When there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, there’s only ever been one team to call. Well move on over Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, there’s a new kid on the block who dismembers the occult with a sharp wit, solves cases with a jar of laxatives and attacks tentacle monsters with a plunger - Detective Francis McQueen.
The opening scene of Burly Men at Sea is brilliant, setting the tone of the entire game. As the title screen popped up, I waited rather impatiently for the game to start. After around half-a-minute, I began to think that the game had frozen. A rather inauspicious start, I mused to myself. Frustrated, I swiped at the iPad screen. Surprisingly, the screen reacted to my touch, revealing something hidden on the right. Holding my finger down, the screen began to expand until the path forward was revealed. And so, my seafaring adventure had begun...
Venture Moon Studios has announced that its Monkey Island-inspired swashbuckling adventure Duke Grabowski will be hitting Steam on October 6. The news will undoubtedly be met with joy from fans, with the successful Kickstarter project initially to have been delivered a year earlier. For more information on this promising pirate adventure, you can read our Preview of Duke Grabowski which also made our recent Top 10 Upcoming Adventure Games.
However, there is one final kick in the pants for some Kickstarter backers. Due to restrictions imposed by publisher Alliance Game Studios, a DRM-free version of the game will no longer be offered. The developer is hoping to set something up later on GOG or Humble Bundle, but are unable to make any promises at this time.
This decision has kicked the proverbial hornets’ nest on the Duke Grabowski Kickstarter page. A number of backers have already demanded refunds, stating that they only backed the project on the premise that they would be receiving a DRM-free version. Fortunately, Venture Moon Studios is extending an olive branch to these backers promising that it will gladly refund any pledges. Nonetheless, this will undoubtedly leave a bitter aftertaste for those backers who have been patiently waiting several years for the game to be delivered. That being said, Venture Moon Studios is doing a better job of managing the fallout from this issue than Comcept has on the mismanaged Mighty Number 9 Kickstarter project.
Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler! will hit PC (Steam-only) on October 6.
Writer:
Stephen Mitchell
In great news for fans of point-and-click adventure games, SkyGoblin has announced that its afro-noir inspired title – The Journey Down – will be making its way to Xbox One and PS4. SkyGobin is currently busily working away on the third and final chapter in the trilogy, originally funded on Kickstarter, slated to come out in early-to-mid 2017 for PC, Mac and Linux. However, in a post for backers, SkyGoblin broke the news that it has tapped specialised porting studio Blitworks to also bring all three games in the trilogy to consoles. Blitworks has previously ported other indie darling titles including Fez and Spelunky. No release date has yet been given for consoles.
In other news, SkyGoblin noted that work on the The Journey Down: Chapter Three is progressing well. The casting is almost complete, several characters are now fully voiced and most of Bwana’s speech has been recorded and implemented. Having payed the first two games in the series, we can’t wait to get our hands on the third and final chapter, awarding it a place in our Top 10 Up Upcoming Adventure Games.
Writer:
Stephen Mitchell
The fast paced and ever changing nature of the gaming industry means it can be pretty easy to overlook quality titles on the horizon. Throw into the mix the sheer quantity of games released every year and a serious lack of time to even make a dent in your pile of shame, it's no wonder not all games get the attention they deserve.
Here at Grab It, we're quite fond of adventure titles. Enough so that we've put together a list of our top 10 most anticipated adventure games coming out in the near future. Many of these titles may have flown under your radar, especially as they come from smaller indie developers. But that shouldn't scare you off because the quality of these games is shaping up to be on par with anything you might have played. Like all things in life, keep an open mind and you might just be surprised at how much you enjoy yourself.
Without further ado, here are our top 10 adventure game "diamonds in the rough" to be on the look out for.
Land lubbers, rejoice! After reporting on upcoming folktale adventure Burly Men At Sea for nigh two years, this hugely promising indie darling is finally being released on September 29 for PC, Mac, iOS and Android. This is no simple feat either, with devs Brain&Brain running into numerous problems during development. We have incredibly high hopes for Burly Men, especially after the absolutely charming success of Brain&Brain's first outing Doggins (read our review).
To celebrate the announcement of the release date, the devs have released a new trailer which you can see below.
Finally, you can catch up on what Burly Men is all about by reading our previous coverage including an overview and interview with the developers.
Writer:
Stephen Mitchell
It's no secret that we're pretty big fans of indie dev Brain&Brain, heaping copious amounts of praise upon its previous adventure title, the lovable Doggins. If you've been following us for some time, you might also have noticed that we've been covering Brain&Brain's upcoming title, Burly Men At Sea, for over a year now (you can read our previous stories below).
The last time we pumped out a story, the news wasn't so good with the devs hitting a rather unpleasant financial snag. But that seems to be all in the past now, with work progressing well. In celebration, Brain&Brain have released a new trailer for Burly Men, which sets the scene for the intriguing folktale adventure we'll be setting out on. You can check it out below.
Burly Men At Sea will release in 2016 on PC and mobile platforms.
Previous coverage:
- Work On Folklore Adventure Burly Men At Sea Is Progressing But Hits Major Snag
- Interview: Doggins Creator Brain&Brain Talks Burly Men At Sea
- Folktale Adventure Burly Men At Sea Is Coming
Writer:
Stephen Mitchell
This review is of the iOS version - which released on February 18, 2016 - but the game is also out on PC.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And so it must be with a fitting and touching conclusion to the Blackwell series. Over the course of five games, we've followed Rosa and Joey (quite literally) to hell and back. So to have their story finally wrapped up left me feeling conflicted in the best way possible.
Let’s get this out of the way; Dropsy freaks the hell out of me. For the life of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being slowly tortured by a retro-inspired nightmare. The colour palate alone evokes the same effect as someone dragging their fingernails down a chalkboard. Indeed, the game made me realise I probably have a touch of coulrophobia. But putting my insecurities aside, Dropsy is one very good game that adventure fans should play. Just don’t send me your psychologist bill.
What is it about clowns that evoke such a sense of unease? Psychologist Sigmund Freud might say that clowns embody the notion of the “uncanny,” that feeling of when you look at something or someone and it’s not quite right. The thing in question is often recognisable, but just different enough to be disconcerting. By all accounts, this is the pretext underlying Dropsy - a slightly rotund clown with a garish yellow-toothed smile, ghostly pale make-up, and an eclectic outfit that wouldn’t be out of place in the 1980s. Based on appearances only, this is not the sort of clown you’d invite to perform at children’s parties. Or associate with. Ever.
