Hands On: Blue Toad Murder Files
We go hands on with Relentless' new PSN exclusive puzzler. Related stories (more)Relentless: Buy One Toad Get One Free.
There’s Been A Murrrrrder
First Level: Blue Toad Murder Files
Article written by Raen in Featured Stories, PS3 News, on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 15:00.
So last weekend I made my way up to London to visit the throbbing Eurogamer Expo. Our very own Davs (djhsecondnature) was actually working at the expo so expect our reflection at some point in an audio format, although I’d have to stop coughing long enough to actually record stuff (yes, I’m sick, sympathy please). While there were several games that truly excelled at the show, one that’s stuck in my head as something completely new is Blue Toad Murder Files and it really deserves its own preview. The PSN exclusive episodic title is from Relentless Software, the developers behind the Buzz! series, and is genuinely the most enjoyable title I’ve played in a long time. That’s right, without condition this is probably the most fun I’ve had playing a game in a long time. Everything about the game from the art style, to the narrator, to the game play makes you smile and lose yourself in the game’s fictional world of Little Riddle.
As the game starts you select one of four characters, although as the game has four player ‘pass the pad’ multiplayer you can have all characters in one section, each with their own description which is pretty funny. From this opening the pure amusement and humour of the game come to the forefront and whilst the gameplay is simple brilliance – a style of game play that’s often overlooked – it really is the games humour that makes this game stick out as something special. The games narrator is brilliant, better than Stephen Fry in LittleBigPlanet, as are all the other characters. I was informed by the game’s producer that all of the games characters are done by the same voice actor, although it’s really not obvious even when you know.
Whilst the games humour is probably the title’s key point for me, the gameplay is what would typically be described as ‘family fun’, with the game being pitched as being similar to board games. I can kind of see where they’re coming from as well, rather than just replicating a board game in video game form – a transition that isn’t all that interesting – this game follows the style defined in the Buzz! games in creating truly communal gameplay that “the whole family can enjoy”. Given that gamers are quick to remind the general public that games aren’t all about the nerdy kid sitting in his bedroom, it seems odd that these kind of games aren’t more prevelant. While games in this style may be lacking, Relentless continue to get it completely and utterly right. Gameplay is turn based with the narrator announcing who’s to get the pad – although weirdly you’re still told in one player mode – and then you work through the various puzzles.
That’s right, it’s all puzzle based. The puzzle style is best described as ‘Professor Laytonesque’, with the puzzles being well integrated into the plot of the game, rather than just arbitary sections to make it a game rather than a movie. Whilst I didn’t find it overly challenging to start with the game certainly has a difficulty curve that starts to ramp up as you play through the chapter. There was only one puzzle that I found genuinely frustrating, unusual for the genre,and that was more due to me misreading on-screen prompts than anything else.
In most previews I’d probably continue here talking about other features or how developers ‘claim’ that the title is revolutionary. There’s really no need here. Blue Toad Murder Files doesn’t feature insanely deep or complex game-play mechanics, you won’t spend days or weeks learning when to hit X. It’s actually refreshing to play a game that doesn’t focus on that side of the game, too many games seem to be focusing on trying to add huge depth to the control scheme, or to adding contextual controls. There’s no need here, it’s just fun to play and I couldn’t really ask for more than that from any title. In all honesty (and in a moment that makes me blush on reflection I told the games producer this) it’s the most entertaining and enjoyable game I’ve played in quite some time.
What more do you really need to know? Oh a release date you say? You can pick up Episodes 1 and 2 on December 17th.
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
lewis815 | 06/11/2009 15:05
Member
685 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Good news! Any idea when this is being released yet?
djhsecondnature | 06/11/2009 15:08
Team TSA: Media
815 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Episodes 1 and 2 are out in December.
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:09
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I totally should have mentioned that bit! Will edit now
lewis815 | 06/11/2009 15:28
Member
685 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Haha cheers, It looks good, how long were you playing it for? The puzzles above look pretty cool albiet simple. Do you think the game is good to play on your own? Or is it like Buzz where if you play it alone it gets dull pretty quickly..
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:30
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I played it by myself, so yes
I think I would have had more fun with a group, but it was great by myself.
I probably played for about 30 minutes and only stopped because I had to leave the show (I actually stayed like 10 minutes longer than I should have to keep playing, people were not pleased with me).
RadioactiveMouse | 06/11/2009 15:07
Member
474 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
When I was there in London, it always had a large group of people watching it. Looks very polished from what I saw.
Definitely worth a look for anyone looking for a puzzler with a cool art style.
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:12
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
It was one of very few titles that you could play with friends at the show, I saw quite a few groups of friends playing it
Kevling | 06/11/2009 15:32
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Really looking forward to this – hope the episodes are priced sensibly…
Kevling | 06/11/2009 15:33
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
PS – is this a one-time-only tyype of game, or is there any replayability (e.g. randomised puzzles etc)?
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:36
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I didn’t get the chance to try it twice, so I can’t say for sure. The puzzles stay fixed I’m fairly certain, as I said above they fit in the games story so I don’t think they’d change. However the solutions could change, most of the puzzles I played were ones that could easily have different variables plugged in for different answers
LittleMissTidy | 06/11/2009 17:44
Member
9 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2009
Hey Kevling, I’m the producer on Blue Toad. You can replay puzzles to improve your timing and improve your awards (unless you got a gold for every puzzle first time around!). In our focus testing a lot of people that played by themselves or in a group said they’d like to play the same episode again with other friends/family members. No randomised puzzles – although it’s a great suggestion – maybe for season 2
?
lewis815 | 06/11/2009 15:36
Member
685 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I watched an interview with relentless, there will be additional episodes. and UK pricing will be around £5.99/£6.99 per episode, or you can get the first two episodes in a pack for £9.99.
lewis815 | 06/11/2009 15:37
Member
685 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Source for above – EU Blog. (And im pretty sure it was £6.79 per ep and £9.99 for two pack)
RadioactiveMouse | 06/11/2009 15:39
Member
474 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
I wish they had done a pack deal for Precipice of Darkness
Sounds a good idea though but I’d find it pretty hard to trump up £6.99 for a singular episode.
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:41
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
There’s six episodes in total. I reread a press release they sent over and it seems the price is £6.49 per episode, I’d missed that before.
LittleMissTidy | 06/11/2009 17:46
Member
9 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2009
Just to clarify – it’s £6.49 for an individual episode or £9.99 for two episodes.
djdustb | 06/11/2009 15:39
Member
1204 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
Do we have any news on price and how many episodes come out?
How frequently will they be out?
Are we talking weekly episodes or part 1 & 2 on the same day then 3 onwards months away, I would like a game that genuinely has a proper sets of weekly episodes so that you play and wait, I was looking forward to this aspect when Siren was announced only for them to release them all at once,
X201 | 06/11/2009 15:43
Member
259 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
I don’t think we’ll be seeing the Half Life 2 definition of episodic with this
djdustb | 06/11/2009 15:43
Member
1204 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
Don’t you just love posting a question the same time as someone answers it, only for your post to come below it. Arse.
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:43
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
There are 6 episodes in total (so 5 releases as 1 and 2 release together) at £6.49 an episode. As far as I know they haven’t announced release schedule for future episodes, although I can’t see there being huge gaps. I would imagine monthly episodes, but that’s a guess.
Kevling | 06/11/2009 15:52
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Sorry for the endless questions, but did they give any idea how much gameplay you’d get for your £6.49? (especially important if there’s no replay value)
Kevling | 06/11/2009 15:53
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
(PS Obviously there’s more than 30 minutes
)
Raen | 06/11/2009 15:55
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I played probably about a third of the puzzles by the look of it. So I’d say an episode might be two hours, but it could easily be more. Not bad really comes out about £39 for 12 hours gameplay across all eps, which is pretty good for this gen.
I was also informed that the build I played was a little old, so it could have had more puzzles added.
Kevling | 06/11/2009 16:01
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
That’s great, thanks Kris
Raen | 06/11/2009 16:02
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
No problem. Also buy it, it’s great
Kevling | 06/11/2009 16:04
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
I will!
LittleMissTidy | 06/11/2009 17:54
Member
9 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2009
There are 6 episodes in total, so if you buy all of them in bundles of 2, you could buy the whole series for £29.97. Episodes 1 & 2 are out on 17th December, and the rest will be released after christmas, probably in a similar fashion. We’re still working on Episodes 3-6!
Kevling | 06/11/2009 18:03
Member
1846 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Even better! Thanks
baconsarnie | 06/11/2009 16:06
Member
937 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
Saw this at the Expo and it looked pretty good, didn’t know the name of it at the time. Was going to go back and have a go but was a bit of a crowd around it, played some FIFA instead
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 06/11/2009 16:30
* Banned *
-1930 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Sounds a relatively fresh PSN title, definetly seems worth a look to me. Perhaps I will just get one episode, as I might be as disappointed with it as I was with that Penny Arcade game (I did only get halfway through Episode 1 mind).
LittleMissTidy | 06/11/2009 18:04
Member
9 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2009
Aww I hope you like it enough to buy Episode 2! The story continues through all 6 episodes, so if you play the later ones, you’ll get to find out more about characters you met earlier on in the series (that you wouldn’t have known about otherwise).
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 06/11/2009 20:18
* Banned *
-1930 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
As with any game, I’ll give it a fair old shot (unless of course it is no-doubt crap judging by reviews) but £6.49 is not exactly an insignifcant amount of money. However, this game appears to be a cheerful title and is one I am very interested in, therefore I would imagine I will end up buying more as it seems such an appealing title.
ShovellyJoe | 06/11/2009 16:31
Member
1035 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I love the art style, I might buy this just to ogle at all the lovely pixels and polygons.
Raen | 06/11/2009 16:34
Team TSA: Writer
3447 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Art style is great, very Monkey Island
spooner_22 | 06/11/2009 18:08
Member
947 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
This looks excellent. I love puzzle games. Prof Layton is amazing. If it has any elements of Broken Sword it would make it even better though. Saying that, you’ve said its really funny…and that the best thing about Broken Sword…so, check!
SpikeyMikey23 | 06/11/2009 18:22
Member
626 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
same, big broken sword fan, im interested in this but i will be waiting for a review or two before taking the plunge. Slightly off topic, can anyone tell me what the precipie of darkness game is all about? is it along the same lines as this? or broken sword?
spooner_22 | 07/11/2009 09:33
Member
947 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Yea i was interested in that too…but from the look of the youtube vids its not much like either. It’s not really about the puzzles by the look of it though there are some. It has turn based fight scenes in it…which I’m not keen on. Think I’ll stay away.
bunimomike | 07/11/2009 07:01
Member
3354 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Top stuff guys. My interest level has just doubled for this game. Roll on Christmas.
BadBoyBoogie | 07/11/2009 19:46
Let There Be Rock
2515 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I like the look of this. Will probably just try episode one for starters!!
kevatron400 | 08/11/2009 10:38
Member
1540 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
I had a chance to play this and I have to say it really wasn’t for me. I can see the appeal for some, but just not my thing.
Aitrus | 08/11/2009 19:34
Member
1242 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
Sounds and looks excellent! Any chance of a demo?