One of the newest addictions
to strike the independent developer’s
market is the chronicled adventures of teen paranormal investigator
Benjamin Jordan.
Created by Francisco “Grundislav” Gonzalez earlier this year, the
young detective has already successfully introduced us to two exciting cases
and a third is promised for the future. While the game is no more than 20-30
minutes in length, it is well worth the playing time and I recommend it to anyone
who has a bit of free time on their hands.

Ben Jordan, who has just
decided to jumpstart a career as a paranormal detective (much to
the disapproval of his parents) is summoned to
the Florida Everglades to investigate a recent rash of murders, supposedly
the doings of the legendary skunk ape – a smelly, dangerous
beast. Ben agrees to take the case but winds up with more than he
bargained for.

The interface is like
that of the old Sierra games – the upper
toolbar has icons suitable for walking, looking, touching, talking,
and accessing inventory. It is very easy to use – even if you
are not familiar with Sierra games – and provides a simple
way to navigate throughout. Your notebook keeps track of any information
that may be of use later on, and your trusty rifle is always at hand
in case danger comes knocking at your door.

The graphics vary in style and design. They depict each scene nicely,
but are nothing to drool over. Some are fairly simple images created
with the limited magic of Paint but serve their respective scenes
well. The pixilated characters certainly look better than Laura Bow
once did and animate with ease. A bit more detail in some scenes
would have helped bring them more to life.

Dialogues contain no
voice acting, but instead you must read the conversations with
character close-ups as we’ve seen in the
more recent Jack
Orlando: Director’s Cut,
among some other old Sierra games. The voices do not match the written
words but I did not find this very important. (After all, your focus
should be on the words during dialogue.) There is some wry humor
in the game that some gamers might enjoy, as well.

As you proceed through
the game, certain actions reward you with points – i.e., taking an inventory item is 3 points, triggering
an important even might be 6. The points are kept track of in the
upper right corner of the screen. There is a total of 100 points
in the game, and they should all be obtained upon completion of the
game. This is a helpful way to record progress and lets you know
when you are getting close to the mystery’s end.

Given the game’s
length, puzzles are few and far between. Most of them involve thinking
critically about how to make something
or perform a certain action (i.e. look into a dark room or distract
an unhelpful suspect). They are very easy given the limited area
to explore, although some involve an assumption that gamers will
think in the same way Gonzalez did.

Music is mostly a running soundtrack (with a good beat, I might
add!) that is great to listen to and provides a nice atmosphere.
There are a few solo bits made to create certain moods and do just
that (i.e. a spooky cave).

My only minor trivial
objection is that you have to keep in mind Ben Jordan is a paranormal
investigator, and thus the solution to
the mystery would probably not be to Agatha Christie’s liking,
so mystery fans may be a bit disappointed. It was also a bit hard
to swallow, especially the reaction from one of the characters that
expresses little sympathy for the paranormal horror you experienced.
There were no technical problems with the game for me, however, so
everything ran smoothly!

This is a game that continues to attract more and more pleased gamers,
and is well worth a look even if mysteries are not to your liking.
The dialogue is kept to a minimum, the puzzles are fun, and the idea
is simply exceptional.

You can download a free
copy of Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator Case 1:
In Search of the Skunk Ape here: http://www.bigbluecup.com/games.php?action=detail&id=407.

Final Grade: B+
(find out more about our
grading system)