The general gaming populous seems to be in agreement that comedy is king in point-and-click adventure games. That said, when a serious/dark entry in the genre comes along, it is appreciated by a certain set of discerning gamers. Well set of discerning gamers, prepare yourselves for the splendor of xii games’ latest masterpiece, Resonance.

Resonance begins with a newscast chronicling severe, simultaneous attacks occurring around the world against structures of varied importance. Those aforementioned structures, which are shown throughout the faux news cast, look as though huge bites were taken out of them by something. The individuals responsible for the attack and their reasons for doing so may or may not involve the titular resonance, a new form of tech invented by a scientist that has potential to destroy or help the world.

During the game, you’ll switch between four different characters: Ed, Anna, Ray and Detective Bennet (Voiced by Bastion’s husky voiced narrator, Tom Waits Logan Cunningham). Ed, an affable nerd employed by the scientist responsible for resonance, regularly sees Anna on his train ride to work and has a slight crush. Ray is investigating a nefarious sounding DNA database housed at the hospital Anna works for. Detective Bennet is investigating some shady characters that may tie both into resonance and the DNA database. All these story elements come together in satisfying ways that I’d be doing a disservice to the game by describing any further. Trust me when I say, it’s very well-crafted and engaging.

The control scheme is fairly traditional. Left-click an item to use it; right-click and item to take a closer look at it. The inventory is presented in a non-cluttered, easy to navigate menu located in the upper left-hand side of the screen (this is where you’ll go to switch characters, too). Need to use two items together? Click one and drag it to the other. Need to use an item with something outside of your inventory? Click and drag it to the other. I applaud xii for the restraint they used in the UI.

One way Resonance differs from other point-and-clicks is how it makes use of Long Term & Short Term Memories. Important events in each characters lives show up automatically in the inventory as long-term memories; if you see an item you think you might be important, you may drag it to the short-term memory section of the inventory. Both LTMs & STMs may be examined (a flashback of the memory will play) or brought up in conversation. This mechanic is crucial to the story and must be used to progress.

Everything about the game – graphics, voice acting, and music – hearkens back to the days of Lucasarts classics like The Dig and Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis. The difficulty of the late-game puzzles should appeal to fans of games from that era as well. Typically, I consult walkthroughs often when playing an adventure game. Since one didn’t exist during my time with the title, I did the only thing I could do; emailed the game’s publisher for clues (thanks for not hating me, the game’s publisher).

You may pick up Resonance digitally via Good Old Games for $8.99 or on disc from Wadjet Eye Games for $24.99. If my words have yet to win you over, you may download a pretty lengthy demo of the game from Wadjet Eye, too.

Tags: adventure games, Bastion, Logan Cunningham, PC, Point and Click, Resonance, Wadjet Eye Games, xii games

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2012 at 8:37 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.