Nathan's Second Chance - another gem of a freeware adventure game (freeware game review #9)
Jan 14 '06 (Updated Sep 18 '07)
The Bottom Line If you like adventure games and warped humour, you'll love this.
”What do you expect when you die? Shining light? Booming voice? Rotting slowly in the ground? You probably don't expect to be greeted by a grouchy old crone in a flying yellow bus, but then, neither does Nathan.”
That’s how the game starts for you, as Nathan – walk out of the door, have a heart attack, and die… to be greeted by this flying yellow bus and taken to some sort of research post in deep space…
When there you find out why you’ve been taken to… well, not the afterlife, exactly. You see, you’re going to be getting a second chance… a chance to sort your life out, basically. Reconcile with your daughter mainly… which may not be easy. With information from a slide-show and a little help from your friends, however, you may just be able to pull it off…
What we have here is a traditional point and click adventure, and a well executed one it is. However, what I really liked about this game was the surreal, slightly warped humour that came from both the characters and dialogue, along with the fact that this is a game with a heart. The author, Tim Knauf, has done a great job with that and also in making sure there is plenty of variety in the type of puzzles to be solved, without any of them being real stumpers. All in all this is a great little game for anyone who enjoys adventure games, while serving as a perfect introduction to the genre for anyone unused to them
The game is of course freeware but I really do ask that if you play the game and enjoy it, you email the author (address on his website mentioned below). I’m hoping that if he gets enough response, he’ll write another! :-D
Final Ratings
Graphics: 8/10 – very colourful and stylistic hand-drawn graphics with some nice animated touches to.
Sound: 6/10 – some good quality sound effects but sadly no music or speech (maybe an idea for an update, Tim? :-D) Actually there is some great music but only after you’ve completed the game. (You can be cheeky and listen to it without completing or even playing the game - http://www.upperorbit.com/nathan/media/title.mp3) He didn’t want to include cheesy MIDI music, which is why there’s nothing in-game, which I can understand. (Still seemed a bit silent though while playing the game…)
Update 16.01.06 - oops, my mistake... there is music in the intro sequence as well (which comes slightly after you've started the game) and a couple of other places in the game, so this category is now rated 7/10.
Playability: 8/10 – easy to use interface that does what you need with the minimum of fuss.
Longevity: 7/10 – a decent-length game, over far too shortly, but that’s largely because it’s so enjoyable in the first place!
Replay Value: 8/10 – the warped humour and short length make for a game you’ll come back to after a while.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 – (7 just seemed too low for a game I enjoyed as much as I did this!) With some decent music and a but longer gameplay this would have been a real cracker. A speech pack would have made it almost perfect.
Download Size: - 7.0Mb
Where to get it: - http://www.upperorbit.com/nathan/
System Requirements
Nothing special.
Thanks for reading,
Dave
Copyright 2006 Dave Seaman
Please feel free to link to this article. If you wish to quote from it, please feel free but I would appreciate it if you also include a link.
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See CaptainD’s Freeware Game Digest #1 & Index for more freeware game reviews.
See also:Top Ten Freeware Graphical Adventure Games (This game was written with the SLUDGE game engine, created by Tim Furnish, who used it to make my joint no.1 game on that list, Out of Order. Visit http://www.hungrysoftware.com/ for more info.)
The Monkey Island Series
The Monkey Island Archives (MI1-3)
Escape From Monkey Island (MI4)
Also by LucasArts
Grim Fandango
The Dig
See also: My Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games (September 2007 Edition)
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