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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Return to Mysterious Island (PC, 2005)


This is a point & click adventure game where you're fixed to one spot but can rotate in 360º. You play Mina who gets stranded on what she finds out is the island from Jules Verne's book Mysterious Island (one of my favourites), while she was sailing around the world. For fans of the author, you'll find a lot of tips of the hat to not only this book, but also others of his books. Here, however, there's not really a story. You have to somehow survive and you have to pace yourself through objectives. First you'll need to find shelter, eat, etc as you gradually uncover the island's secrets. In the end, you'll have access to a span of locations around the island and that definitely feels like an achievement. The gameplay, while also using some classic puzzles (especially in the later sections) relies heavily on getting and combining items. This works exceedingly well in this type of scenario in which you have to "MacGyver" yourself out of situations over and over. The solutions are always logical and for most of them, various combinations of objects can be used for the same effect. There are some cutscenes which are presented in beautiful drawn stills but are mostly circumstancial.
The game is only let down by a slight futuristic twist at the end and by the main character, who is far to upbeat and happy go lucky in what should have been a far more distressing experience. Maybe this was intended as a reflection of the book but there's something a bit different between a teenager from the 2000s lost on an island and a bunch of rugged men from the 1900s in the same situation...
Overall, a great experience, and a true delight for inventory-puzzle fans.

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