It’s odd to see that familiar old BBC logo popping up at the start of a game. It carries with it the weight of 80-odd years of broadcasting experience. It’s the logo of one of Britain’s greatest institutions whose output draws international acclaim. And now they’ve entered our neck of the woods with the first of the new Doctor Who adventure games. Freely available to download here.
For all the BBC’s media expertise, their first foray into gaming was always going to have a few teething problems and the first outing for the digital Doctor is certainly a mixed bag. Dodgy stealth sections and fiddly puzzles may prove a little too difficult for the age group the game is clearly aimed at. You’ll be moving objects through lazer mazes, matching symbols and wiring up circuit boards in a plethora of minigames which don’t so much add variety as pad out the experience.
Clunky controls make the stealth sections frustrating, especially given the fact that more often than not you have Amy Pond in tow and her self preservation instincts are a shaky as they are in the TV show. She ‘s also the most robotic of the pair. Matt Smith’s sterling vocal work and character model, if a little immobile and glassy eyed, presents a much more convincing representation of the real article than Amy Pond’s weird looking facsimile-
OH GOD I can’t do it anymore! Be silent, logical analytic thoughts! I won’t let you taint my rampant fanboyism any longer! Are you listening, brain? I’ve got a drill, it’s quite large, certainly enough to do serious damage to the prefrontal cortex, if you know what I mean.
Finally, I’m free! Free to run round and round in circles, giggling like a mad man and using my sonic screwdriver on everything. Use sonic screwdriver on window! Nothing happened, I don’t care! Use sonic screwdriver on Amy, still nothing! Use sonic screwdriver on suspicious bit of wall, no joy! Use sonic screwdriver on door HOLY SHIT IT OPENED.
I’m prepared to cut the game huge amounts of slack for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s free (to those in the UK). Secondly, it’s a big deal that the BBC are making games, and this isn’t a half-arsed attempt by any stretch. The failings stem from inexperience and a low budget. A more stylised take on the visuals would have helped. Striving for real life representations is very difficult without a degree of caricature, for which the visual style doesn’t really allow. Bringing Charles Cecil on board was a sign that the BBC are taking the project seriously, but as yet his flair for puzzles hasn’t materialised. Bring the puzzles out of the minigames and into the environments, lose the crummy stealth, give us a few more people to chat to and the future episodes might be pretty special
Oh, and let us explore the TARDIS, already!
Can’t I use the drill on you instead.
I promised myself I’d look at it today, but I just haven’t got round to it. You know who I blame? Craig.
Also Ubisoft.
That was taken as read.
I blame tory britain.
“Oh, and let us explore the TARDIS, already!”
Well we know there’ll be some running around the tardis, judging by the “we put this doorway here in the TARDIS set specifically for the game” comment that was in one of the publicity videos for the game. I don’t think we’ll get to splash around in the pool, though.