...well, at least here in germany. :O)
Official site
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http://www.avampyrestory-game.com/Demo (Deutsch/English)
-> http://files.filefront.com/avs+demozip/;12373580;/fileinfo.html
Interesting Interview with Bill Tiller
->
http://www.adventure-treff.de/artikel/interviews.php?id=32&lang=engIt's from some former LucasArts people like Bill Tiller and Bill Eaken (both a.o. worked on The Dig). So far i would say, it's not perfect but it's unique (no TTG licence milking), fun and not episodic, although there will be a second game. They have a few technical issues here and there (developed their own engine) but the game is good. They also used the inventory item idea which they once tried out for The Dig. If you enjoy adventures, you should give it a try!
Mine arrived at my work today :)
I still have assassin's creed and fallout 3 to complete
Bought it oldskool style like in a local store. Maybe you best play it during christmas time but that's too long to wait for. :O)
It has a very strong vintage Lucasarts/Curse of Monkey Island vibe but the writing is atrocious and it seems like there are a few too many needless "filler" puzzles to extend the play time. Fun concept and setting and fantastic background art, though.
I played the demo earlier today. Unfortunatly for me it had the same kind of "feel" as the latest monkey island game. The special thing about the originals was the exploring of a scene mixed with the unique animation. I havn't played a 3D point and click that really captures that same thing.
They spent all the time to make their own engine, perhaps they should have figured out a way to have the hand drawn look but done in 3D. (check out the new street fighter game for example). Or even done everything in 2D, but used HD sprites + hardware scaling. You can always tell what items in a scene are ones that you may interact with, as they are 3D!. This kind of spoils it a little!
From the demo I played it through and it did leave me wanting to continue the story, but it just didnt feel solid enough. For example I look at the doors window in the hut and it takes me to an outside scene. Without having a clue what was happening it proceeds to tell me whats outside and then pops me back indoors. Wait a sec did I click or point on anything? As point and clicks go this is a major control issue, its taken gameplay away from the user. Its taken comedy moments where the character is at the door peeping through, grabbing and reaching to try and interact with what you click on. Its missed moments that make these kind of games fun!
So Im probably reading too much into a demo, but if this is the presentation scene they offer as a demo; then what do they expect!
The game has it's rough edges, also the demo in my opinion isn't well put together but nevertheless the game is good. You can feel a LucasArts handwriting behind it and honestly beside of the Sam&Max serie and hopefully good game from Ron Gilbert there aren't many others left, so taking their problems with building up a technology from scratch and getting the first one done it think this a good game. Hopefully enough people will buy it so that they have a chance to continue. Better them than Tomb Raider 987.
By the way is it the dvd case also rubbish outside germay? I almost had to break the dvd to get it pass the misdesigned fixture.