Hello and welcome back to Adam Wolfe, the game that partners its players with the protagonist to solve the unexplainable paranormal disturbances. I have no idea why I decided to open this article with an introduction lifted from a cheesy game show, as I said in my last review, I don’t really know how to begin articles that follow on from each other. In short you should only be reading this if you’ve read the other 2 … sorry to be a ball buster but it’s an unwritten law amongst video game journalism J Anyways, enough throwing my authority around, let’s open the next case shall we.
Adam Wolfe is a series of episodic click and point adventures from the team at Mad Head Studios, releasing as a 4-part season on Steam. The series revolves from renowned paranormal investigator Adam Wolfe, a cool confident dude who tackles the unexplainable and bewildering cases that the cops can’t handle. In episode 1, we were introduced to Adam, who is tasked with uncovering the secrets behind a fire demon dwelling in an ancient dagger, a prized possession in the hands of a mysterious cult. Underneath this paranormal epic is the case of Adam’s missing sister Allie, who he believes is somehow connected to these recent cases, and without spoiling too much, plays quite a pivotal role in the unfolding story. The first 2 cases delved into the deranged and dastardly, so less pondering, and more detective…ing.
Episode 3, Lady and The Painter, starts less than a fart after the last one, beginning right where you left off. The case concerning the mysterious box may have been solved, but Adam has learnt more about a secretive cult that could be more responsible for the latest goings on than anyone else would dare admit. Dez reluctantly informs Adam that he has seen a familiar symbol connecting the cases at a local painter’s home, so he decides to pay the chap a visit, only to discover he is being haunted by the ghost of his dead wife. With his help, Adam must unravel the suspicious nature of the artist’s dead wife, as her swift departure isn’t all that it seems and may hold answers to finding out more on the deadly cult, ‘The Timeless’. With very little breathing time in between episodes, it was great that the pace and high level of interest continued, meaning I was very easily and quickly sucked back into the narrative, something that not all episodic adventures can achieve. This particular episode is yet another action packed, heart pounding tale that had me thrilled from start to finish. In all honesty, I was anxious about starting this one as I pessimistically believed that the rush would have come to an end by now, however 75% through Adam’s first series, I can confidently say that this will come to an almighty, satisfying climax … but enough looking to the finale, let me get back to this episode.
In similar fashion to episode 2, Lady and The Painter featured more hidden object puzzles than the debut episode had, however with progression comes difficulty, and I felt that this 3rd instalment featured more difficult challenges, which prevented me from getting bored. Throughout this episode, I revisited locations from the past 2 titles, as well as entering new ones that were previously inaccessible, which to me means that the studio has thought about the game’s ‘universe’ to some degree, rather than just creating 4 separate games with nothing in common; this was a refreshing and pleasantly surprising discovery. Something I’ve failed to state until now is the length of each episode, which averagely checks out at 90 minutes each, and this one being the most jam packed one to date. Spending a little over 5 hours to complete 3/4s of a game may not sound the most attractive, but when the story that’s being told is as riveting as Adam Wolfe’s, it really doesn’t matter.
Once again, this episode is just as highly enjoyable as the ones which have come before and definitely the best one yet. The terrifically bizarre, supernatural narrative is one that keeps me greatly engaged from the first click to the end credits and I for one cannot wait to see how it comes to an end. Everything about episode 3 is awesome, it’s that little more epic, that little more difficult and that more importantly, that little more … weird, I only hope Episode 4 can give me that satisfying ending I so desperately want.
To be continued … Episode 4: Zero Hour coming soon!
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