Platform reviewed on: PC

Also available on: Mac Os

General/ Plot:…..8

”Stories Untold” is an indie title that will undoubtedly strike those nostalgia chords of old school players, where text based adventures were all the rage. The game is comprised of 4 chapters, which initially seem to not have any relevance the one with the other but in the final chapter everything is woven in such a way that will surely leave you jaw dropped.

At first, your character sits in front of an ancient computer machine playing a text based video game where you write commands in order to advance. However, in the later chapters, while the main concept stays approximately the same, one or two tweaks crank up the pace. To avoid spoilers, no story elements will be presented. The only thing that will be mentioned is that towards the end of the game, where you will start figuring out what is going on, you will realise that this game had a lot of potential to be a huge success but fell flat due to low budget and technical limitations.

Graphics:…..5

Plain mediocrity is the only phrase that can characterise the graphics of ”Stories Untold”. A precise characterisation of the graphics is that the game feels like a Power Point Slideshow, since for the most part you will navigate from one screen to the other, examining images and objects in order to find clues that will help you move forward. There are a few sections where you ”control” your character in a first person perspective, but the graphics are of poor quality.

Sound Design:….6

Mediocrity in this section as well. The soundtrack is forgettable and the sound effects just fit the creepy atmosphere. The only aspect that raises the rating to ”Good” is the voice acting, which while not spectacular, does a good job of immersing you in the brilliant story of the game.

Game play:…..5

Seriously, how can you mess up the game play of a text based adventure game?? Well, you should ask the developers of ”Stories Untold”.

First of all, i must say that i have no experience with games of this genre. However, i imagine that when typing commands in such a title, the programmers should have included a variety of phrases to represent more or less the command you have in your ind. For example, why typing ”see the writing on the wall” is a mistaken command and ”look at the writing on the wall” is a valid one? This aspect is cumbersome and at times i was extremely frustrated because i had to carefully see the walkthrough to find the exact command i had to type. Moreover, i could not find any tutorial inside the game to catch the philosophy behind the commands, thus meaning that at the first chapter i just typed and typed on my keyboard to no avail.

The 2nd and final chapter of the game are by far the best in the game play department, mostly because the game takes a more point and click approach which is at least serviceable. The whole 3rd chapter is comprised of a series of riddles that all require the same approach (with some slight variations) in order to solve them, thus meaning that midway through it i was already very bored and i just used the walkthrough to see what happens next.

Value for Money:……7

You can find ”Stories Untold” at the price tag of 10 Euros, which is just OK for game with a duration of 4 hours. If you neglect the graphics, the sometimes frustrating game play and a few bugs,  you will find a very mesmerising story that will stay in your mind  for years to come.

SCORE:…..6.2, ”Good”.