City of the Daleks now up for download!
Episode one of the long-awaited Adventure Games, City of the Daleks, is now available to download for PC on the official website – 3 days before its scheduled release!
It was updated on the site yesterday evening, however we just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a temporary error on the BBC’s behalf before we reported the news ourselves. The early release has, naturally, spread through fandom like wildfire, and the link is very much still active – so it’s too late to turn back now!
You can download the brand new game in all its glory by clicking this link, where you can also watch an exciting video introduction from Karen Gillan. The Mac version of the game will be released on June 15th (or maybe a few days earlier if lightning strikes twice!), and the official site promises that non-UK fans will be able to play when a commercial version of the game is released internationally next month.
Thanks to everybody who wrote in with the news. We weren’t ignoring you - we just wanted to verify what was going on before we posted!
CALLING ALL WHOVIANS!
What did you think of City of the Daleks? Let us know by writing your own reviews, either in the comments below or via email, and later this month we’ll compile a selection of the best ones for our forthcoming Adventure Games guide! What did you love? What did you hate? Was it too easy? Too hard? Too slow? Let us know!
@TSG
If you go into your options you should see resolution and graphics quality, the resolution is the size of your computer screen so do not change this… if you lower your graphics quality to around medium it should run smoothly.
Wasn’t this topic supposed to be about the game…?
To that end, here’s a quick review (with mild spoilers)
Let me first say that I am not the best gamer in the world. Football games tend to be my bag and the number of games completed in my life is one (it’s Hook since you asked).
So the fact that I completed this game with some ease speaks volumes about the simplicity of this product. It’s very basic and fairly repetitive stuff (no, RTD didn’t script it).
I say this only to temper expectations. I’d say that it’s difficult enough to make you happy once you’ve completed it – but it’s not so difficult that it’ll take hours to do.
Saying that… IT’S A DOCTOR WHO VIDEO GAME SO WHO CARES?
Moving on to the graphics.
Another confession – I have a new computer so I was expecting this game to run very easily. But when I first ran it, the graphic simply stunk.
The lip sync was out of time – making it look like an overdubbed martial arts film – and it was very slow and difficult to move around the environment.
But after reinstalling, all those problems were fixed instantly.
And I must say that, for a free game, the graphics really look sensational. The sets (as I want to call them) are beautiful – particular ruined London and Skaro.
The Doctor, Amy and the Daleks also look brilliant. Yes, Amy’s legs don’t glisten quite as much, but the characters look smooth and about as good as any half decent £40 computer game.
Anyway, did I mention IT’S A DOCTOR WHO COMPUTER GAME?
Finally, the story.
It’s not mind-blowing stuff but it’s good enough to easily become by far the best Doctor Who computer game ever made (remember Top Trumps *shudders*).
The Doctor, after all, can’t shoot, punch or intentionally cause death of any kind – it’s essentially the dullest brief for a game ever?
But they’ve done a great job. The script also has some quite funny lines in it, and it has to be said that the voice acting by Matt and Karen is simply top notch.
It’s got a proper story too. Yes, it wouldn’t be good enough for the TV but, in some ways, I actually prefer to Victory of the Daleks.
And the Doctor acts, well, like the Doctor. And I particularly like that the Sonic Screwdriver isn’t simply a magic wand to complete every puzzle.
So in conclusion, as long as everyone doesn’t mind the length or repetition of gameplay, I think most fans will truly love this game.
And in any case…
IT’S A DOCTOR WHO COMPUTER GAME!!!!
Most of it was highly enjoyable. Bits of it were tough, especially the getting back to the TARDIS avoiding the Daleks in London.
I found the last maze to be particularly irritating. With a shaky hand like mine I couldn’t get all three ‘balls’ in the holes without one of them touching the edge or hitting a lightning bolt sending all three ‘balls’ back to the start. Took THREE hours to do that one puzzle.
Good graphics and a good fun game. Took 2 days to finish the episode. Bring on the next one!