Blackwell Deception

"Fans of the genre might want to keep their peepers peeped."

Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Release Date: October 12, 2011
Platform(s): PC
Genre: Adventure

 

 

Wadjet Eye Games like the classic gaming era some of you weren’t born to witness. Back when point and click was so cool it would get you tail (Rat’s Tail), Sierra and LucasArts ruled PC gaming on machines our wrist watches can surpass now. You might remember Wadjet Eye from releasing a similar classic, Gemini Rue, early this year. Now there was a revival effort done right. But it seems that the small independent is doing these types of adventures on a regular basis. As such, Blackwell Deception (presented in-game as The Blackwell Deception) is already the fourth in the franchise of pixel art puzzling.

 

 

The series follow a young female named Rosa Blackwell, whom gets accompanied by a hatted ghost detective named Joey Mallone. And by ‘ghost detective’ we mean ol’ stereotype Joey is dead, see? Anyway, the not-so-dynamic duo goes around the seedy pixel boulevards of the big city and solves mysteries, which usually links them to the dead, as Rosa attracts them unwillingly. Blended with smooth saxophone tunes, Wadjet Eye again creates the perfect whodunit vibe, straight out of your grandma’s VHS closet. VHS were like DVDs, except they were made of tape and broke a lot and were as big as a book.

The game itself unfolds in true point and click style. Not even dry from the previous adventure, Rosa gets a call from an old acquaintance, who wants her help on some journalism work. They meet up, only to discover something is horribly amiss and combined with finding out what the journalist was investigating; Rosa must also uncover what’s behind his own predicament. The rabbit hole goes down from there, but it’s self-explanatory that many puzzles will need to be uncovered, cases cracked and so on.

 

Classic adventures have always had this type of witty slapstick humor.

 

A phone keeps tabs of all characters and locations and gets presented in more modern, hand-drawn visual style, as do the conversation panels. A classic choice-based conversation tab leads the mystery on, as Rosa tries to uncover the grand scheme. But the interesting part in this series is the character interaction between Rosa and her dead friend. As one is ethereal, Joey can pass through certain areas undetected, where Rosa can’t. If she’s denied access, Joey can ghost his way inside and scope the place, though he naturally can’t touch nor manipulate his environment, other than a ghostly gust of wind. Additionally, the two can retreat to Rosa’s place to discuss their further actions or chat about to get their heads straight. It’s a really quirky but fun dynamic that brings new flavor to an otherwise traditional sleuthing endeavor. Furthermore, as some characters can see Joey and some can’t, it creates an additional world, within the regular world. It’s like Link when he passes to the dark world, but at all times.

 

I hate that last level from Super Smash Bros Melee.

 

By looking for objects, clues and the likes, the two will have to uncover why dead people keep popping up in their vicinity and the demo already hints at some betrayal, hence the ‘deception’ subtitle. The game promises to uncover all underlying mysteries as the duo rummages through New York City in this old-fashioned adventure for the new age. Blackwell Deception is planned to come out on October 12, 2011 as a PC digital exclusive for $14.99 or $24.99 in limited DVD preorder offer. Fans of the genre might want to keep their peepers peeped.

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Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)