The point-and-click adventure still has a dedicated audience and Unusual Findings is seeking to capture that same experience those gamers love about this genre. With players taking control of teenagers Vinny, Nick, and Tony as they uncover a mystery involving an alien crash landing in their town. Teeming with nostalgia from the 80s Unusual Findings gets you hooked right at the beginning and doesn't let up.
Players take control of Vinny, Nick, and Tony but primarily control Vinny. After being grounded for a science experiment that resulted in an explosion Vinny and Nick sneak out to watch adult content at Tony's home. Having rigged a makeshift satellite the television hones into an alien distress signal and decides to investigate. It isn't long before the friends find the alien after it murders an officer. The friends must now try and capture the alien before it kills more people.
The story isn't linear but instead has branching choices. The player can choose to act in certain ways that determine how they're seen by others. This shifts the story to complement how you act towards those around you. The writers didn't sugarcoat anything as the adventure has a lot of mature elements despite the retro visuals and campy musical score. With murder, drug deals, and bloody bodies peppered throughout the adventure.
The town is teeming with 80s references from the musical score to the environment. Posters of Star Wars, DC heroes, various video games like Pac-Man, and more are all over the environment. The central focus does remain the story as the player tries to solve puzzles by locating key items. As with point-and-click adventures expect a lot of backtracking and figuring out what to do and where to go. This is the charm of point-and-click adventures as they do not hold your hand and expect you to find out what is next.
The voice acting and overall presentation of the game are stellar. It has that Stranger Things vibe and plays like a mystery similar to how the show plays out. With the boys attempting to put together a plan by asking those around town for help. Some like the Bull are willing to aid but require something in return.
Whether it's beating a video game or helping repair a bridge, the puzzles are layered and require constant back and forth. It's difficult to find a balance as providing tips would destroy the core of a point-and-click adventure but at the same time wandering around wondering how I clip some plastic cuffs on some extension cables is vexing. Perhaps adding an option where the player can talk to the kids about a general idea of what to do would be best. Like "Maybe we should check out Lover's Peak" or something like that. The only other option is to just talk and click on everything hoping you'll find the solution.
Another issue players will find is that when walking you'll accidentally click on random interactive points. An option to walk using the keyboard would be ideal here as directional keys move the cursor instead of the characters. Even using WSAD would be ideal if the developers want to keep the directional key as is.
Unusual Findings is looking to be the game that Stranger Things The Game should've been. A bunch of kids looking to solve a mystery while also growing in the process. Despite the tons of nostalgia the game only relies on these elements to set the tone. The entire cast of characters and premise keeps the interest alive and shifting of the narrative makes you second guess your choices. Unusual Findings has a lot of promising elements for an engaging story and we won't have to wait long to see how it all comes together.
Adam Siddiqui,
Managing Editor, NoobFeed
| Platform(s): | PC |
| Publisher(s): | Buka Entertainment |
| Developer(s): | Epic Llama |
| Genres: | Point And Click |
| Themes: | Indie, Adventure |
| Release Date: | 2021-10-21 |
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