The Book of Unwritten Tales
| The Book of Unwritten Tales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | King Art | ||
| Publisher |
 HMH Interactive Lace Mamba Nordic Games |
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
April 2, 2009 | ||
| platform | Linux , Mac OS X , Windows | ||
| Game engine | OGRE | ||
| genre | Point-and-click adventure | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse & keyboard | ||
| medium | DVD-ROM , download | ||
| language | German English | ||
| copy protection | Steamworks (Linux) | ||
| Age rating |
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The Book of Unwritten Tales is a classic point-and-click adventure game developed by German studio King Art and published in April 2009.
action
In a war- torn country, the aged Gremlin archaeologist Mortimer MacGuffin is keeping the dark secret of a powerful artifact. Whoever owns this treasure will determine the fate of the world. When MacGuffin is kidnapped by a sorcerer and a huge troll of thugs, a trio of heroes - consisting of the elf Ivo, the gnome Wilbur Wetterquarz and the buccaneer Nathaniel "Nate" Bonnet accompanied by the "cattle" - stumble into an unexpected adventure.
Game principle and technology
In The Book of Unwritten Tales is a classic point-and-click adventure , set in a clichéd fantasy world that is full of humorous allusions to the great books and movies of the role-playing, fantasy and science fiction genres . Common to the genre, allusions to well-known point-and-click titles or the genre in general are also increasing. The player takes turns in the role of one of the four playable characters. He can travel through the game world with the mouse and meets over 40 people and 250 objects with which he can interact. Dialogs can be conducted, objects can be viewed, used or added to the inventory for later use. In this way, the player advances the chaptered plot. It takes around 12 hours to explore the game world, which includes over 60 locations, and to solve each of the 150 or so puzzles. Aside from the classic point-and-click control, The Book of Unwritten Tales also features other game elements typical of the genre, such as free switching between characters, mini-games and combination puzzles.
For the graphic display, the manufacturer combines rendered backgrounds with real-time animated and illuminated 3D models, which, however, are largely seamlessly integrated into the scene. The camera position is limited to a fixed point and can only be zoomed and panned, but the visual complexity of the displayed scenes is much more detailed than would be possible with graphics calculated in real time, and still leaves room for complex graphic effects such as reflections and soft shadows. The developer relies on the free graphics engine OGRE , which is already used by other representatives of the adventure genre.
Production notes
The Book of Unwritten Tales was King Art's most successful game to date; the sales figures were in the mid six-digit range. In 2011, a sequel entitled The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Cattle Chronicles was published. In terms of content, this is a prehistory to the first part. In February 2014 the direct sequel to The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 was announced, which was published in February 2015. Nordic Games acted as the publisher , adding additional content such as B. the orchestral background music or detailed facial animations were financed through successful crowdfunding .
synchronization
HMH Interactive and King Art hired well-known voice actors from television and cinema for the humorous fantasy adventure The Book of Unwritten Tales . Over 40 speaking roles were filled. These include:
| role | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Wilbur weather quartz | Oliver Rohrbeck |
| Ivo | Marion von Stengel |
| Nate Bonnett | Dietmar miracle |
| cattle | Marco Rosenberg |
| Archmage Alastair / Markus, the magician master / Zloff | Bodo Wolf |
| Munkus / zombie | Detlef Bierstedt |
| Colonel Grandpa weather quartz | Peter Groeger |
| Mortimer MacGuffin | Uli Krohm |
| City Guard BA shield bearer / paladin | Stefan Krause |
| Jorge the shopkeeper | Santiago Ziesmer |
| King of Thieves | Bernd Vollbrecht |
| Arch witch Mortroga / bounty hunter Ma'Zaz / Esther | Regina Lemnitz |
| Cellar master | Wolfgang Völz |
| Gulliver | Michael Iwannek |
| Orc chief | Thomas Danneberg |
reception
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The Book of Unwritten Tales achieved a score of 82 on Metacritic from 32 aggregated ratings. GameStar praised a “permanently motivating action”, the dialogues of which were “bursting with puns and nice running gags”. The magazine also highlighted the character drawing of the protagonist and the setting of the dialogues positively. Slight weaknesses in the operating concept as well as declining dramaturgy in the final of the game in the form of a short-term boss were criticized.
- Spieletipps.de : "Extremely funny fantasy trip in what is perhaps the best adventure game in years, you really grow fond of the sympathetic characters." - Rating: 88%
- 4Players .de: “The Book of Unwritten Tales has in many points the exact balance that makes a good fantasy adventure game. Lots of clichés from role-playing games and Tolkien's fairy tale worlds are poked fun at here. By the way, hardcore brain cell torturers could feel subtly under-challenged due to the moderate level of difficulty. For beginners and adventure fans with a passion for fantasy, The Book of Unwritten Tales is a must buy. ”- Rating: 85%
- Adventures-Kompakt.de: "" The Book of Unwritten Tales "is an all-round successful fun adventure that can compete with classics like Monkey Island. The showpieces of the game are the original characters and their speakers as well as the many small and large gags. The numerous allusions to the world of role-playing games, but also to adventures or films, ensure the best entertainment. The points of criticism are minimal. Anyone who wants to play a really fun adventure is in good hands here. ”- Rating: 9.5 out of 10 points
- Adventurecorner.de: King Art and HMH have created 'The Book of Unwritten Tales', an adventure game that is second to none and one of the favorites for the game of the year. The thought-out and exciting story, lovable characters, funny dialogues and a wonderful fantasy world are the ingredients that make this game simply better than most of the currently available genre representatives. You can tell from the game that true friends of adventure games were at work here. Anyone who has even a little fun in humorous, but not silly adventures, can access 'The Book of Unwritten Tales' without hesitation. - Rating: 91%
- Adventure-Treff .de: The Book of Unwritten Tales shows: King Art has been able to put itself in the right light and has proven that they can produce high-end adventure games. In this adventure everything seems to be right, be it the synergy of graphics and sound, the story or the lovingly drawn characters. With such quality, the less than perfect video sequences are quickly forgotten. This adventure can therefore be unreservedly recommended - even to those who haven't been too fond of the genre so far. The Book of Unwritten Tales shows how adventures should be presented and should be able to inspire beginners, casual adventurers and professionals alike. - Rating: 90%
- PC Games : The game is atmospheric. Not only because the graphics consist of beautifully pre-rendered environments, fine animations and detailed 3D figures. But also because the speakers are first class and do their job with passion. In addition, the orchestral soundtrack goes wonderfully with the atmospheric images and would probably be in good hands even in a good fantasy film. So: Congratulations, King Art - you did it! - Rating: 85%
The trade magazine Adventure Gamers placed The Book of Unwritten Tales in 2011 in its list of Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games at 64th place.
Web links
- Official website
- The Book of Unwritten Tales at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ GameReactor.de: Theysen: "The German adventure audience is more demanding". Retrieved November 8, 2016 .
- ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/book-of-unwritten-tales-the-critter-chronicles
- ↑ GamersXL.de: The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 - announced with Kickstarter campaign ( memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ↑ Computer & Video Games »The Book of Unwritten Tales (2009). Retrieved June 22, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Gamestar.de: The Book of Unwritten Tales in the test - funny and excitingly told adventure. Retrieved May 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b The Book of Unwritten Tales. Retrieved October 1, 2016 .
- ↑ Test: The Book of Unwritten Tales , accessed April 18, 2009
- ↑ Test on 4Players.de , accessed on April 18, 2009
- ↑ Test on Adventures-Kompakt.de , accessed on June 6, 2009
- ↑ Test on Adventurecorner.de , accessed on September 19, 2012
- ↑ Test on Adventure-Treff.de , accessed on September 19, 2012
- ↑ PC Games magazine : test report as text
- ↑ AdventureGamers.com: Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games. Retrieved August 25, 2016 .
