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| 26 SEP 2006 at 11:35am |
skybluerobIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 10
Joined: 25 SEP 2006
Status : Offline | A few months ago I played Shady Brook and I thought I’d write a review about it.
Briefly, and without giving anything away, you are Jake Tolbin, a writer who decides to get away from it all with his blind father to the small middle American town of Shady Brook.
That simple premise is a fantastic starting point for the game, as the story slowly reveals itself as you play the game. Suffice to say, sinister things are afoot in Shady Brook.
Being a fan of horror films and books, this is the perfect set up for a fan like me. I’ve always been fascinated by small American towns as I live in England and we don’t really have remote places like that.
This game was written by Christopher Brendal, who is an up and coming adventure game maker. With this in mind, I have to say how impressed I was with the game. I will review the game bearing this in mind, as I don’t think it is fair to compare it to multi million dollar budget games.
Having said that, the graphics were very good and built up the atmosphere as well as you could hope. Maybe a higher resolution would have helped, but it didn’t detract from the game.
I was also very impressed with the way the game played from day, to dusk, to evening. This further added to the atmosphere and was a brilliant touch.
The puzzles in the game weren’t too taxing, and would be on the easier side. Still, I would rather have it that way than a frustrating and difficult puzzle-a-thon.
The locations in the town of Shady Brook are excellent. They are exactly what you would expect a small town to have.
The characters are the most impressive part of the game. Very well acted and the writing of their dialogue was complete and well rounded.
The negative aspects of the game are that it was too short. I also didn’t care much for the locked box puzzle, but some people like that sort of thing. I had the guide book, so eventually I had to turn to that (for the only time in the adventure).
If you do buy this game, then it is worth getting the guide book, as I read it after each game day to see if I had missed anything.
I should point out that I am heavily biased towards this type of game. Not only the location and the spookiness, but I also like dialogue driven games. With that in mind, this was one of the best adventure games I personally have ever played.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes suspense/horror stories. The game is very reasonably priced and can be purchased from the Shady Brook website (http://www.upforums.com/shadybrook/)
Rob’s score: 9/10 .
PS Please also read my review of Pentari: First Light in the Interactive Fiction forum on this board. Any and all comments are welcome.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 1:49pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Great review, Rob. Thanks! You really focused on very important features of the game. Very well-written.
I went to the Shady Brook website, and noticed two things:
1) In FAQ: "Please note that some users have reported problems with the SoundMax brand of sound card, and as a result that card is currently not supported."
Wouldn't you know it - my sound card is a SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio sound card. I have Legacy Audio drivers.
Does anyone know of any other recent games that will not perform well with SoundMAX audio cards? I may have played these some of these games with no problems using a SoundMAX audio card so if that were the case, perhaps I could use the SoundMAX card with Shady Brook? What are the symptoms using a SoundMAX card? Stuttering? No sound at all?
Maybe I'm just being hard-headed, but I haven't met a game yet that my SoundMAX card couldn't handle. If Shady Brook just won't run at all using a SoundMAX card, I have other options (an Audigy Z 6.1 sound card powering a Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra Surround Sound speaker system).
Sometimes I just want to play Adventure games without Surround Sound. Don't ask me why, really. Depending on the game, it just "feels" more intimate on occasion to use a 2.1 system)
2) Under Reviews on the Shady Brook website, there is a link to the JA+ review that takes you to a JA+ Forums Administrator Log-In page only. Christopher Brendel may want to correct this and re-direct this link.
My whole-hearted thanks goes to Mr. Brendel & Co. for issuing Shady Brook on DVD-ROM, by the way.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 2:37pm |
IviniaGuild Master
Posts : 4459
Joined: 7 JUN 2003
Location: US
Status : Offline | Hey Rob
Nice job! I have to agree with what you've said. I think Chris has a gift with writing characters and dialog. You might want to check the interview I did with him here:
http://www.justadventure.com/Interviews/ChristopherBrendel/CBrendel.shtm
Personally I liked LifeStream better than Shady Brook, but both are well worth the current $9.95 asking price on the JA Store. Sure the grqphics aren't top notch, but if you can look past those things, I think you will find some pretty clever games.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 5:13pm |
jalexSchattenjger
Posts : 2503
Joined: 5 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | I enjoyed reading your review as well, Good Job. I liked that game too but the only part that I thought could have been better was the ending. I don't like that kind of ending but I think there are a lot that do. It would have been a nice touch if it had a different or multiple endings.
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| 26 SEP 2006 at 8:29pm |
CBSection31Intergalactic Janitor
Posts : 65
Joined: 10 MAY 2004
Status : Online | Thank you for your wonderful review, skybluerob. Hearing from fans such as yourself is one of the most rewarding aspect of making these games.
Mark - Thanks for the heads-up about the review...I'll fix that ASAP. As far as the SoundMax sound card difficulty, I have found a walkaround for this that I haven't yet posted on the website. however, it is 100% safe to play on a SoundMax card now!
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| 27 SEP 2006 at 9:31am |
skybluerobIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 10
Joined: 25 SEP 2006
Status : Offline | Thanks for your comments.
I have read your interview now Ivinia, it's very interesting. He's a talented guy.
I'll play Lifestream as my next graphic adventure (I'm currently playing the text adventure Greystone).
I see what you mean about the ending jalex. For those who haven't played the game, try it and see what you think
Well done on creating an excellent game CBSection31 (Chris).
Over the next few weeks I will post my personal reviews on the following adventures that I have played and completed recently:
Moment of Silence.
Fahrenheit,
The Arrangement.
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