The Secret of Retropolis
Disclaimer: I was given a copy for free as I was involved in the beta testing for the Steam version.
The game was successfully enjoyed with an Oculus Quest 2 headset and Airlink.
The Secret of Retropolis is a classic point & click adventure game in VR that puts you in the pants of a robot detective that is hired by a famous movie star to retrieve a stolen necklace. The story will evolve in unpredicted ways in the classic style of a film noir.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room, it’s a short experience and it will not require more than 1h30 for a first playthrough.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Noir Sci-fi Games.
Don’t call it outdated – it’s retro! Point and click adventures are back in the charming, tongue-in-cheek film noir “The Secret of Retropolis.”
The Good:
1. Art/Style – Put simply, Retropolis is a bundle of cel-shaded panache that feels like someone took all the best parts of the artistic styles of Metropolis, Futurama, and the classic LucasArts SCUMM engine point and clicks, brought to life in VR. The “film within a film” cutscenes are a particular standout in terms of presentation.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Flaskoman
This is an AMAZING plat former. Every level I beat I felt my brain grow bigger. The last level was crazy!
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Noir Adventure Games.
Nice game with nice graphics, takes about an hour. Of the negative aspects, I would like to note the lack of the ability to change controlls
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Athanasy
GENRES: VN, Adventure, Sci-fi, Horror, Biohorror, Biopunk.
PLAYTIME: 2-10 hours
SUMMARY:
DESCRIPTION:
Deep under the surface of the dead Earth, the last haven of humanity — the City — is teeming with life. A combined effort of engineering genius and all mankind’s endeavors, a giant structure made of steel, concrete, and biopolymers, keeps the remnants of civilization one step away from complete extinction.
Josiah Kaviani, a young mathematician and statistician, starts his journey in an underground maze of cramped streets. He is talented and intelligent, but he has one terrible drawback — his unbearable loneliness.
But soon Josiah will have a fateful encounter that will turn his whole life, and his worldview, upside-down. A meeting with someone — or, perhaps, something — that is hidden in such depths that even the cyclopean City cannot reach them. Something so hidden that the very knowledge of it can be deadly. Something truly monstrous.
FEATURES:
-
A well-written world with deep lore and terminology.
-
Complex, adult characters, each with their own motives, aspirations, and skeletons in the closet.
-
A variety of complex and difficult choices that might lead the story to an unexpected end at any time.
-
A dark and frightening science fiction story based on real study.
-
A variety of different routes and endings — realistic situations that end poorly or worse.
-
An atmospheric soundtrack specially written for the game — each track is inextricably linked with the narrative.
-
A lot of high-quality art.
-
Special art gallery where the player can check their progress.
-
Some of the author’s ideas were censored as to be found too dark and cruel…
-
…but most of them remained.
Read More: Best Noir Post-apocalyptic Games.
The Wickie
1936 and junior lighthouse keeper Bill Cromarty is sent to St Pandora’s Rock, 100 miles off the west coast of Scotland to help staff the lighthouse and learn the ropes from Captain Malin and his assistant lighthouse keeper.
Captain Malin will assign you your duties and it is up to you to complete them to the best of your abilities to keep the lighthouse running smoothly to prevent loss of shipping and life.
Nothing is as it would seem. Are you going to keep your head and do your work, or will you investigate what is happening on this large and fully explorable island?
Keep your sanity. Decide your face and the fate of everyone else in this fully 3d FPS adventure, taking place over 14 days. Will you go home, a job well done? Will you discover that there is so, so much more happening on the island?
NPC Characters are presented differently to the rest of the world to make them stand out, with a design style that stands apart from the rest of the game deliberately. The island has a full realistic weather system that can handle rain, snow and storms, water simulations, above and below water interactions, including swimming, and many different paths to follow, the game features professional voice acting and an enchanting period based musical score.
Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure
FINAL REVIEW: Well, I finally finished the game. And I must say that unfortunately neither the long post-Kickstarter development nor the playtime was worth the wait. Simply put, the story boils down to not much (HUGE SPOILER:
! a vague plot of aliens/gods messing with humans to create stories for their amusement), and the ending doesn’t give really satisfying answers, doesn’t use its source material particularly well, to the point of goofiness: (HUGE SPOILER:
! real Cthulu awakening just to rip apart a cheap imitation of himself, and going right back to sleep), and is mostly a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger without any particularly interesting thread to follow for a sequel.
– Real player with 13.8 hrs in game
Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure is a linear point & click game that takes you on a mostly-not-so-dark Lovecraftian adventure with what I would consider easy to moderate puzzles throughout. Where this game truly shines is the writing, the voice acting, the art, and the animation. It’s amazing that this is developed primarily by a small team of three people. Here, you are looking at a really high quality indie project that has been put together with the touches of love and passion on the part of the developers.
– Real player with 13.4 hrs in game
Primordia
Watching a good Science fiction movie was always a rare experience to have, even more so an original one….
Playing a good and original Science fiction game….that’s even less probable, it feels like finding a very special treasure.
Good words have been around for Primordia since it came out in 2012 (I’m now playing it for the first time in 2017) and i can say it’s all pretty much justified.
The game has a good story, with interesting characters, both main and secondary ones. It has an interesting beginning, a well handled middle and an ending ( and a pretty good one at that, although that depends on which ending you get).
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
Bought in a bundle without knowing much about it except it’s published by Wadjet Eye Games and another game in the bundle was Gemini Rue (which by body required at the time). I stuck gold because what we have here is a high quality four-man (+Dave as producer / voice caster) point & click adventure game with gorgeous 320x200 graphic.
Story is set in post apocalyptic, distant future cyberpunk world which is a rich environment for imaginative locations, story, characters. You name it. Overall story is pretty solid and will satisfy even the most seasoned adventure players.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game