J.U.L.I.A is a space adventure game that is developed by Cardboard Box Entertainment and published by Lace Mamba for the retail market. The year is 2430; you play as the character Rachel Manners an astrobiologist who awakens from a cryogenic sleep to find out things have gone terribly wrong with little or no memory as to how or why. The story line is split into two parts, one is to find answers to what has happened to the entire crew who are all missing and the other is to somehow repair your probe located orbiting a planet far away. However, all is not lost as you have help from J.U.L.I.A the ships artificial intelligence and MOBOT a very large remote controlled robot, to assist you in these tasks. Other characters you may see upon you travels are a mere few aliens and a couple of dead bodies scattered here and there.
Everything aboard the probe is controlled by using the computer interface; functions you can control include ship repairs, upgrades to MOBOT and the ability to harvest minerals from nearby planets. The MOBOT can be used by sending it down to the planet you are orbiting; once you have landed on the planet you get a visual display of the surface of the planet and an audio description detailing the planet’s surface. You can interact with some of the surrounding objects on your display; these objects are identified by a dialogue box that will appear with a selection of tools that you can use. There are no wrong answers amongst this as you will have to work your way through all options.
There are plenty of puzzles for you to solve throughout this game, which will appeal to gamers who are seeking a challenge. For each puzzle you come across an icon will become available to explain the situation to you as well as give you some hints and tips on completing the task. On some of the puzzles there will be a Skip button, this does not make the puzzle vanish, but only make it disappear ready for you to do at a later date. Puzzles will also have to be completed before you can continue on to the next planet.
Some of the puzzles are entertaining and they are well integrated into the plot, some are just basic run off the mill such as opening a door or by connect a few wires together. There are others that can be pretty challenging to some, learning a new alien language which is all done by matching up lines is a good example of this. The most repetitive mini game will be harvesting minerals one, this is done by moving the cursor over the planet’s surface to try and match up the material composition; the cursor will turn a brighter shade of green once you are near the specific mineral. Once you have found this just right click to harvest.
The graphics in the game are very well presented, although many of the scenes are divided in multiple split screens, with the remaining image devoted to MOBOT display. Each and every planet will have a different look and different features. From icy cold planets to desert covered planets, even the different looking aliens look awesome. The only downside I could see from the game would have to be the lip syncing, you will often still see the lips moving after all the speech has been spoken to you.
Overall the game will occupy at least 5 or 6 hours of good gameplay, if you fancy a change and a decent amount of challenge I would recommend this title.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
