Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle

The sequel to the 2003 game Runaway: A Road Adventure, Runaway: Dream of the Turtle (arguably one of the weirdest game titles in a while) is currently prepping for a US and European release early next year. Whereas the first Runaway game was published by Tri Synergy, developer Pendulo Games have switched publishers this time around, and Dream of the Turtle is going to be released by CDV. Even with this change, however, the game will still offer the same brand of tongue-in-cheek humor as the first game, and will please fans of the first game that are looking to extend their adventures.

In Runaway: Dream of the Turtle, you start out as Brian, the soul-patched, sun-tanned pretty boy who has gone from geek to chic between the first game and now, as he and his girlfriend Gina are setting a course to a small, isolated island to get some peace and quiet together. However, their geriatric pilot passes out, and the plane enters a freefall onto the island below. With only one parachute and not a moment to spare, Brian straps the chute on Gina’s back and pushes her off of the plane, taking his chances with the crash landing. He survives of course, but finds that Gina and the pilot are missing, and thus begins the adventure.

Whereas the game starts off on a deserted island, you’ll visit several different locations along the course of your journey. The game even contains several overt homages to LucasArts’ Monkey Island, a series that sat at the top of the adventure gaming heap during the golden age.

The gameplay in Runaway: Dream of the Turtle is fairly standard for the adventure genre. The game uses the same tried-and-true point-and-click mechanics that have been used for decades. You’ll be able to pick up items and store them in your inventory for later use in puzzles. The puzzles were pretty fun for the most part, but there were a few illogical situations that felt a bit frustrating. Oftentimes, a situation will be fairly easy to figure out, but you’ll still have to go through an entire process that takes you from point A to B to C even though you have all of the assets to complete the puzzle. Adversely, if you try to go from A to C, you won’t be allowed to, instead you’ll still have to dredge through the rest of the puzzle (sorry if that explanation was convoluted, but I’m trying to not give anything away).

Graphically, Runaway: Dream of the Turtle sports a pretty impressive look, especially for an adventure game. The characters have a cel-shaded look to them, and the environments are very bright and detailed. The game also makes use some nice atmospheric lighting effects. The sound isn’t quite up to snuff yet, as there are plenty of localization issues to clean up and the voice acting leaves much to be desired.

Runaway: Dream of the Turtle is shaping up quite nicely, and should be a fun adventure game for fans of the original looking to explore the new exploits of Brian and Gina. Expect it early 2007.