The best PC game I've played in a while (Secret Files: Tunguska (PC))

Member Name: welshfruitbat

Product:	Secret Files: Tunguska (PC)
Date:	08/01/07 (253 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good storyline, great graphics

Disadvantages: None, unless of course you count finishing it

BACKGROUND

I bought this game for myself, to give me something to do during the day, whilst I’m off work with my back. It’s taken me a while to finish because I’ve had to limit the amount of time I can play it in one session.

I bought it at Play.com for £12.99


PRODUCT

Tunguska – Secret Files is produced by Deep Silver, which is a division of Koch Media GmbH, Austria. The game is a PC DVD ROM and has a certificate of 12. There are no violent scenes, but there is the occasional use of language, hence the age certificate.

The minimum system requirements to run this game are;

Windows 2000/XP
128MB RAM
Intel Pentium II 500MHz (or AMD® equivalent) Processor
16MB DirectX 9 compatible video card


The recommended system requirements to run this game are;

Windows XP
256MB RAM
Intel Pentium IV 1GHz (or AMD® equivalent) Processor
64MB DirectX 9 compatible video card


Also required are;

2.0GB free disk space
DirectX 9 compatible soundcard
DVD-ROM
Mouse


THE PLOT

In 1908 there was a dreadful explosion in the region of Tunguska, situated in Central Siberia. Apparently the explosion had the combined energy of 2000 Hiroshima bombs. The explosion was heard as far away as 1000km. It felled over 6,000 square km of trees.

People claimed that they saw a long object fall from the sky and that a 20km high column of light was preceded by a black mushroom cloud.

Afterwards Vladimir Kalenkov went out to Tunguska to do some scientific research on the object. He published the Kalenkov report, but was stopped from doing any further research.

Now fast forward a number of years to where the game actually starts. Vladimir now lives in Berlin and works in a museum. He has a daughter called Nina. Unfortunately Vladimir’s wife was killed in a tragic traffic accident, so now it’s just him and Nina.

Nina has arranged to meet her father in his office at the museum. She turns up at his office and finds it empty, but in complete chaos – books over the floor, things smashed, filing cabinets emptied. Now Nina knows that her father is a bit untidy, but not even he could create this much mess.

She leaves her dads office and goes into the office next door, which is occupied by Max, a colleague of her fathers. He tells Nina to go home and wait for her dad and he will help her look for him.

Nina goes to her father’s house and this too has been ransacked. Concerned, she telephones the police, but they seem reluctant to help.

What has happened to Nina’s father?
Has he been kidnapped?
Is he dead?
Does it have anything to do with what happened in Tunguska?


THE GAME

This game is your classic ‘point and click’ adventure game, with a number of puzzles thrown in for good measure.

You don’t use the keyboard at all to play this game – everything you need to do can be done entirely with the mouse, which I think is good. I find there is nothing worse than playing an adventure game where you use the mouse and have to keep referring back to the manual as you are also required to use half the keyboard and can’t remember which button does what.

What I also like is that the game is not based in one location. I find that games can get a bit boring sometimes if they are based in one location and you find yourself stuck on what to do next. Wandering around and around the same location if you are stuck can be really off putting.

Some of the locations visited during this game are; Berlin, Moscow, Siberia, Tunguska, Cuba, Ireland and the Himalayas. You also don’t just complete one location and then move onto the next and then the next. You do a certain amount in one location, move to a different one and then move back again. Another nice touch is that they alter the weather for each location – for example; Cuba – sunshine, Ireland – ran and Siberia – snow. It’s just a little something that adds to the level of enjoyment.

Another part of this game I like is that they occasionally give you the option to play as another character, which takes you to a different location with a different inventory.

The game play itself is extremely smooth. You click on somewhere for your character to move to and it happens straight away. Likewise with wanting to use an object – you select to use it and it happens immediately. When you click to move to a new location it literally takes two seconds.


GRAPHICS

The graphics are amazing. A great deal of attention has been given to detail, from the shadows cast by the characters to the way the sunlight creates patterns on the ground. Even the leaves on the palm trees look realistic. You can actually forget that you were playing a game, and not watching a television programme.

You can find sometimes that many games pay attention to the main section of graphics and leave the background as being blurry. This game has given equal attention to both foreground and background graphics.


CHARACTERS

You get to meet a great variety of characters throughout this, and have to interact with certain ones to proceed further in the game.

The characters are very well defined and each has their own individual personality.

There are too many characters to name individually, but I consider the following three to be the main ones;

Nina – The ‘star’ of the game. It is her father who has disappeared and she is desperate to find him.

Max – Works with Nina’s father in the museum and has an office next door to him.

Oleg – Knew Nina’s father in the past and is trying to help find him now.


SOUND

The sound is excellent, purely because there is none! What I mean is that the only sound you have is background noise. I find that some games which continuously has music playing very annoying. I think that it can drown out what is being said and make you miss valuable clues.

I liked this game because it only had background noise. For example one of the locations you visit is a beach. In the background you can hear the sea lapping against the shore and the occasional sound of seagulls.

The only time there is music continuously playing is when you go into the main menu. There is a wonderful piece of orchestral music playing, which is fantastic.

I think that it was a good idea to keep this piece of music to being played just in the menu screen, otherwise it would have been too much if it was played throughout.


SCREEN LAYOUT

The majority of the screen is where you view the game, apart from about an inch wide band that runs across the bottom of the screen, which is your inventory and menu bar. I thought that this was a very good way to manage this, as you can keep an eye on your game whilst examining objects in your inventory. This is so much better than other games in which you have to press a button to go to a completely screen to see what you are carrying, or the drop down menu which then blocks your view of the game.

You can examine all the items in you inventory bar, and select what you want to use, combine etc. On the right hand side of the bar are the icons to use to proceed through the game. These icons are;

Computer – This takes you to your main menu, where you can save, load, continue or end the game. You can also go into the options menu from here and increase the music, sound, turn shadows and subtitles on or off, change the video quality to low or high and select game help to on or off.

Magnifying glass – This will only work if you have game help switched on. If you click on this it briefly puts a magnifying glass on objects you can examine or interact with. It also briefly puts a red arrow on any exits. I found this very useful because sometimes I might miss an object that I needed to pick up and couldn’t see. If I got stuck, I would use this and it would show me anything that I might have missed.

Diary – Clicking on this allows you to read through any important information such as documents that you have picked up along the way. You will hear a sound like a typewriter being used when anything is added to the diary. I found this useful because I could re examine documents I had picked up to find clues. There is a section at the back of the diary called ‘riddle clues’. Throughout the games you have puzzles to complete. If you get stuck with these, you can look in the riddle clues section and it will give you some hints on solving the puzzle. I loved this idea. I find with many games I get stuck on some of the puzzles and end up looking on the internet to find out how to solve it, which spoils the fun. What I liked about riddle clues was that it didn’t give you the solution, just pointed you in the right direction.

Occasionally under these three icons another one will appear. This will give you the option of playing as either Max or Nina. Sometimes only one of them can do certain things and this gives you option to toggle between the two.


HOW YOU PLAY

You control a blue arrow with your mouse and move it around the screen. When it moves over something you can examine, it changes to a computer mouse icon, with the right buttoned coloured green, with an eye next to it. Whilst examining, the mouse icons stays with the right button highlighted, but the eye changes to two arrows. Pressing the right mouse here allows you to skip through what is being said. This is useful if you have already examined something before, but if it’s the first time then you need to listen to what is being said, otherwise you could miss something important.

As you move the cursor around the screen, the mouse icon also comes up with both buttons highlighted, with an eye by the right hand a hand by the left. This means that as well as examining an object, you can pick it up, use it, or interact with another character.

Sometimes just the left button is highlighted with a hand. This means that you can exit your current location this way.

When interacting with characters you can ask questions about specific things. To do this you simply click on the pictures that have appeared in your inventory. When the conversation has finished you click on the red arrow.

To examine items in your inventory just move the cursor over it and the right mouse button allows you to examine it. I recommend you do this as sometimes the object you have picked up is just a cover for something else. The left mouse button allows you to use the selected item. Simply click and it will ‘stick’ to your cursor. If there is nowhere for you to use it, the right mouse button will be highlighted green, with an arrow next to it. Clicking the button puts the item back in your inventory. If you can use it the left mouse button becomes highlighted.

Another thing which I think is a nice touch is the objects can be used more than once, so you need to pick an item back up once you have used it. A little bit sneaky this is, but it adds to the enjoyment of the game.


MY OPINION

This in short is a brilliant game. It has to be the best game I’ve played for quite a while. I’ve played a lot of point and click games and this one is my favourite to date.

The graphics are superb. There is no flickering in the movement as you guide your character around. The objects that you pick up are very well defined. There is no looking at them, trying to work out what it’s supposed to be. The background is even well defined. You find that some games don’t worry about the background too much as long as the main parts are ok. This game worries about everything looking excellent and this shows through when you play it. Clicking to move to a new location happens extremely quickly.

You could forget that this is only a game and not real television. They have even added in a series of outtakes at the end of the games, to add to the illusion that this is more than a game.

Even though there is no background music being played constantly throughout the game, it is a good thing. This game works better by having just background sounds, such as lightening. The silence helps you to concentrate and think about the puzzles, while also ensuring that you don’t miss anything that is said.

The fact that they have designed the game so that it is controlled purely by the mouse is great and easy to understand. There is no fiddling around looking at the manual to try and remember what keys to press.

The screen layout works well with the fact that you can constantly see what items you have in your inventory.

The puzzles are good. They get you thinking, but are solvable if you sit down and think about it. The riddle clues section is an added bonus and I did use it for one of the puzzles.

The plot really flies along, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested. It draws you in and you really end up not knowing who to trust.

To be honest I’m trying really hard to think of something bad to say about this game, but I cannot think of a single thing. I did feel genuinely disappointed when I finished this game that there was nothing left for me to do.


WOULD I RECOMMEND

Most definitely yes. It is a fabulous game and one that I would be more than happy to play again.


Thanks for taking the time to read my review, Cath. xx

Summary: A brilliant point and click game