Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Nelson Tethers; Puzzle Agent... THE REVIEW!

Here's a riddle for you. What do you get when you cross a ton of brain perplexing puzzles, a pack of mischievous garden gnomes, a new heap of characters to love, and the joy of a Telltale game? Why, you get Nelson Tethers; Puzzle Agent o'course!

That's right! Telltale Games is expanding it's titles. With the announcement of Tales of Monkey Island we all got excited about a new Telltale game. (Well, I did anyway. And Monkey Island no less.) But they have never made a totally original game, excluding Telltale Texas Hold'em as I think we all believe that doesn't count. But when I heard Graham Annable and Telltale Games were teaming up to make a new, totally one-of-a-kind, game featuring Annable's "Hidden People," I knew we were on the road for amazing. But enough with the boring talk. I know what you've all been waiting for. My opinion! So without further delay, let's begin.

I have to split Puzzle Agents into three different scoring categories; graphics, characters, and puzzles. I have included graphics in this list because even though they're not really that important to me, I just love Graham Annable's style, and how this game looks. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, and I believe that this one really shows what I love about this games looks, I'll let you take a look.

The text-boxes, the characters, the pure sketchiness of it... I just adore it. The characters are all drawn so simply, but with a hidden complexity and emotion. For you who don't know Graham Annable, you must visit his YouTube channel. (My personal favourite is "Sasquatch." I have always been a sucker for a games that don't go for the "real world" look, but also don't just look like crap. Nelson Tethers hits the nail square on the head. So I proudly give this games graphics a... (drum roll) 9.5/10!

Next, the characters. Right off the bat you meet Nelson Tethers, an agent for the Puzzle department of the FBI. And then you meet the astronaut. Why? Because every good game deserves an astronaut, that's why!

I like to feel for the characters, another reason why I love Telltale Games and Pixar movies. I like to be connected with them, share their emotions, be a little freaked out when the man on the phone says we're going to...

Then we meet the other characters. With Bjorn and Bo, and Glori and Sheriff Bahg, it won't take long for these people to start screwing with your mind. Who's guilty, who's crazy, who knows anything... Just when you think this mystery can't get any, well, mysterious, enter the Hidden People.

Yes, the Hidden People. The true secret of Scoggins. Another character you can't help but connect with. Are they evil or are the good? The world may never know. But one thing is for certain... They can be so gosh-darned adorable. So in the world of Scoggins, the characters earn themselves a nice 8/10.

And lastly, the reason you should buy the game, the puzzles. Before you can even move in the game, you are hit with a puzzle. Nelson, startled by the previously mentioned astronaut, tears apart his crossword. But did the astronaut write something on it? Piece it together to find out. This puzzle is fairly easy, as are the next few following ones, as the beginning of any game should be. But they quickly grow harder. Every puzzle has four parts.

The challenge...

The actual puzzle...

The verdict...

And the evaluation...

Now at the beginning, you may laugh at the notion of hints, as the puzzles start out very easy, but soon you may find yourself needing them. The puzzles are brilliant and many of them will keep you guessing. The only problem I had with them were that they were either really easy, or pretty hard, making my evaluations either "Top Agent" or "Borderline." For this reason, and this reason only, I give the puzzles a 8/10.

The Final Score*:

Graphics: 9.5/10

Characters: 8/10

Puzzles: 8/10

Overall**: 9/10

Buy-

Borrow-

Ignore-

*The Final Score is based of the ratings chosen at the beginning of the review

** The Overall score is not an average of the three previous scores. It brings into effect the average of these scores, plus other features of the game not mentioned.

Games, Gold, and Glory is not affiliated with Telltale Games, Graham Annable, nor Pixar Studios in any way, shape, or form.

3 comments:

  1. I don't know how I missed this game...but your review has me all excited. Nice write-up!

    Twitter: @m3talst0rm

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  2. I wasn't sure what to make of this game when it was announced, but after reading your review I have a much better understanding. It's Professor Layton. On acid. And it sounds like it's right up my alley.

    I'm assuming this is a review of the PC version and not the WiiWare version?

    Twitter: @eugaet_aux

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  3. @Eugeat: PC Version is being reviewed. WiiWare version should be available within 2 or 3 weeks.

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