Emerald City Confidential

Point-and-click adventures are a dying breed. Once plentiful, they slowly started to die off as developers found new game fads to follow, often cheaper-made and with a more "widespread appeal." It's a bleak outlook for the genre.

Enter developer Wadjet Games with their newest production: Emerald City Confidential. The developer symbolizes a ray of hope for point-and-click games, and Emerald City Confidential is no exception.

The game is set in the mythical land of Oz, but not quite the same one as the movie/books. Rather than a cheery and fun-filled world, Oz is depicted like a 1940's film noir, so things are much bleaker. The plot centers around Petra, a private eye in Emerald City, who's struggling to pay the bills and find a scrap of decency in the harsh world she's in the midst of. She accepts a high-paying case from a woman named Dee Gale, and soon is swept deeper into the dark world of Emerald City's criminal underground, and she confronts more than a few of her own personal demons as well.

It's a very well-written story, and the pacing is very well done. You're motivated by what's happening in the plot, and the characters are very likeable. Also, the delivery of the story through nothing but dialogue is nice (it gives it an almost cinematic touch), and Petra's mental narrations add any explanations you can't deduce from the conversation. It's very polished and very entertaining.

The gameplay is standard point-and-click fare: you navigate and interact with things by (you guessed it) pointing and clicking. And this is good, since any major departure from that kind of gameplay would be unnecessary.

The highlight of the gameplay would have to be the gathering of information, via investigation of the environment or questioning characters in the game. Talking to characters for leads and clues is fun, especially since sometimes you'll have to figure out if what they're saying has any significance or not. There's only one possible issue with the info acquisition in Emerald City Confidential: there's so much of it. If you don't stop and process what you've heard every once and a while, it's easy to be overwhelmed. Especially since the characters don't always repeat themselves. But, look as that as a challenge rather than a flaw.

Presentation-wise, Emerald City is a nice and shiny little package. The hand-drawn backgrounds (over 40) are unique and gorgeously imagined. They set the mood of the game perfectly. The character designs are clever as well, and can be downright bizarre (which I think is always a plus). The only thing that disappoints in the visual department is the animations. The character's movements tend to be choppy.

The music is nice as well, and it fits the environments just fine. However, the voice acting is a little inconsistent. Despite wonderfully written dialogue, sometimes the voice acting is delivered unconvincingly, leaving the listener a little let down. But, it really isn't that big of a concern, since it doesn't noticeably detract from the experience. In this age of first person shooters and game adaptations of movies, it's hard for a classic (and classy) point-and-click adventure to get noticed. It's unfortunate, but that doesn't mean that the genre has to die! Emerald City Confidential is a shining example of a line of games near extinction, and it's worthy of our consideration.

Graphics:
Wonderful backgrounds and cool character designs. The game has a fresh feel thanks to its atmospheric environments.

Sound/Music:
Nothing remarkable, but it's not bad either. The voice acting could be better, but almost all of the dialogue is voiced, which is nice. And the music is pretty good at keeping the film-noir feel.

Gameplay:
Point-and-click gaming that hold it's own against the classics of the genre. However, the sheer amount of processing required will overwhelm some.

Concept:
The idea of re-visiting classic story worlds isn't new, but the way Emerald City Confidential takes that a step further and re-imagines the entire world is a nice change.

Value:
This is a long game, simply. And it's not drawn out or slow, it's pacing keeps you going. The narrative alone is worth playing for.

Fun:
Emerald City Confidential is charming, smart, and simply fun. Fans of the genre will be singing its praises, and rookies will be entertained.

Overall:
If point-and-click games' status on the "endangered species" list has worried you, find solace in Emerald City Confidential. If you want to be challenged to think as you play a video game (doesn't happen very much these days, sadly), then let this game fill you intellectual desires. And, if you're in the mood for a fun adventure with a good story and cool characters, then show this game some love!