I’ve always considered myself a leather jacket kind of guy. Not with
a destructive mindset, mind you, but one who challenges the thinking that simply
falling in line and following the crowd is the best way. You know, the quiet revolutionary
type who wants to see change but won’t set fires to get it. I think this is why
I enjoyed The Feeble Files so much. Feeble is the main character, and he’s
my kind of guy. He wears a leather jacket, but he’s nice. He doesn’t want to hurt
anyone, but he does like the thrill of rebellion. He’s … well, he’s feeble.

The
Plot: Do you remember reading epics in high school? Remember how long they
were? Well, The Feeble Files is an epic. The story begins when Feeble inadvertently
gets involved in a plot to overthrow the government. He’s just so nice that he
agrees to deliver a package to the rebel headquarters. Hey, you can’t fault the
guy: he needed some money and delivering the package paid good money. The rest
of the story is how Feeble fumbles his way through the rebellion and eventually
becomes the hero. This is a great plot for an adventure game, and the script won’t
let you down. The script is marvelous. This is a long game. It comes on four discs,
and each disc contains as much story as do many full games. The game is so huge,
it’s almost too big for its own plot. The humor in this game is second-to-none,
and, for you Lucas Arts fans, that includes the Monkey Island games. The
plot receives an A.

The Graphics: Beautiful. So many colors your
eyes will be thanking you for your wise choice of games. What the developers created
here is a great presentation of a wonderful story. After playing this game, I
know for sure that creating characters that “act” the lines as well
as “say” them is possible. The exchange between Feeble and his pal in
the phone booth is classic. Nothing short of just plain great acting. And these
are cartoon characters! Bravo! The graphics get an A.

The Sound,
Music, and Voice Acting: The acting in this game is phenomenal, absolutely
bloody amazing! I have never enjoyed listening to, and watching, cartoon characters
as much as I did in this game. The entire cast of The Feeble Files acts
circles around any live actors in any game I’ve played. This is as good as it
gets, comrades! The sound, music, and voice acting receive an A+. (The
sound and the music are good, too. But the voice-acting takes center stage.)

The
Puzzles: The only thing feeble about this game is the word in the title. The
game is absolutely bulging with puzzles. The game comes on four discs, and I swear
you get more game on one of the Feeble discs than you do on several other
whole games! But be forewarned: these puzzles are hard, folks! If you can complete
The Feeble Files without a single hint, I would buy you your next adventure
game. I say “would” because there isn’t a good way I could verify that
you actually played the entire game without a hint. So, I will simply challenge
you: just try to play the entire game without a hint. I would give the puzzles
an A, but some of the puzzles are so difficult that you won’t believe the solution.
Therefore, I am downgrading the puzzles for being too difficult. The puzzles
get a B.

The Final Grade: The Feeble Files deserves your
consideration for a very important reason: if you’re reading this review, you
are most likely an avid adventure gamer. And, as an avid adventure gamer, you
seek true adventure–games that challenge you and give you the thrill of accomplishment,
that make you feel as though you actually lived the adventure. The word “adventure”
itself denotes a challenge that involves investing a good amount of time and that
involves using your reasoning, creativity, and tenacity. When I say The Feeble
Files is an adventure, I mean it is a true adventure.

This is a long,
difficult game, but most importantly, it is well worth the time. Until you have
played The Feeble Files, I don’t want to hear anymore, “the current
adventure games are too easy and too short.” You will have nothing to complain
about in the game-length and puzzle-difficulty arena with this game. This is the
adventure gamer’s adventure game. You asked for adventure, and you just found
it. You can order the game from Adventure Soft, the developers, at www.adventuresoft.com. And, for those of you concerned about
delivery time from Great Britain: I got my Feeble game faster than I did
some games that I order here in the States. Visit the web site, buy the game,
and enjoy the adventure.

Final Grade: A

System
Requirements: Windows 95/98
Pentium
16
MB RAM
100% Soundblaster compatible sound card
4X CD-ROM
25 MB Hard
Disk space
DirectX compatible SVGA Graphics Card