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
(find out more about our
grading system)

System Requirements:

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