Hala,
tío!
(Hey, bro!)

One thing that crossed my mind when I first say Runaway was
how refreshing this game is. Refreshing in a sense of being radically
different from what the genre has to offer nowadays – where most recent
adventures deals with historical or fantasy settings, with a touch
of sci-fi here and there, Runaway puts the player in the
actuality with a storyline plagued with weird situations, classic
villains, a dame in danger and an ancient tribe, paying homage to
the classic road movies. And it does it in a very original way.
Yes, that’s the word: “refreshing”.

Que chula se ve Usted, señorita
(You look very pretty, miss)

Don’t even think about it

Brian never thought that,
on his way to California to start a doctorate in Physics, he would
end stranded on the middle of the desert, running away from the mafia
with a mysterious crucifix and a most er… exuberant lady. He shouldn’t
had remembered about that book in a library he ordered a long time
ago. He was already driving and the library wasn’t too far away
but he could ask them to send the book to him. A decision that took
one second but implied safely arriving at California or embarking
on the most unforgettable adventure of his life: should he go for
the book or not?

Luckily (for us), he drives
toward the library when, suddenly, a woman appears out of nowhere
in front of his car. Thankfully, Brian is a responsible driver and
he doesn’t drives fast in the city, so this young lady receives just
a minor hit but enough to make her faint. Surprisingly, Brian is a
real gentleman and he himself carries the lady to the nearest hospital
and stays next to her.

As soon as this woman awakes,
she starts babbling about some people killing her father while she
was watching it, hidden in a corner. Gina, as Brian learns she is
called, urges him to help her because those people realized she watched
the crime and now are looking for her. That’s why Brian crashed Gina
with his car – she was escaping from the killers!

Before immersing in a
deep sleep, due to a strong somniferous she is medicated with, she
tells Brian that her father was aware of the danger and they had a
conversation before the murder. The things gets even more strange
because of an odd crucifix he gave to Gina that night.

Is she telling the truth
or she’s hallucinating? Brian starts thinking that some of her story
might be true because he finds out that the crucifix really exists
– and that, indeed, it’s very strange and ancient. So, he decides
to protect Gina – but he must act quickly as the killers are coming!
And so the runaway begins.

Mira, mira! Tengo dos dimensiones!
(Look, look! I have two dimensions!)

Aaaah… Gina

Or at least it seems that
way.
Though at first sight Runaway might look like a pure 2D adventure,
one quickly realizes that’s not so true. Actually, all the characters
and objects are pre-rendered 3D models using a technique called Non-Photorealistic
Rendering, which provides some amazing results. Generally speaking,
a 3D object is rendered and then it’s outlined in 2D, similar
as recapturing the object using a pencil and paper. [Thanks Michal
for the info!]

For instance, the characters
really look like hand-painted graphics but they move very smoothly.
You really can’t tell the difference – what you see is a cartoon animated
with the most obscene number of frames per second ever attempted.

The biggest lowdown is
the mouth movements. The lips are animated separately from the 3D
model so the developers could do lip-synching for each localized version
– otherwise, it would mean a great deal of job rendering all the needed
frames again for each language. If we take into account that Pendulo
is publishing Runaway in several countries, this is understandable.

The result is an awkward
feeling each time the characters speak – for instance, in a cutscene
you have Brian walking very smoothly and lifelike when he suddenly
stays still and only moves his mouth to talk to Gina. It’s very unnatural
but it doesn’t hurts the gameplay so hard. It’s mostly visible in
cutscenes and even then you get used after a while.

Speaking of cutscenes,
they’re not on-par with the rest of the game quality – they look fairly
grainy which is a bad thing because you feel somehow “disconnected”
from the rest of the game. Keep in mind that the in-game quality is
outstanding since Runaway boasts a whopping 1024×728 resolution
which makes the lavishly painted background scenes look beautiful.

Regarding this matter,
Pendulo has assured me that the new versions are heavily improved
than the one I played, which is the original Spanish one.

Still, most cutscenes
are very well done and entertaining. A special mention goes for the
introduction sequence, quite lengthy and with a truly cinematic feel.

As a bottom line in the
visual aspect, Runaway is a huge step forward in 2D adventures
and I’d love to see any new title with its style using this technique
with the characters – clearly, this will be really big when used in
real-time.

Pendulo can be proud of
designing the best looking 2D adventure yet.

There is one thing I want
to make clear: this game has to have the most coolest soundtrack ever
heard in an adventure game – I’m serious! It’s a wonderful mix of
soft “night” music (yes, it only plays when it’s night-time
at the game) and that desolated, western-like tunes. Trust me, it’s
so good it could sell a record – actually, an original song was composed
for the game which is interpreted by a Spanish band though it has
English lyrics.

I already mentioned one
serious lowdown. Another one is the voice acting which ranges from
so-so to simply adequate. I don’t mean they were horrible or unbearable,
but it’s a pity in such a polished game. Obviously, I can only speak
for the version I played and Pendulo also told me that the voices
has been taken care of in the new releases.

Ostia, cómo juego esto?
(My, how do I play this?)

Don’t worry, he’s just trying to contact Trantor –
wonder who’s the Asimov fan at Pendulo

You will lead Brian through
his incidents with a standard point-and-click interface which consists
of “examine” and “use” commands. Simple but it
gets the job well done. It’s interesting to note that the labels in
the lower side of the screen are very accurate in a sense that the
game “understands” what you want to do. For instance, if
you “use” a painting on a cave-wall, the game will understand
that you want to “touch the painting”. Every single operation
with objects is customized this way.

Sadly, I can’t say the
same with the responses Brian gives when you try something wrong –
they’re very generic like “I can’t do that.”, “No.”,
etc. A couple of times I wanted to yell at him because it had logic
what I was trying to do yet he kept telling me he couldn’t without
a reason. Only a few responses are customized in a way that makes
sense.

That said, all the descriptions
Brian gives when you examine an object are wonderful and in several
locations he will give you a bit of “edutaintment” with
some trivia information. Very neat details.

Speaking of details, the
inventory screen is very nicely done with Brian in a window to the
left. If you do something particular with an object, like looking
inside a bag, he will kneel and you’ll listen sounds as he roams through
the contents.

The storyline is the strongest
point in Runaway, filled with great locations and characters
that will be fondly remembered – the drag queens are not to be missed
– although at times it seemed a bit rushed. It’s divided into six
chapters with Brian eloquently introducing each one. Yes, the game
starts with him telling the story to us so at least we know he doesn’t
dies during the trip. Yet something is strange because he looks very
different than the beginning of the adventure, like more “cool”
– this adds even more to the mystery and it really urges you to solve
it!

I was a bit disappointed
at the beginning because the game seemed too linear but the third
chapter turned out to be a pleasant surprise with several tasks and
places to visit in any order. Still, Runaway isn’t an adventure
with tens of branches – all in all, it’s fairly linear.

Like I said before, the
story is fantastic. At first, it might seem too cliché but
it’s not. The second half of the game gets even more mysterious
and a couple of twists at the end are quite surprising.

Puzzles are mainly inventory
based and generally easy. It’s fairly obvious to realize what it needs
to be done in most cases though it’s not that obvious how to do it.

When they’re not related
to the inventory, a considerable amount of puzzles consists of remembering
certain important objects that Brian will not take until it’s strictly
necessary. This was a mixed-bag – sometimes it worked but sometimes
it didn’t. It made sense Brian not walking around with, say, a ladder
without a good reason but it was a bit annoying to go across several
scenes again looking for an item that now he was “able”
to pick. This is triggered when something new must be done and Brian
gives some hint as to what to look for.

There were a couple of
times where some puzzles seemed unnecessary, like having Object A,
that should make the deal, but you must combine Object A with Object
B in order to get Object C, which works the same. It kind of breaks
the logic that prevails over the game because most puzzles are logical,
if a bit on the “McGyver” side – none of them would actually
work in the real world but they’re pleasantly satisfying within the
gameworld.

All in all, Runaway
will probably be a romp through the park for most veteran players
but that doesn’t means this is a game that can be finished in a couple
of hours – some brain-teasers will not allow that. On the contrary,
newcomers will be entertained for quite a while.

This is what I most liked
about this game: it’s very well balanced and never bores. I wouldn’t
hesitate to recommend it to any adventure player, be it hard-core
or just a casual fan.

Vale, me has convencido
(Alrighty, you got me)

No road adventure would be completed
without an abandoned wagon

So, what we have here?
An adventure game with a great storyline, ingenious puzzles, memorable
characters, lush hand-painted graphics and an awesome soundtrack.
Yes, although it’s far from perfect, this game has it all.

Throughout the years, Spain
has offered us some great, underrated gems like the text adventures
of AD, La Abadía Del Crimen, an isometric perspective
game that made the most of 8-bits computers, Igor: Objective Uikokahonia,
from the very same Pendulo Studios, not to mention some great titles
from Dinamic, Opera Soft and Topo. Runaway somehow seems
like the culmination of it all – it might be the best graphic adventure
Spain has produced.

I don’t know if it’s a
classic – only time can tell if Runaway deserves a place
alongside the timeless – but this is the one of the most balanced
and enjoyable adventures of these last years.

Note: I didn’t mind the technical quirks I noted
in the Spanish version I played, so this score should stay the same
for the forthcoming versions, improved or not.

Final Grade: A-

System Requirements:

• Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
• Pentium™ 200
  MMX
• 64 Mb RAM
• 630 Mb hard disk drive
• Monitor and graphics
  card ( DirectX™ compatible) with support for 1024×768 and
  16-bit color
• DirectX™ compatible
  sound card
• 8X CD-ROM
• Mouse and keyboard