Runaway 2 - A Preview
Gorath, 2005-12-20

In late 2002 the adventure genre was in coma. Not even in Germany - traditionally one of the strongest markets - the big publishers believed an adventure game could successfully marketed to more than a few thousand people. Then the miracle happened: two small publishers from Hamburg teamed up with an unknown developer from Spain to release their 2 year old surprise hit Runaway - A Road Adventure in the German speaking countries. It was a triumph! The reviewers loved it, the gamers were enthusiastic, and both praised the return of the point & click adventure. Runaway sold well enough to warrant a re-release of a graphically enhanced version on DVD in 2004. Since 2002 the genre flourished and other developers and publishers relied upon Runaway´s formula: a creative game combined with an excellent localisation and aggressive marketing.

Three years later the inevitable sequel Runaway 2 - The Dream of the Turtle is almost finished. Once again the development is in Pendulo Studios´ hands while DTP - under their new label Anaconda - and Crimson Cow are responsible for the publishing in Germany. Of course the expectations are skyrocketing.

It´s no surprise that Runaway 2 is an evolutionary title. Why mess around with a commercially and critically successful game? Pendulo concentrates on small improvements and updated technology instead.

The game uses colorful, very detailed comic graphics. Smoothly animated 3D characters walk through more than 100 beautiful painted backgrounds. Everything looks like an interactive animated film - in-game graphics and full-motion videos use the same visual style. Both blend into each other seamlessly to create a cinematic atmosphere, which is further enhanced by dynamic camera movements and a widescreen aspect ratio. Have a look at the screenshots or the brand new Christmas trailer to get a better idea of the game´s visuals.

Many characters from the first game will be back. Physics student Brian spends some time on Hawaii with his stripper girl friend Gina. One day they want to make an trip to the famous waterfalls on a remote island. Unfortunately their plane crashes. Brian fastens the only parachute on Gina and throws her out of the plane. After the crash-landing Brian finds himself alone in a jungle. He has to escape from the jungle and find Gina.

This is where the 15 minute long intro ends. Brian climbs out of the wreck and tries to climb up a few rocks, but he is stopped by a small ape who thinks he´s the kingof the hill. Hidden in the hulk Brian finds a toy, a battery-driven dog which can bark and pee water. It does attract the ape´s attention, even though not long enough to get past the ape. Another searching of the plane reveals a bottle of Whiskey, which Brian quickly fills into the dog. Now the dog barks and pees Whiskey, the ape drinks the Whiskey and keels over. Problem solved.

This puzzle illustrates Runaway 2´s style: A humerous puzzle is used to solve a serious situation. Puzzles are often inventory-based and involve searching the same locations multiple times, and their solutions aren´t always perfectly logical.

Pendulo promises to maintain the first game´s challenging difficulty level, which was spot-on. Now items are bigger to avoid pixel hunting. Anaconda had originally planned to ship Runaway 2 in late 2005, but Pendulo needed more time to finish the game. Now it will be released on DVD in the 2nd quarter 2006.

The conclusion is obvious: Runaway 2 - The Dream of the Turtle will be the technically most impressive adventure ever while retaining all of Runaway´s strengths. It will be more than just a worthy successor.

Runaway 2 Links:

Developer homepage

Publisher homepage

Runaway 2 homepage