Review Delaware St. John Vol.2: The Town With No Name Developer: Big Time Games Publisher: Big Time Games Genre: Adventure Release Date: December 2005 Platform: Review by Shannon Hall January 9, 2006		Buy this game at Trade for this game at:

As you may know, I’ve followed this game from interview, to preview, and now to review. I even played and reviewed the first game in the series, The Curse of Midnight Manor. This has definitely given me a feel for the series and the level of continuity players can expect to see in future games. I think this is a very important aspect by which this game should be judged.

After all, let’s face it. No one wants to back the wrong horse when it comes to a long series, whether we’re talking books, games, or movies. It’s a terrible feeling to have, when you’ve invested too much of yourself to stop playing/ reading/ watching, but continuing feels more like work than entertainment. Fortunately, the forecast looks good for the Delaware St. John series. It’s spooky, investigative fun with surprisingly great artwork, and the developer shows every indication of evolving the games themselves.

As the name of this second installment implies, Town With No Name is about…yep, a town with no name. Delaware discovers its existence and location when he happens upon a mysterious book that shows him a disappearing map. As usual, he runs off without Kelly to explore a place forgotten by time, and with all signs of the town’s identity destroyed. This sets in motion an investigation that reveals not only the town’s tortured past, but a crucial development in the series’ plot line as well.

Along the way Del will discover spirits aplenty, and he’ll be freer to interact with them and his environment thanks to new options. Del can now speak directly with spirits he encounters, and the player gets to choose between questions. As far as I could tell, there are no make-or-break responses that might get you in trouble or cause you to miss something. It simply adds depth to the playing experience.

As with Curse of Midnight Manor, Delaware has a high-tech arsenal of ghost-hunting tools at his disposal, augmenting his already-impressive clairvoyant powers and linking him to partner Kelly. Through VIC, (Voice/Imagery Communicator), players can take photos or record any sounds they find suspicious, and Kelly will respond with an analysis. This interface is also a little more flexible, offering players non-crucial photo-ops just for fun.

So what else is new with TWNN? For starters, there’s a new addition to the team. A knowledgeable Brit named Simon adds background information, clues, and hunches. But don’t worry—this British Simon won’t punish you with his acerbic wit. Oddly, though, Del doesn’t seem thrilled to have him on board, as though there’s some back-story. Hmmmmm….Will future games have Del battling for Kelly’s heart, even as he battles for his own soul? Time will tell!

It will be interesting to see what else time tells about this series. For example, the developer has already increased the production quality by adding 3-D, fully animated cut and dialog scenes, replacing the previous static drawings. This helped to bring the characters to life, but I did find some of the artwork problematic.

I’m speaking mainly of the scenes involving children in the orphanage. Yeah, you just can’t get much creepier than a haunted orphanage, can you? The problem is, I had a hard time believing the kids were kids. The voice actors did a fine job of portraying children, but they looked more like teens to me. I suppose this is a peculiarity of the artist. Otherwise the game is drawn and rendered beautifully, with very high quality artwork.

This game does a good job of recreating the “creep factor” this time around, and includes another couple of heart-pounding chase scenes courtesy of the Hunter. I’m not entirely sure how long this device can continue to work, but so far it’s still a winner with me. A couple of these “races against time” are interactive with spirits, so that the player is looking to them for direction. I thought this was a nice touch.

The one thing I hope to see more of in the next game is continuous advancement in the main story line. This time around I just didn’t get enough about the Hunter, although there is a big surprise regarding Delaware himself. Most of this game’s story line revolves around the town, which is appropriate. However, I’m more fascinated by the overall story in which the game takes place than I am by the smaller plot lines.

I have to say this is a great independent game for mystery/ horror fans of all ages. If you played and liked Midnight Manor, then you’ll probably find even more to love about the Town With No Name. Of course, playing the first game is definitely not requisite for enjoying this one, but it might provide a deeper experience.

I’m personally a real fan of serial games, and this one looks to be a solid performer. That’s why I’m giving it the final grade of: A.

Final Grade: A
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System Requirements:

• Pentium 600 or better
• 256MB Memory
• 16x CD ROM
• SVGA Graphics Card
• Sound Card
• DirectX 9
• Windows 98/ME/XP/2000