December 2005

Frogwares
Tri Synergy - Publisher (N. America)
Focus Home Interactive - Publisher (France)
dtp Entertainment - Publisher (Germany, Australia, Switzerland)

German Title: In 80 Tagen um die Welt
Italian Title: 80 Giorni
Spanish Title: La Vuelta al Mundo en 80 Días
French Title: 80 Jours

Third Person

"The world of 80 Days is presented in full 3D. Options to set the resolution, anti-aliasing, real-time shadows etc. are available, but the game is very hardware-hungry. If you want to enjoy it in all its glory you will need a monster-machine...people with lower-end machines will miss out a big chunk of the game’s beauty...

"How do you grade a game like 80 Days? On one hand it is very innovative, manages to keep adventure gaming pure while being full 3D, is humorous (what do sailors read in their cabins?!) and light. It features some clever and challenging puzzles, and overall it feels like a real adventure. And let’s not forget the vehicles that add a lot to the overall enjoyment of the game. On the other hand, it suffers from some poorly designed puzzles, repetitive interaction with most of the NPCs, some technical and hotspot problems and a horrible save system. The fun I had while playing and the urge to play more makes me feel confident that it had the potential to be one of the best adventures of 2005. Unfortunately, its downsides lie on elements key to an adventure game and cannot be overlooked. Overall though, even though the style will not be everyone’s cup of tea, Frogwares has managed to prove that they can take the genre to new levels and build it around new technology without a need to hybridize it with other genres, and in my book that is highly commendable."

Update: "As it turns out, there are a couple of major problems with the game when playing with the graphics set to the lowest settings. There is one puzzle where you have to cover the blimp using a kilt-like cloth with the help of levers, but when the graphics settings are low, the cloth does not show over the blimp when you move the levers, leaving you of course with no idea of what you are doing. Another problem is during the second stealth sequence, the one that is mandatory to play. For some unknown reason, when the graphics are set too low you get caught every time, even when the guards are not watching! Both problems can be resolved if you can temporarily set the graphics to high, but if your PC cannot handle it only the blimp puzzle can be played with a walkthrough. The stealth sequence is impossible to pass, making the game unplayable. Those are the only problems of this sort discovered so far, but there may be more. If you are a low-end PC owner keep this in mind, since you may not be able to finish the game."

-

B-

• Patch (English & French-language versions)
• Patch (German-language version)
• Demos - English & French (PC)
• Desktop Wallpaper (German, in Downloads section)
• Trailer #1 (English-language version)
  Editor's note: Oddly, the music in Trailer #1 is from Frogwares' Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Trailer #2 (English-language version)
• Trailers (Two in French language)
• Trailer (German-language version)
• 80 Days - JA's Interview with Frogwares' Wael Amr
• More Info - Official Site (English), Official Site (German), Official Site (French)

PC REQUIREMENTS:

• Windows® 2000/XP (only)
• Pentium™ 1 GHz or AMD Athlon™
• 512 MB RAM
• 64 MB DirectX®9-compliant video card (*see supported list)
• DirectX® 9-compliant sound card
• DirectX® 9 or higher (included on disc)
• 8X CD-ROM
• Hard drive space: 2 GB free
• Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse

*Supported Video Cards at Time of Release:
NVIDIA® GeForce™ 3TI; ATI® Radeon™ 8500/9000 families
(Laptop models of the listed cards are not fully supported.)

NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying
that may conflict with some CD-RW, DVD-RW and virtual drives.