This preview
is presented courtesy of Ugur Sener and originally appeared on The
Adventure Lantern, the internet’s premier adventure magazine.

Sometimes the smallest thing can change a person’s life. Brian was
about to set out for college at Berkeley University when he realized
he was missing a book. He could either pick up the book from the
store himself or have it delivered to him at Berkeley. Brian chose
to take the detour and pick up the book. It was a simple decision
that forever changed his life.

On his trip to the bookstore, Brian hit a woman with his car. Upon
taking Gina to the hospital, Brian found himself at the center of
wild adventure. Running away from mobsters, Brian and Gina traveled
across the country as they unraveled the secrets of a mysterious
artifact. With its colorful characters, entertaining locations, beautiful
cartoon graphics, and classic point-and-click gameplay, Runaway:
A Road Adventure became a highly successful adventure game.

Now, Brian and Gina are back with Runaway
2: The Dream of the Turtle.
We rejoin the duo onboard a hydroplane over the small, but beautiful
island of Mala. The sky is clear, the waters below look pristine.
Unfortunately, there is a minor problem. The plane is about to crash!
In a desperate attempt to reach the island, Gina and Brian abandon
the plane. With any luck, they should drift across the sky with their
parachutes and land safely land on the island. Of course things can
never be quite so easy. Brian is about to embark on a brand new adventure
that will have him traveling all over the world.

With Runaway
2, Pendulo
Studios intends to bring back the cartoon like graphics and the
humorous style of the original game. Players
can also look forward to returning characters, a brand new intriguing
storyline, and a soundtrack that is expected to rival the quality
of the one from the first game. In a very real way, Pendulo Studios
is attempting to recapture the spirit of Runaway: A Road
Adventure with all the elements that made the game so charming and popular.
But don’t think the sequel is nothing more than a rehash of
the original game.

While staying true to
the style and theme of the first game, Pendulo Studios intends
to deliver a better game in every aspect with Runaway
2. Notable improvements have been made to deliver a superior game
engine. As noted on the game’s official Web site, Runaway
2 features “dynamic lighting, atmospheric effects, real-time
camera changes, and hundreds of animations.” Players can expect
lively environments brought to life with rich detail and variety
of special effects. If you liked the cartoon like appearance and
fairly detailed environments of the first game, you can expect to
find the presentation of the sequel most pleasing. Judging by the
available screenshots and the teaser trailer you can find on the
Runaway 2 Web site, the 3D characters have been nicely blended with
the backgrounds. The cartoon feel seems to have been maintained while
still creating an immersive environment.

The scale of the adventure will be much bigger this time around.
Where the first game had Brian and Gina exploring the United States,
Runaway 2 takes players to a variety of locations around the globe.
You will go from the sunny shores of Hawaii all the way up to Alaska
and even further. The game features over hundred locations, which
will hopefully be more than enough to keep players busy.

Runaway 2 features over thirty 3D characters. The main characters
Brian and Gina are of course back for the second adventure. But since
the first game Brian seems to have taken a more rugged look. Other
noteworthy returning characters include Joshua and Sushi. It should
be great to see what Joshua what kind of experiments regarding extraterrestrials
Joshua will be conducting this time around. It should be safe to
assume that the supreme computer guru Sushi will hack into quite
a few systems before the end of the adventure. No network is safe
whenever Sushi is around a device that can process binary data.

Among the new characters, the former movie star current waitress
Lokelani seems to be out to rival Gina with her attractive looks.
Players will also have to deal with the trouble-maker Koala and the
intimidating Colonel Kordsmeier. Judging by the information currently
available, Runaway 2 seems to have a great cast of colorful and quirky
characters. It should be great to see what kind of hoops Brian will
have to jump through to get anything done this time around.

The Runaway 2 Web site
points out that players should expect a solid number of puzzles
in the second game. A variety of challenges have
been prepared to keep players occupied through the course of the
adventure. However, according to the Web site, “Pendulo Studios
has also taken care that nobody will get stuck for too long in certain
game passages.” The developers seem to make Runaway
2 accessible
to players with varying levels of adventure gaming experience. Carefully
surveying the environments and paying attention to the conversations
should be enough to overcome the game’s challenges. The overall
difficulty level should be comparable to that of the original game.

Overall, Runaway
2 from
Pendulo Studios looks quite promising. Players should have a great
opportunity to go on another wild adventure with
Brian and Gina. With its cartoon like graphics, interesting characters,
variety of locations, and lighthearted humorous tone, Runaway
2 could
easily deliver a highly entertaining adventure gaming experience.
While waiting for the game’s release, you can take a look at
the official Runaway 2 Web site for additional information.