazing What I Can Do Without Having a Clue What I’m Doing” —Brian

Well, Brian, I’m sorry, but sometimes this player didn’t have a clue and couldn’t do what needed to be done! In spite of the built-in “hand holding,” especially with tips from Brian, I found two gameplay areas that troubled me—obscure hot spots and obtuse puzzles. I don’t like to consult walkthroughs, but on several occasions I had to, either to make sure there was a hot spot around where I thought it should be but apparently wasn’t or, worse yet, racking my aged brain over the most obtuse and obscure puzzle without a hint of resolution. After the walkthrough consult on these several occasions, I typically didn’t feel “aha, why didn’t I see that,” but rather reacted with “that was really bizarre, how could they expect anyone to get that?”

Of course, “bizarre” is one of the descriptors one uses to describe The Dream of the Turtle. Fortunately, that term mostly applies to the story and characters. With cel-shaded graphics that are beefed up from Runaway 1, this update gives us extremely colorful and detailed locations all over and under the globe with a story line that is outrageous, silly, improbable and yet appealing. The characters are just as off-the-wall. The script is large, full of in jokes (some of which escaped me), with such goofy comments as, “this Capote puppy is the most popular urinating toy to come out in decades—all the rage in Europe.”  Generally, it works, in large measure because of the fine voice acting, good music and sound effects—all in very different locales.

“I’m in a Big Mess Again” —Brian

Not wanting to risk giving anything substantive away, I’m going to leave the review at this point. One potential spoiler I will mention, though, is that the conclusion is more like an ending to a serial, suggesting more to come. Even though the game took me 20+ hours, and I feel I got my money’s worth, this was still rather anticlimactic. We seem to running into this quite a bit lately, with my favorite adventure thus far in 2007, The Secret of Atlantis: The Sacred Legacy, also showing an indeterminate ending looking for a sequel. I’ll accept this with The Dream of the Turtle, as long as we don’t have to wait four more years for a follow-up!

Runaway 2 improves on its predecessor in every way.  It’s bigger, more colorful, even more wacky. Locations and characters are outlandish, as is the storyline. Obscure puzzles and hot spots, as well as occasional repetitiveness, still plague this release.  Yet those flaws become minor and are overwhelmed by the flash and style of this peculiar world. I found that, like a Mel Brooks comedy, I could only manage playing sessions in small doses, but I would still give The Dream of the Turtle a hearty recommendation, especially if you enjoyed Runaway 1.

What I Liked Most About the Game

  • Bizarre story with very diverse settings;
  • Gorgeous, detailed cartoon graphics;
  • Lovely art design;
  • Memorable characters;
  • Twenty-plus hours of gameplay;
  • A very fine manual.

What I Liked Least

  • Some puzzles and pixel hunts obscure and overly convoluted;
  • Almost too silly—both story and in-jokes;
  • Ending a bit of a letdown—sets up a sequel? The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Pendulo Studios Publisher: CDV Software Release Date: December 6, 2006 (Europe); March 12, 2007 (North America)

Available for: Windows

Four Fat Chicks Links

Player Feedback

Screenshots

Click to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlargeClick to enlarge Click to enlarge

System Requirements

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP P4 1.6 GHz 256 MB RAM 32 MB DirectX 9 video card 2x DVD-ROM drive 2.6 GB free hard disk space

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

Pages

Top

Category Archives

Top

Blog Posts

Top

17 Responses to First Impressions: Heavy Rain

  • Toger

    I hate QTEs, but Heavy Rain is sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to push the button. I don’t even own a PS3, but I plan on buying the game anyway. I do have a good friend who’ll let me play at his house. Of course, I’ll have to drive 100 miles, one way, through the snow to get to his house. His chat-happy birds will cheerfully chirp thereby completely disrupting any atmosphere, but I can play.

  • David

    What!?  Heavy Rain is full of QTEs?  I totally did not see that coming.

    The whole dad experience thing sounds intriguing.  I’m already getting odd looks from my girlfriend for exclaiming over cute kids on the bus or at the mall, something like what you described might send my biological clock over the edge.

  • Lewis B

    My sentiments exactly David!

    Mat has been playing the Heavy Rain demo for a while now, and although he admits he is intrigued by the story, he does constantly complain about the control method.

    R2 + Analogue stick to run? *scoff*

  • Gregg B

    @Lew: DEMO?! PS3 DEMO?! *runs off to PS3*

    That sounds like the Batman: Arkham Asylum controls – Crazy Bonkers Design. The sort of design that puts pull handles on push doors.

    @Steerpike: “I despise children. They are disgusting and annoying. They knock things over. They interfere with everything. They’re not useful until they’re at least 13, when you can get them to mow the lawn and stuff. But you can pay a service to do that for just a few hundred bucks a year and the service won’t vomit on you, shit in its diapers, grow up to resent you, or otherwise suck. Don’t flame me and don’t post comments to the contrary: kids are repulsive. Why anyone would want them is beyond my feeble imaginings.”

    HAHAhahaha- I er, – hahahaha – you’re as outspoken as me about demon spawn children.

  • Lewis B

    Yeah its been on the internet for weeks and weeks Greggi.  I think you have to do a couple of online puzzles etc to get the appropriate code or something.

    Search on Kotaku, they first ran with it IIRC.

  • Mat

    The puzzle code was for early access before it hit the PSN Store. It’s been available to all since last week.

    Regarding the demo, it took me around 3 or 4 attempts at it to appreciate it. First time around I couldn’t have been more dissapointed by it, but after the 3rd or 4th I decided I wanted to stick with it. I don’t think the demo is a particularly great example of what the game supposedly does best either – choice. I also HATE the control scheme and some of the voice acting is so wooden. Creating an immersive, realistic game is fine but having characters stumbling into tables and fridges because of the ham fisted controls, and listening to French voice actors impersonate Americans does remove that realism a little!

    Still, I rushed out to buy it this morning and will rush home from work to play it in about an hour!

  • xtal

    @ Toger: I don’t own a PS3 either, and it’s not like Heavy Rain seems to be “that” game which makes you run out and buy one– like Bioshock made me run out and get a 360– and it’s also not like this game looks groundbreaking in any way, because it really doesn’t. It’s just got me curious…and people tend to do crazy things the week after they get their yearly bonus. Soooooo yeah, who knows; maybe I’ll own a PS3 soon, but like hell I would admit that it was for Heavy Rain. Psh. I’d tell people it was because I wanted to watch BSG on blu-ray; though anyone who knows me would see right through that lie since I am an avid non-format-upgrader: I’ll switch my BSG collection from DVD to blu-ray the day I upgrade my copy of Jurassic Park from VHS to DVD. (Hint: never)

  • Toger

    @xtal: I’m in no hurry to upgrade my meagre DVD collection to blu-ray either, but I have to say the movies I’ve watched on my friend’s PS3 are absolutely stunning. Blade Runner was simply breath-taking in blu-ray and it made me want a PS3. I don’t think Heavy Rain will be a system seller for me, but I’m betting the game from the Ico team will.

  • xtal

    A game from the Ico team, you say? Hmmm. I’ve been making rounds on Kijiji and Craigslist looking for a copy of Ico (eBay prices are so shudder-inducing) for a few days now. I really need to play that game after my experience with the indescribable Shadow of the Colossus.

    It’s good to know they haven’t died some Interplay-esque death in the meantime.

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Nope, they’re a small team that works within Sony. Fumito Ueda is the lead and he’s got like ten or so people who’ve worked with him on all his games. Sony pretty much lets them do what they want.

    The Last Guardian is the game that’s coming up from them. It looks more like Ico and less like Shadow of the Colossus to me, which is to say it appears to be focused on platform elements. If I didn’t already have a PS3, it’d be the game that sells it.

  • Gregg B

    @Toger: Ooh, Blade Runner on Blu-ray, gorgeous in all its gorgeosity. In 5.1 it sounds incredible too.

    I bought my PS3 for Team Ico’s unnamed-at-the-time game, Heavy Rain (back when it was just a teaser), LittleBig Planet (yes, yes, I know), Dead Space and Motor Storm: Pacific Rift which sort of pushed me off the fence.

  • Toger

    Gregg, oh yes. The surround sound was spectacular. Did I mention my friend’s HDTV is 72″ (obscene, isn’t it)? It’s like being at a high-class theatre: better food, pauses for bathroom breaks and no one talking through the movie.

    Is Trine up on PSN, yet? If so, that might be my tipping point: Last Guardian, Heavy Rain and Trine.

  • Gregg B

    *spits tea out, despite not drinking any*

    O_O

    72″?! I’m speechless. I can only imagine how awesome that is. Size does matter.

    Not so sure about Trine… hang on. I think it is.

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    I think it is too, Toger. I’ll check.

    To be honest, though, I doubt you’d be disappointed with the purchase even if Trine’s not there yet. I’ve been way happier with my PS3 than with my 360. Demon’s Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted, Folklore, even little games like Flower – I’ve had more concentrated fun with the PS3 than with Microsoft’s console, which tends to gather dust for months between game releases.

    72″???? I thought size didn’t matter!

  • Toger

    Size doesn’t matter. 😀

    In my friend’s defense, it was a great deal: opened box, itty-bitty scratch on the case, not a dead pixel to be seen and it was less $$ than the 60″ he originally wanted.

    Thanks for checking guys. I’ve played a tiny bit of Uncharted, but I’m horrible at the combat. Flower intrigues me. As does Demon’s Souls, but I know that game will crush my soul.

  • Gregg B

    There were certain moments in Flower where it just totally succeeded in conveying a feeling that I can’t say I’ve had in many other games, usually when rushing across a field through the grass or through a canyon or just skimming a pond, but it was never anything to do with collecting bloody petals or fulfilling some rudimentary puzzle. I think my problem with it was that it felt like it was trying to be this deeply emotional piece but in the end there seemed to be too many concessions to being a game rather than just running with the emotive side of the experience. One thing I am sure about though, is the trophies. Don’t get me started on the fucking trophies…

    One of my favourite little games on the PS3 is Everyday Shooter. It’s got a brilliant soundtrack that suits its raw visual style and I love how each level requires a certain tactic or strategy to survive it. It’s a very satisfying game in small bursts.

  • Hanover

    Unfortunately Cage mucked up the ending yet again.  The problem is that the mechanic of the game forced them to have to cheat in order to prevent spoiling the mystery of the game.

    There is also a red herring that makes no sense and is obviously put there to misdirect the player.

    90% of the game is awesome, the last 10% while not as bad as the indigo prophecy, is still sloppy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.