Lamplight City (Preview) by Grundislav Games
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of adventure games in all forms, having enjoyed the genre over the last thirty years, sometimes a newly released game can be truly great but the tired reliance on illogical ‘use item on other item’ puzzles and pixel-hunting can too often cloud over great writing and sumptuous, hand-drawn artwork.
Although this preview build contains only the introduction and first case of five (still a couple of hours’ worth of gameplay, though) I can assure the graphic adventure lovers out there that the scene is set for quite a unique adventure that draws from various sources and styles to create a world of its own that very much deserves to be played through.
Set in a steampunk Victorian Britain, you play as Detective Fordham, a top-notch and all-round spiffing copper who solves any case that lands across his desk, until a terrible accident results in him leaving the force to pursue a career in private investigation.
Bereft of an inventory screen, instead giving you a casebook, (items can be picked up, but are used automatically when Fordham clicks on the correct location) Lamplight City is a very conversationally-driven game.
It’s also possible to completely mess up cases, miss vital clues or obtain ‘bad’ endings to each of the five chapters but the game plows forward, regardless. For example, at an early junction in my first case, I was visiting a Voodoo Queen in Worcester and pressed my need to see what was behind a large velvet curtain in her house too far, causing her to lose trust in me, kicking me out of her home and removing the ability to visit her again from the in-game map…would the case have turned out differently if I had her help? I’ll never know, but it’s these choices that come with such weight even when seemingly innocuous, that make you question your choices as you work through Lamplight City.
The voice of your partner, Bill Leger gives advice and hints that you may or may not heed as you move through the wonderfully drawn locales. The game also touches upon classism, sexism, racism, religious fervor and various other issues as you work your way around and it all adds up to feeling like a living, breathing alternate Victorian England in which crimes can spiral far beyond what they initially seem.
When I completed the first case and was kicked back to the main screen, it dawned on me that this was a preview build and not the full game. The pang of disappointment that hit me is a testament to how much I was enjoying myself in Lamplight City.
The voice acting is strong and the banter between characters feels real and natural. Can this quality be kept up through the game and will it end up a cohesive whole? Only the fully released version will tell…but I’ll definitely be playing this upon its September release.
Right, I’m off to tell everyone how to pronounce Cholmondeley.
Preview By Britt
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