Nevermore 3

Being a Relative adventure game noob (the last proper one I played was LucasArts' 1998 classic Grim Fandango, back when they weren't purely concerned with endlessly churning out crappy Star Wars titles) trawling through the reams of free adventure games on the web is a daunting and overwhelming process. I'm therefore particularly proud of myself for finding this little gem, which even grizzled adventure connoisseurs may appreciate.

As far as platform adventurers go its a fairly simple and linear endeavour. You assume control of a hero named Olek, who must search for the treasure that will save his village. The plot is purposefully thin and the adventure only really consists of a few fetch quests, so it shouldn't take any longer than an hour to finish. Visually, however, the game is beautiful. The highly stylised characters and levels have the quirkiness of Tim Burton's creations and the charm of a Pixar movie, making the lack of a meaty story a flaw that's easy to forget.

This isn't a game that hinges on a compelling plot, as the narrative is simply there to guide you through and supplement the alluring world and unusual characters (which look suspiciously similar to the giant rat in The Moomins). However, interactions with these other characters is a disappointingly limited affair. The dialogue is fittingly oddball, but it would have enriched the experience a lot had there been more of it. Similarly, the inclusion of a couple of response choices and simple conversation trees would have fleshed out the idiosyncrasies of the characters, the exploration of which would have added a bit of a variety to what can sometimes be repetitive gameplay. You'll spend most of your time running and jumping about from A to B, fetching items so you can get to C.

This repetitious formula is easy to forgive when you consider that the simplistic gameplay is merely there as a practical tool for you to enjoy the seductive visuals.

As far as independent releases go, this is a genuinely fun way of wasting an hour and certainly has a place on anyone's desktop.