New game: "The Drifter"

New game!

Since The Drifter was released back in July, I've heard nothing but good things about it. Game Of The Year things, even. I bought the game as well, since the concept definitely intrigued me. But it took me a while to get to. Finally, the day has come and I started my first playthrough!

Much darker than "Loco Motive"...

I'm Mick Carter. Clearly I'm Australian, going by the accent. I also like to comment on everything I do. Seriously, this voice actor is quite something. It's hard to imagine him simply saying the lines from a script. The emotion he puts in this performance, I can't believe he's not watching an actual playthrough of the game himself, it's so on the nose!

Just pick up the idol and climb out!

Mick is coming back home after having basically disappeared five years ago. His mother has died and he wants to attend her funeral. Well, "wants to" is perhaps the wrong way to put it... "Feels obliged to" is more like it. Anyways, on arrival in a train's box car, he gets caught up in what appears to be a conspiracy: several homeless people have been abducted, others are acting crazy, and if that wasn't enough weirdness to go around, Mick is caught himself, thrown in the lake with a block of cement tied to his feet, and actually drowns. Only to come back to life a couple of minutes in the past, and with a second chance to free himself.

I felt a bit chilly...

I've heard people mention how fast-paced this game is, while still being a traditional point 'n click, inventory-puzzle based adventure. I believe we put in that sense of urgency ourselves, making the game feel fast-paced to our own experience. Stuff happens, Mick is threatened, he has to act to save himself. This gets our own adrenaline rushing, and even without an obvious time limit, we act much faster than we would in a regular adventure game. Mick's story is an action thriller but one that seems to have some supernatural elements to it, and the game does an excellent job to translate that into an interactive experience.

Cemeteries in adventure games, could be a blog post in there...

After an hour and fifteen minutes of game time, I've reached chapter three. I've finally made it to the funeral, but this is only the beginning, since Mick is now clearly neck-deep in all the nasty stuff that seems to be happening in this city... Time for me to dive back in!

You can buy The Drifter on Steam or on GOG.