Retro Games Beaten
Jul 14, 2020 12:46:21 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2020 12:46:21 GMT -5
Secret Files: Tunguska [2006] and Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis [2008] for the PC
It should be no mystery to anyone that the very core of point 'n click adventure games even today still closely follows the blueprint first pioneered by giants such as LucasArts and Sierra. It should also be no mystery how soon after the 90s, gamers' interest in this genre often perceived too slow and unrewarding dwindled dramatically and many of the developer studios that had made a name for themselves thanks to their adventure games, soon had to redirect their efforts on different game genres or close down altogether.
Luckily, classic adventure games didn't disappear - far from it - and that was mostly thanks to the European market. Consequently, many smaller European developers stepped in to fill the void left by their American precursors. Germany definitely proved to be the most prolific country in the continent and the 00s saw a boom of adventure games being developed and coming out of there.
Secret Files aka Geheimakte was developed by German studios Fusionsphere Systems and is regarded as one of the best adventure series from around that time period. It often gets compared to Microïds's Syberia, another 'important' adventure game for another time...
The main character is Nina Kalenkova, a fiery redhead of Russian descent. She is often aided byMr. Perfect Max Gruber, her love interest. In the first game, their travels bring them to Siberia as well as many other locations such as Cuba and Ireland. The second game is mostly set on a cruise ship, Paris and Indonesia - there's also a new playable female character named Sam Peters (Nina's rival) who eventually got her own spin-off game.
I have issues with the tone these games are going for. They're clearly not as comical as something like Monkey Island, but they're also not quite as serious as an Indiana Jones or Laura Bow adventure. There even are fourth wall breaking jokes here and there. Besides that, the 'love story' between Max and Nina comes out of nowhere and is just about Max deciding immediately and out of the blue that she is 'the most beautiful woman he ever saw and he has to protect her or something'. Okay.
It's not just the love story, the writing altogether is weak, I never felt any sense of urgency or genuine interest towards what was at stake or what was going to happen to the characters. On the other hand, the puzzles were often well made and rarely felt too hard or too easy, but usually offered just the right challenge, so that the players feel like they achieved something without wasting too much time on any given puzzle. The interface is also brilliant - very effective and simple to use. Most importantly, you can highlight all interactable items around you, which is a godsend as far as I'm concerned. I can't be bothered to spend hours doing pixel hunting - and I'd rather drop a game rather than consulting a walkthrough, so ya know.
I can tell the designers knew what they were doing because I never got overwhelmed by an outrageous amount of items or new locations all at once, but I could always find my bearings and proceed methodically. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but they get the job done well - both games use the same engine, but in the second game occasionally the game zooms in on characters' faces for a more 'cinematic effect'. I see many players who played the game in English criticizing the voice actors. Well, I'm pretty sure the German voice acting is top of the line and I can confirm the Russian dub was quite good as well.
Well made puzzles and quality-of-life features I wish all adventure games had. Too bad for none of the characters being extremely memorable (Nina and Sam might be alright, Max is a charisma vacuum) and the writing being meh at best.
Covers:
My pics:
Unfortunately, Secret Files 3 and Secret Files: Sam Peters never received a full Russian localization - only subs - but I'd still like to play them in German eventually. If I can find them very cheap on GOG. In the meantime, I'll play something else.
It should be no mystery to anyone that the very core of point 'n click adventure games even today still closely follows the blueprint first pioneered by giants such as LucasArts and Sierra. It should also be no mystery how soon after the 90s, gamers' interest in this genre often perceived too slow and unrewarding dwindled dramatically and many of the developer studios that had made a name for themselves thanks to their adventure games, soon had to redirect their efforts on different game genres or close down altogether.
Luckily, classic adventure games didn't disappear - far from it - and that was mostly thanks to the European market. Consequently, many smaller European developers stepped in to fill the void left by their American precursors. Germany definitely proved to be the most prolific country in the continent and the 00s saw a boom of adventure games being developed and coming out of there.
Secret Files aka Geheimakte was developed by German studios Fusionsphere Systems and is regarded as one of the best adventure series from around that time period. It often gets compared to Microïds's Syberia, another 'important' adventure game for another time...
The main character is Nina Kalenkova, a fiery redhead of Russian descent. She is often aided by
I have issues with the tone these games are going for. They're clearly not as comical as something like Monkey Island, but they're also not quite as serious as an Indiana Jones or Laura Bow adventure. There even are fourth wall breaking jokes here and there. Besides that, the 'love story' between Max and Nina comes out of nowhere and is just about Max deciding immediately and out of the blue that she is 'the most beautiful woman he ever saw and he has to protect her or something'. Okay.
It's not just the love story, the writing altogether is weak, I never felt any sense of urgency or genuine interest towards what was at stake or what was going to happen to the characters. On the other hand, the puzzles were often well made and rarely felt too hard or too easy, but usually offered just the right challenge, so that the players feel like they achieved something without wasting too much time on any given puzzle. The interface is also brilliant - very effective and simple to use. Most importantly, you can highlight all interactable items around you, which is a godsend as far as I'm concerned. I can't be bothered to spend hours doing pixel hunting - and I'd rather drop a game rather than consulting a walkthrough, so ya know.
I can tell the designers knew what they were doing because I never got overwhelmed by an outrageous amount of items or new locations all at once, but I could always find my bearings and proceed methodically. The graphics are nothing to write home about, but they get the job done well - both games use the same engine, but in the second game occasionally the game zooms in on characters' faces for a more 'cinematic effect'. I see many players who played the game in English criticizing the voice actors. Well, I'm pretty sure the German voice acting is top of the line and I can confirm the Russian dub was quite good as well.
Well made puzzles and quality-of-life features I wish all adventure games had. Too bad for none of the characters being extremely memorable (Nina and Sam might be alright, Max is a charisma vacuum) and the writing being meh at best.
Covers:
My pics:
Unfortunately, Secret Files 3 and Secret Files: Sam Peters never received a full Russian localization - only subs - but I'd still like to play them in German eventually. If I can find them very cheap on GOG. In the meantime, I'll play something else.