This morning during my daily check of all my favorite sites, I was surprised to see the samurai protagonist of Linus Bruckman staring back at me from the top of Adventure Gamers.
They had previously run a nice review of Spooks, but I wasn’t expecting to see a review of Linus on the site. I thought Linus was too short to warrant any attention from adventure gamedom’s flagship site. But what an amazing review it is.
Glowing. Probably too much so.
[H]e has created what is arguably the most innovative adventure game of recent years.
If it all sounds too clever by half, be assured that Vince Twelve has taken the split-screen gimmick and built a solid, rewarding game around it. Indeed, while the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, those parts could proudly stand on their own without the unifying conceit.
[A]ll the menus, intros, end sequences and credits also exhibit impeccable visual design.
With a cleverly written story and dialogue, finely tuned gameplay, and an abundance of fresh ideas, Linus is a must-try game for all adventure lovers.
I’m struggling to find anything negative to say about the game.
Too much? No, not at all! Please continue.
The game is a tour de force of programming, and not just a milestone in Underground creativity, but one of the most original adventure games ever made.
Ok… I don’t know about it being a “tour de force of programming,” being scripted (albeit quite cleverly) in a freeware game engine. But damn I love this review…
He does pick on the name of the game, but with a name like “Gunnar Harboe,” is he really allowed to? (I kid, I kid!)
Thanks Gunnar for that amazingly flattering review!
What’s he talking about? The name is the best part. It could be better… if it were longer.
July 12th, 2007 at 23:41Dude, you’re famous now. Which means you’re under even more pressure for the next game to be good. Better step it up!!! :)
July 13th, 2007 at 1:08Feels nice, doesn’t it?
Congratsulations my friend!
July 13th, 2007 at 1:22Seriously, I thought everyone loved the title. But yeah, very glowing review, though I’m not surprised. You have exceptional beta testers, after all.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:51I recently just played this game properly about 2 days ago, I was up til 3am finishing it and having a fucking good time doing it.
I had played it when you first released it just enough to go, “Puzzle? … Hmm, the answer isn’t immediately obvious so… PASS” but recently I wanted to give it a proper go and I was, I tell you, so interrifyingly impressed.
I can’t go on too much because I have to go to work soon and that guy up yonder said most of what I meant to say, but it felt pretty much perfect in terms of the way a puzzle ought to feel. I was never frustrated, it felt intuitive and rather than puzzle games that feel the need to throw crowbars into your brainworks and give you obstacles, this game HELPED you solve it and gave you the tools to easily do so.
VERY satisfying. I’m very impressed and I wanted to tell you so.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:56Eric: Longer? I suppose I could have added a colon and a subtitle…
Z: You know I will!
Gnome: Feels great! Thanks!
Erenan: Where would I be without by beta testers? I’m sure Gunnar would have railed on my many typos!
Kinoko: Thanks! I saw your name pop up on the Hall of Completion a few days ago and I was going to PM to congratulate you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
July 13th, 2007 at 20:26Looks like Gunnar enjoyed the game as much as the rest of us. Nicely done as usual, Vince. :)
July 14th, 2007 at 23:51Thanks E!
July 15th, 2007 at 8:44I finally got around to playing Linus after promising myself I’d do so for quite some time, and Gunnar’s review was probably what gave me the metaphorical kick in the pants to do it. Needless to say, I was so impressed that I wrote my own little mini-review on my blog. Enjoy.
Also, I’m a big fan of the long name as well, but that should probably be obvious given my previous work.
July 17th, 2007 at 6:56Lalalalala…
http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=1495
Somebody ought to digg it you know…
July 18th, 2007 at 18:35heh. subtlety!
July 18th, 2007 at 19:10