Sinking Island
| Sinking Island | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | L'Île noyée | ||
| Studio | White Birds Productions | ||
| Publisher |
 Micro Application Xider ND Games Encore   |
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| Senior Developer | Benoît Sokal | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
4th October 2007 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| Game engine | Opalium | ||
| genre | Adventure | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | mouse | ||
| medium | DVD-ROM | ||
| language | French, English, German | ||
| Age rating |
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Sinking Island , original French title L'Île noyée , is an adventure game by White Birds Productions . The game is set on the fictional Maldives island Sagorah Island, where the aim is to solve the death of the owner of the island. Sinking Island was introduced at the Games Convention in August 2007 and released for Windows on October 4, 2007 .
action
The player plays Jack Norm, a Parisian commissioner charged with investigating the death of billionaire Walter Jones. Jones, an industrialist born in Poland who now had Maldivian citizenship, owned the Maldivian island of Sagorah and an Art Deco style hotel on it. He had invited his grandchildren to the island for the opening of the hotel, but was then killed, possibly by outside influence, by falling off a cliff. At the time of death, there were ten people on the island, all of whom are possible perpetrators: Jones' three grandchildren and partners, his architect, his lawyer and two locals. During the three-day investigation, the island slowly sinks into the sea due to a storm and the enormous weight of the oversized hotel building, so that Norm only has three days for his investigation.
Game principle and technology
Sinking Island is a so-called 2.5D point-and-click adventure. Characters that were created as three-dimensional figure models move in front of hand-drawn 2D backdrops. Since the island on which the game is played gradually sinks into the sea, the outside areas are gradually no longer accessible to the player as the game progresses, while at the same time the course of the game in the hotel building unlocks new locations. With the mouse the player gives his character Jack Norm action commands, moves him from place to place, examines the scenery, analyzes and combines found objects as well as hints and statements of other characters. For the latter, the player has a tool available, the Personal Police Assistant, a kind of minicomputer in which clues, found objects and statements can be categorized and combined.
The game has two modes. In the "Adventure" mode, the progression of the plot is based solely on the actions of the player, so that he is not exposed to any time pressure. In "Real Time" mode, the action progresses without any action on the part of the player, so that he is under time pressure.
Production notes
The game is written by Benoît Sokal , a Belgian comic artist. In 2002, he designed the two-part Syberia adventure series for Microïds and later founded his own company White Birds Productions . Sinking Island is the company's second game after Paradise (2006). The publication took place first in France and then successively in Germany and Russia; the release in North America took place almost a year later in August 2008. The game was funded in part by the Center national du cinéma et de l'image animée and the French Ministry of Finance . A version for the Nintendo DS was announced by White Birds, but never appeared.
Sokal designed the Canardo figure in 1978 . Some elements of this comic book series frame Sinking Island, an approach Sokal had already practiced when designing Amerzone . The impetus for Sinking Island did not come from Sokal himself, but from his colleague Olivier Fontenay.
reception
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From 8 aggregated ratings, Sinking Island achieved a score of 68 on Metacritic . For 4Players, Bodo Naser praised the complex story and the technical aids of the PPA, which brought an overview into the game, but criticized the tough and varied gameplay as well as lengthy dialogues. He assessed that the Art Deco environment was "as out as a silent film". The trade magazine Adventure-Treff, on the other hand, noted a "stylish look" with a love of detail, especially with animations and polygon models. The magazine also positively highlighted the story full of coherent twists, which was exciting up to the end, but criticized lengthy walkways and a general lack of mystery. Editor Jan Schneider speculated that an adventure was the wrong medium for the story, a film or comic would have worked better. Emily Balistrieri acknowledged Sinking Island for the gaming portal IGN to be a suitable game for amateur detectives who like to question suspects and puzzle together clues. The game is not recommended for everyone else, and it is more satisfying to pick up a good crime thriller.
Web links
- Sinking Island at MobyGames (English)
- Trailer on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ AdventureGamers.com: Sinking Island coming to Nintendo DS. Retrieved November 16, 2016 .
- ↑ JeuxVideo.com: L'Ile Noyée: interview Benoît Sokal. Retrieved November 16, 2016 . (French)
- ↑ a b 4Players.de: Sinking Island. Retrieved November 16, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Adventure-Treff.de: Sinking Island - Murder in Paradise. Retrieved November 16, 2016 .
- ↑ a b IGN.com: Sinking Island Review. Retrieved November 16, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Metacritic.com: Sinking Island. Retrieved November 16, 2016 .