Previews// Randal's Monday

Posted 27 Oct 2014 12:16 by
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It is a strange experience going into an early access/ preview build of a point and click adventure, mainly because my prior experience of going into games before they are finished involves MMOs and sandbox action games with features stripped away.

So imagine my surprise at loading up Randal's Monday to find something that feels complete (I was able to play through the first three 'episodes') and get a solid understanding of what this game is.

So, what is it? Randal's Monday is a point and click adventure with a similar art style to the Deponia games, but grounded in our world, the mundane world. The background art is functional, it gets across what a location is meant to be without overdoing it. That is, except for where most of the humour comes from - geek culture references, more specifically blatant game franchise call-outs.

In one scene I counted fifteen plus items related to large franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Halo, Portal, Mega Man etc. This isn't a bad thing, even if it does feel slightly overdone in some locations.

'So what is it all about?' I hear you cry. Randal, a foul-mouthed, self-confessed kleptomaniac who is voiced by Jeff Anderson (who played another Randal in Kevin Smith's Clerks) acquires his best friend's engagement ring and finds himself pawning it to make enough money to pay for his rent. This sets off a chain reaction of events culminating in what can only be described as Kevin Smith's Groundhog Day.

Randal is forced to relive Monday over and over again until he fixes his problems and presumably gets the ring back breaking the cycle. I say 'presumably' because I've played through an incomplete and unfinished build of the game.

Reading back over the first couple of paragraphs makes it sound a little like I haven't enjoyed what I've played, and nothing could be further from the truth. There have been some genuine laugh-out-loud moments and a few snort-worthy jokes. The story is fun and the characters likeable in their own obnoxious way - if I didn't know any better I would think the script had been written by Kevin Smith himself (high praise to whoever at Nexus has actually done the script).

So if you're a fan of anything Jay & Silent Bob, old-school point-'n'-click games and really crude humour this will
probably be right up your alley. Just be sure that Randal doesn't steal your wallet...

I look forward to playing the rest of the game when it releases. The launch date still hasn't been set, but we have a tentative Q4 2014, by which time Nexus should have fixed a few glaring bugs.
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