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Gemini Rue: Collectors Edition (PC DVD). You must work out a logical escape plan in order to avoid a gun fight or risk inevitable death. A great feature is the 'communicator' aka mobile phone which holds all your notes you have acquire in helping you solve your mission, a map, and a colleague of yours whos out floating in orbit who's readily.
Share this story.If Gemini Rue had been released 15 years ago, it would be remembered today as a classic. But the gritty, sci-fi thriller was instead released in 2011 and serves as a nostalgic reminder of the heyday of point-and-click adventure games. Part Blade Runner, part Beneath a Steel Sky, it's a game that doesn't attempt to do anything new. Instead, it does something old very, very well.Gemini Rue is a detective story. At least, that's how it begins. You play as Azriel Odin, a tough, trench-coat wearing cop stuck on a planet of perpetual rain and run by a criminal syndicate known as the Boryokudan. When a meeting with an informant falls through, Odin finds himself struggling to gather the information he needs to find his missing brother.
At the same time, in a rehabilitation facility hidden deep in space, a man known only as Delta Six finds himself without any memories. A mysterious director guides him through his rehabilitation, but what he's being rehabilitated for he doesn't know. Meanwhile, other patients attempt to curry his favor. And who should he trust? Gemini RueThe stellar production values and solid writing are able to almost entirely mask the fact that the game uses a formula that hasn't really changed in over a decade. You interact with the world using the simplest of commands—an eye to look at something, a word bubble to speak. It's archaic in a lot of ways, but also cozily familiar.
If you've played an adventure game before, there isn't much you need to learn in Gemini Rue. The one possible exception is the curious inclusion of cover-based combat, which will occasionally have you trading bullets with enemies. It's simple enough, though, and there's a pretty extensive tutorial disguised as a rehabilitation training session to guide you through the process. Something old, nothing newThis also means that the game is subject to many of the frustrations of the genre. The puzzles are generally intuitive and don't require any bizarre solutions. Problem is, though, that because the game world is frequently so dark, it's pretty easy to miss certain small, hidden clues, which results in the always dreaded pixel hunt.
This is alleviated somewhat by a few clever additions, including a computer network that you can search for clues and a cell phone-like communicator you can use to call for help.There's also at least one poorly constructed minigame that has you guiding a spaceship via a radar. It poses no challenge and is incredibly tedious.But with a game like Gemini Rue you should already know what you're getting into. It uses a formula that's already well-established and doesn't veer from the course. What it does so well is accentuate the strengths of that formula by presenting a gripping narrative coupled with a convincingly beautiful presentation.
![Gemini Rue Communicator Gemini Rue Communicator](http://www.androidshock.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Gemini-Rue-5.jpg)
It's a love letter to adventure gaming, but at the same time it stands up as a thoroughly enjoyable modern release. Verdict: Buy.
Boryokudan syndicate agents watch my every move as I relinquish my weapon and enter the futuristic criminal lair. In a dank room, the mob boss smugly reclines behind his desk. “I know everybody in this city, and I don't know you,” he begins. Over the course of our meeting (a culmination of carefully-chosen dialog options), I win his trust, convince him that I'm a crooked cop (a lie) and agree to find the Boryokudan's missing drug shipment in exchange for information on Center 7, the off-world criminal reconditioning facility holding my brother.
There isn't a lot of tension to this exchange—it can only play out one way—but the rich atmosphere and minimalist art style lets my imagination fill in the blanks with personal fears while brilliant sound design and thrilling sci-fi storytelling keeps me engrossed in a way I've never experienced in a point-and-click adventure game.Dead set on fulfilling every detective fantasy you've ever had, Gemini Rue is chock full of hard-boiled drama. One moment I'm in a shootout, hopping fences and shooting locks to escape danger; the next, I'm reading strangers' mail to track down a lead. And when I click a portrait icon in the corner of my screen, and I'm instantly whisked halfway across the galaxy into Gemini's concurrent storyline, told from the perspective of another character who must escape the Center 7 detention facility. Switching characters at will is a blessing when a puzzle has you stumped, and M. Night Shyamalan could learn a thing or two from the resulting narrative twist.Pixel huntMost times, Rue's low-res but beautiful art style aggressively tugs on your nostalgic heartstrings. Other times, those dastardly fat pixels are the bane of your existence, obscuring what should be easy solutions.
Case in point: in one scene I'm trapped, with my hands bound and feet dangling. The only thing that's missing is a death laser inching towards my crotch and a cackling super villain—that, and something to cut these ropes with before I'm murdered to death! Of course, I could use my feet to grab the tile shard I need to free myself, I just can't distinguish it from the rest of the pixelated jumble of junk that clutters the floor.The only other major gripe I can level against Rue is its save system. During several stretches of gameplay, you inexplicably can't save, and there's no indication when you're entering a no-save zone.It's redeemed, though, by its mature narrative, which I wouldn't be embarrassed to describe aloud in public—it questions human nature and what defines a person, rather than dwelling on cartoon humor or boobs.
Rue is a gem for treating us like adults, and it's an experience that any adventure gamer should be proud to add to their collection.
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