Wednesday, 12th June 2013

LostHorizon
Game Lost Horizon
Released 2010
Developer Animation Arts
Available Apple GOG Steam

Lost Horizon is an Adventure game from the team responsible for the "Secret Files" games. Very interesting extra on the game DVD is a prototype of "Lost Horizon" which hints at a different storyline, and also uses 3D models from the "Secret Files" games!

The plot (which for me is the weakest part of "Lost Horizon") is rather run-of-the-mill. The Nazis are after the mystical powers of Tibet, and as Fenton Paddock your job is to stop them. You will trek around the globe collecting stuff, and then have a final showdown in Shambala. At times you play as Kim (a Hong Kong girl,) and in the endgame also as another British soldier who has reached Shambala ahead of Fenton. The dual character gameplay is particularly good and inventive, adding depth to the experience.

Fenton has lots of humorous asides to make as he performs the roundabout actions one tends to do in games of this ilk. You meet a range of characters in various locations like Indian jungles, Arab markets, and the German Olympics. The game is made by people who know how to make Adventure games, there are plentiful cutscenes as Fenton performs in front of you, the game is helpful like highlighting interactive hotspots.

This is a traditional adventure, no timed puzzles or death sequences or dead ends. Even sequences like the car chase in Hong Kong is fair Adventuring. The puzzles are nearly all inventory puzzles, but you're never faced with impossibles numbers of combinations to try. I played through without having to refer to a walkthrough, yet got a sense of accomplishment from solving the challenges.

A good solid chunk of Adventuring. A better plot would have been nice, but a fun sequence of puzzles. The dual character gameplay is particularly enjoyable.