Time Gentlemen, Please!
First posted on 15 March 2011. Last updated on 05 July 2012.
|
| Ben and Dan break back into prison. |
|
| Ben and Dan look for the professor. |
|
| Big Ben stands tall even in an alternate timeline. |
|
| Time travel can wreck havoc in the flow of history. |
|
| Hitler heads up a new regime with his minions of robot Nazi dinosaurs. |
Bundle In A Box
Time Gentlemen, Please! is part of the Bundle In A Box released in May 2012 by Kyttaro Games. The bundle includes 6 additional games: 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, Ben There, Dan That!, Gemini Rue, Metal Dead, The Sea Will Claim Everything, and The Shivah. Unlockable extras for the bundle include a booklet for Metal Dead and soundtracks for Gemini Rue and The Shivah.
Time Gentlemen, Please! is the sequel to the 2008 indie adventure game Ben There, Dan That!. Written by and starring the series' creators Ben Ward and Dan Marshall (it is an ingenious, fresh twist to include the developers themselves as the protagonists), the game is both a homage to the LucasArts and Sierra classic adventure games of yesteryear as well as a satirical take on the adventure game genre as a whole.
Even if you have not played Ben There, Dan That! before, the opening of Time Gentlemen, Please! does a fantastic job of bringing you up to speed with the story so far. It turns out that, in the original game, the older versions of Ben and Dan have concocted some nefarious plan to rule the world, via the fake alien abduction of their younger selves and the odd use of some parallel dimensions. Confused? Good!
This sequel seems fully aware that the whole premise of the original game is crazy, and it consciously dials itself up a few more notches. Whilst some parts of the story are confusing, the basic gist of what is unraveling (apart from time, of course!) nonetheless manages to make sense in the end: Ben and Dan, 2 young London roommates, must fix the space time continuum by traveling through time and stopping the invention of coat hangers. Really? Yes, the story is just that crazy!
Who is standing in their way, you ask? Only Hitler and his army of robot Nazi dinosaurs! Truth be told, this game may even outwit the classic wacky antics of LucasArts's Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle. Certainly, the focus on time travel draws obvious parallels to that game. Altering events in the past to change items and scenes in the future, stepping through time rips that show both the past and the present at once, and all common traits and tricks of time travel are present and correct here. What makes this otherwise familiar premise all seem so fresh, however, are Ben and Dan themselves.
There are no voices in this game. There are also very few non-player characters that you can interact with. The future shown in the game has seen many people die, apparently glued to their sofas watching repeats of British daytime television. Luckily, the personalities of Dan and Ben shine through and make up for these shortcomings: their quips and interactions are hilarious, showcasing sharp writing infused with the personalities of the creators themselves. The resultant effort is charming, outrageously hilarious, and often crude: I cannot recall any other adventure games where the items in my inventory have included a skeletal hand covered in Hitler's bloody stool and a collection of used condoms! This is definitely a game for grownups. Thankfully, the comedic material never becomes too gross-out or off-putting. In fact, this is adult humor that is surprisingly sophisticated in parts and juvenilely crude (but gets away with it regardless) in others. British gamers will also get a buzz from the cultural references and locations, although this is not strictly necessary to derive pleasure from the game's humor.
Like Ben There, Dan That!, Time Gentlemen, Please! is created using Adventure Game Studio. Considering the platform on which the game is developed, the graphics are a true delight. Every scene has a sketched, rough look that feels hugely effective and adds to the already humorous content. Hitler looks rather bizarre with his little stick legs and a coat hanger sticking out of his head! The graphical style also manages to work within the limitations of the platform to offer a new take on the look of classic 2D adventures. Some of the animations are surprisingly effective, such as the time fast-forward and re-wind machine that looks cool every time you use it. Hopefully, this game will prove to other indie game developers that they do not need the most powerful game development tools to create their vision: they just need the vision itself and enough artistry to back it up. Even the rain effect at the beginning of the game, which is admittedly simplistic, feels just right here: the desired atmosphere prevails.
Likewise, the music is wacky and blends well with the various environments. Whether it is a townhouse basement, the interior of Big Ben that serve as Hitler's lair or the spaceship from the first game, the visuals and audio are more than capable of retaining the mood during the exploration.
In the game, you use the right mouse button to scroll through options (such as interact, use Ben, and speak), and you use the left mouse button to perform the action. You can even press M to bring up the map and jump from location to location. This part of the interface is intuitive and poses no confusion. Where the interface falls down, though, is the way objects in the environment do not really stand out at all (good for the visuals and mood but bad for exploration) and the fact that some hotspots are too close together to be made out clearly. For example, the cursor lights up when I hover over a broken robot to show that I can interact with it, but I can also click on the pool of oil next to the robot. With no gap between these hotspots, it is easy to think I have already clicked the only object that I can manipulate. This happens a few times in the game. The fix is simple: all that is needed is for the item name to flash up when the cursor hovers over the hotspot.
This annoyance in the interface can add unnecessary difficulty to the puzzles, which are already pretty hard. Moreover, the game does little to help you out with hints. Whenever Dan talks to Ben, you can ask him what he thinks they need to do next. Rather than giving you hints, the reply you get is often generic and offers no help at all! Luckily, although the puzzles are hard, they are usually fair and logical in their own twisted way. Some are in fact downright devilishly clever. It is nice to play an adventure game again where the inventory is constantly packed with all manner of junk. The developers also include pretty funny outcomes even when you do the wrong combinations, thereby encouraging you to experiment. Of course, some critics will argue that adventure game puzzles need to move on from trial and error, but this game does a good enough job of making you laugh that frustration is minimal even when you resort to random experimentation to try to solve the puzzles. The numerous locations can seem like a blessing when you are enjoying the game but can also be a curse when you are stuck.
Time Gentlemen, Please! is decidedly old school, and it is not afraid to show it. The game not only does the classics of the adventure genre proud but can stand tall next to them as well. Given that the game costs less than a pint of beer in most London boozers (a fact that the developers proudly proclaim on the game's official website!) and with the generous play time that the game offers (around 5-7 hours), Time Gentlemen, Please! is an entertaining adventure that can be recommended without reservation. Adventure fans can do a lot worse than to check this game out, especially if they are British!