The unarmed hero makes a second attempt at destroying the evil Mango in the sequel to Chris Unarmed. Is Old School Adventure a worthy return? Read on to find out.
Much like the original Chris Unarmed (read our review here), you must navigate the fiendishly designed rooms avoiding the many hazards, avoiding or killing enemies and performing basic puzzle solving to collect keys which unlock doors to progress through the game. This is not a game for the faint hearted, the difficulty is harder than Chris Unarmed and controllers will be thrown!
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The main difference in Old School Adventure is that the game now follows a more exploratory route. The original game was on the rails in design, where you would simply make it from one end of the room or level to the door and repeat. Old School Adventure is more open ended and will allow you to revisit rooms along your travels. It can sometimes be disorientating trying to remember what you should be doing or going to next and you can end up going around in circles to get back on track. I would have liked to have seen a way to show you where to go next.
There are a few power ups to collect which alter how you progress in the game. A suit of armour will protect you from spikes but it comes at the cost of weighing you down so you are unable to use wind currents. A pair of flying boots allow you to fly anywhere but you have no protection from spikes for example. It is here where the clever level design is shown. A room full of spikes that you previously had to float through via wind currents now becomes a platform like design if you are wearing the armour as they are now safe to walk on. There are many examples like this in the game and it is clear that some good thought has been put into the level design in the grand scheme of things.
As I mentioned earlier, the game can at times be very hard, almost to the point where you will throw the controller or rip out your hair. Some situations will require perfect timing and a bit of luck, while others will require some brainpower to work out just how the hell do you get past it. You do have infinite lives and a death will restart you back at the last door you exited. Some rooms are fairly large though and can contain a few tricky sections which all have to be passed before you reach a door, you will die a lot and it can become very frustrating.
The graphics have received a slight overhaul, the backgrounds are more detailed and suits the location you are in, previously they were Braid style backgrounds. The scenery now have some more detail, walls for example are now patterned instead of plain grey. The music and sounds are taken from the original game which is a bit of a let down. The music is an instrumental theme and works well enough as background music which does not grate too much.
Old School Adventure costs 80 :MSPoints: which I feel is great value for money. I can’t honestly say how long the game will take to complete as I have not finished it yet! I have been playing for a few hours and eventually got stuck, so for the sake of getting this review wrote I had to give up for the moment. If you enjoy a very challenging platform game then this will more than satisfy your needs. The less experienced platform gamer may want to take caution as the game may be more frustrating than fun for you.
You can find out more about Old School Adventure as well as download the trial and full version of the game on the Marketplace.
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