Preview Runaway 2 Developer: Pendulo Studios Publisher: dtp (Germany) Genre: Adventure Release Date: September 2006 Platform: Preview by Ugur Sener July 18, 2006

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This preview is presented courtesy of Ugur Sener and originally appeared on The Adventure Lantern, the internet's premier adventure magazine.

Sometimes the smallest thing can change a person's life. Brian was about to set out for college at Berkeley University when he realized he was missing a book. He could either pick up the book from the store himself or have it delivered to him at Berkeley. Brian chose to take the detour and pick up the book. It was a simple decision that forever changed his life.

On his trip to the bookstore, Brian hit a woman with his car. Upon taking Gina to the hospital, Brian found himself at the center of wild adventure. Running away from mobsters, Brian and Gina traveled across the country as they unraveled the secrets of a mysterious artifact. With its colorful characters, entertaining locations, beautiful cartoon graphics, and classic point-and-click gameplay, Runaway: A Road Adventure became a highly successful adventure game.

Now, Brian and Gina are back with Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle. We rejoin the duo onboard a hydroplane over the small, but beautiful island of Mala. The sky is clear, the waters below look pristine. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem. The plane is about to crash! In a desperate attempt to reach the island, Gina and Brian abandon the plane. With any luck, they should drift across the sky with their parachutes and land safely land on the island. Of course things can never be quite so easy. Brian is about to embark on a brand new adventure that will have him traveling all over the world.

With Runaway 2, Pendulo Studios intends to bring back the cartoon like graphics and the humorous style of the original game. Players can also look forward to returning characters, a brand new intriguing storyline, and a soundtrack that is expected to rival the quality of the one from the first game. In a very real way, Pendulo Studios is attempting to recapture the spirit of Runaway: A Road Adventure with all the elements that made the game so charming and popular. But don’t think the sequel is nothing more than a rehash of the original game.

While staying true to the style and theme of the first game, Pendulo Studios intends to deliver a better game in every aspect with Runaway 2. Notable improvements have been made to deliver a superior game engine. As noted on the game’s official Web site, Runaway 2 features “dynamic lighting, atmospheric effects, real-time camera changes, and hundreds of animations.” Players can expect lively environments brought to life with rich detail and variety of special effects. If you liked the cartoon like appearance and fairly detailed environments of the first game, you can expect to find the presentation of the sequel most pleasing. Judging by the available screenshots and the teaser trailer you can find on the Runaway 2 Web site, the 3D characters have been nicely blended with the backgrounds. The cartoon feel seems to have been maintained while still creating an immersive environment.

The scale of the adventure will be much bigger this time around. Where the first game had Brian and Gina exploring the United States, Runaway 2 takes players to a variety of locations around the globe. You will go from the sunny shores of Hawaii all the way up to Alaska and even further. The game features over hundred locations, which will hopefully be more than enough to keep players busy.

Runaway 2 features over thirty 3D characters. The main characters Brian and Gina are of course back for the second adventure. But since the first game Brian seems to have taken a more rugged look. Other noteworthy returning characters include Joshua and Sushi. It should be great to see what Joshua what kind of experiments regarding extraterrestrials Joshua will be conducting this time around. It should be safe to assume that the supreme computer guru Sushi will hack into quite a few systems before the end of the adventure. No network is safe whenever Sushi is around a device that can process binary data.

Among the new characters, the former movie star current waitress Lokelani seems to be out to rival Gina with her attractive looks. Players will also have to deal with the trouble-maker Koala and the intimidating Colonel Kordsmeier. Judging by the information currently available, Runaway 2 seems to have a great cast of colorful and quirky characters. It should be great to see what kind of hoops Brian will have to jump through to get anything done this time around.

The Runaway 2 Web site points out that players should expect a solid number of puzzles in the second game. A variety of challenges have been prepared to keep players occupied through the course of the adventure. However, according to the Web site, “Pendulo Studios has also taken care that nobody will get stuck for too long in certain game passages.” The developers seem to make Runaway 2 accessible to players with varying levels of adventure gaming experience. Carefully surveying the environments and paying attention to the conversations should be enough to overcome the game’s challenges. The overall difficulty level should be comparable to that of the original game.

Overall, Runaway 2 from Pendulo Studios looks quite promising. Players should have a great opportunity to go on another wild adventure with Brian and Gina. With its cartoon like graphics, interesting characters, variety of locations, and lighthearted humorous tone, Runaway 2 could easily deliver a highly entertaining adventure gaming experience. While waiting for the game’s release, you can take a look at the official Runaway 2 Web site for additional information.