Runaway: A Twist of Fate

I'll be honest and start by saying that up until now I have never heard of the Runaway series. As it turns out, Runaway is a trilogy of point-and click adventure games (something of a rarity these days) with A Twist of Fate being the third and final instalment in the series.

The preview copy we were provided only included the fairly short first third of the game, so unfortunately I was unable to see most of it. The first thing I noticed coming in to it was the distinctive art style.

Much like the hand-drawn classic games of old, the game is presented (mostly) in a "2.5D" cel-shaded style which I found to be enjoyable. I was also pleased to see that the interface allowed players to highlight hotspots (points of interest on the screen). The story starts off somewhat confusingly, but I'm going to focus on the puzzles here.

For the most part they are standard point-and-click adventure fare – that is to say, pick up each item that isn't nailed down and apply them to the environment. The game offers a help system as well, which is "staffed" by a character working at a representation of the developer's studios.

I was a little disappointed to find that the game didn't get too much funnier than that, and that the help sometimes omitted basic information about a puzzle, some of which were obscure or didn't make too much sense. Despite its 2.5D perspective and use of facial animation, the game only makes use of different cuts or shots during introduction cutscenes.

This is especially noticeable during some of the longer dialogue trees. I'm sure that fans of the previous Runaway games will find much to enjoy here (especially given that it resolves several issues with previous games in the series), as will those who enjoy point-and click adventure games in general. If you are new to or simply don't enjoy point-and-click adventures, Runaway isn't going to make a convert out of you.