[2.21]
Played on PC
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⇡#All in one
On paper, Little Big Adventure is considered an action-adventure game, but in reality it is no less a quest, especially in the first half. And even with the beginnings of stealth and platforming. The game clearly leans more towards the adventure part, as we have to explore a lot of locations, talk to a bunch of funny characters and unravel the necessary sequence of actions to move forward and rid the planet of the tyranny of the evil Doctor Funfrock. The action, it seems, was sewn in here on the side – judging by the history of the creation of the original, the publisher, represented by EA, wanted to see the funny Twinsen as a stern protagonist, capable of giving bream to anyone and everyone, and the developers did not really agree with this idea. Therefore, the combat turned out, to put it mildly, not very well.
The remake, unfortunately, did not improve the situation. It eliminated the need to constantly pause the game to switch between different modes of movement for the protagonist, which is grateful for, but when it comes to any interactions with enemies, it becomes painful. For example, Twinsen hits not in the direction where he is looking, but in the direction where the cursor is pointing. And where this very cursor is is not always clear, because it does not move across the entire screen, but hangs at a short distance from the hero. The auto-aim takes on a life of its own and gets lost at the slightest movement of the mouse, so throwing a magic ball is also not a pleasant experience, especially on the go. But you need to run circles around enemies, otherwise being hit by a bullet will reset the hero’s running animation – and you may simply not get out of this hellish loop.
In the original game, the character was waiting for the new Star Wars trilogy. It’s good that he didn’t know that another one would follow.
In general, the number of various bugs and rough edges in the release version is disappointing. If you can ignore the graphical problems, then the rest cannot. Sometimes Twinsen can be squeezed into a corner by a character walking next to him (you can’t pass through him, a collision, sir), the lift once again leaves without the hero, gluing him tightly to the floor, or the poor fellow simply gets stuck in the process of studying the next box and stops responding to key presses . Considering that the game saves progress only when moving to another location (for example, leaving the house on the street), and not actions inside the room, the need to replay certain areas begins to irritate over time, even despite the relatively modest timing.
It’s a shame, because the game is still charming when it doesn’t try to pretend to be an action or platformer (it’s still a pleasure to play a platformer in isometric mode and with a second input delay for jumping). There are a lot of unusual, albeit sketchy, characters, an interesting world in which it’s nice to just be in, a plot with hints of dystopia, and it’s interesting to deal with the problems of local residents. Throughout the first half – exactly until Little Big Adventure forces you to constantly fight – it’s difficult to tear yourself away from the project precisely because of its unique atmosphere.
In addition to the usual guards, a TANK may come for you!
Then the atmosphere fades into the background, and the combat causes more and more irritation. Usually in remakes they try to at least somehow correct the shortcomings of the original – not always successfully, but attempts are made. However, in the case of Little Big Adventure, it would have been necessary to redo almost half of the game, which towards the end for some reason switched from an entertaining adventure quest to an action movie. The new version does not make any fundamental changes to either the structure or the gameplay – it only seriously changed the graphic style and partially expanded the narrative. Otherwise, this arrangement is almost one to one. It is clear that the budget is low and the team is small, but leaving something that didn’t work very well even in the original is a so-so idea. After three decades, it certainly won’t work any better on its own.
What would an adventure be without puzzles involving moving boxes?
Advantages:
- The game world has not lost its charm;
- The first, calmer half still looks decent and interesting.
Disadvantages:
- A huge number of bugs, from small ones that don’t interfere too much to those that force you to replay entire sections;
- Everything related to the combat system is either crooked or simply inconvenient;
- When the game switches to pure action, all the charm instantly disappears.
Graphic arts
In my opinion, the graphic style has been updated adequately. The picture is pleasant and colorful, and the environment is readable without any problems. However, the old funny animations of the main character running have been remade – now they don’t look so funny and awkward.
Sound
The dialogue is well-voiced (even if what is spoken and what is written in the subtitles often diverges), and the music, when present, helps add atmosphere.
Single player game
The first, interesting half of the game is noticeably different from the second, which is not very successful in trying to be an action movie. Because of this, Little Big Adventure feels like two almost opposite projects, for some reason stuck together into one whole.
Estimated time of completion
From four to seven hours, depending on how quickly you figure out what they want from you next in the plot.
Collective game
Not foreseen.
General impression
The final result can hardly be called a remake – rather, it is a remaster with improved graphics, which did not really correct either the gameplay component or the structure of the game, but added a lot of bugs.
Rating: 6.0 / 10
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