Previews// Doctor Who: The Adventure Games

The voice acting that I came across wasn't quite at the standard of the TV show, but it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination and it's perhaps to be expected, too. These are two actors used to acting with stuff – sets, sonic screwdrivers, Tardis control consoles, that sort of thing - not just mics and a table. More importantly, their voices and the scripting of the dialogue do succeed in delivering an essential Who-ness to the whole thing.

Anyway, into the environment. You're given various options for controlling the Doctor. Moving the mouse moves your viewpoint. Right-clicking and moving the mouse moves the Doctor around or, if you prefer, you can use the keyboard's cursor keys to shift his tweed-clad frame about the environment. Clicking on an object enables you to examine it or interact with it, while clicking your middle mouse button brings up your inventory.

I found the control system a little bit awkward at first, but the PC is not my gaming machine of choice. But then, if the BBC gets this right The Adventure Games will be getting played by a lot of non-typical gamers. The good news is, control got easier. I'm chalking this up to the learning curve. I know these are casual games, but that doesn't mean you should be able to play them with your eyes closed, your wrist broken and boxing gloves on.

Anyway, Daleks are on the prowl around London. You see a resistance fighter (in an awesome '60s dress) do a spot of bombing (it's OK, that's 'resistance fighter', not 'terrorist') and figure she's the person to follow if you want to find out what's happening. Except... remember those Daleks on the prowl? Fighting Daleks doesn't work. Running from Daleks doesn't seem to work, despite the fact you wouldn't expect them to be much cop at navigating a rubble-strewn environment. So you need to do some creeping. The Doctor enters stealth mode automatically near enemies, crouching and ducking behind cover without being prompted.

Navigating between the Daleks (whose line of sight is illustrated with a lit-up green area) proved trickier than I expected and I took a death ray to the back more than once. I also discovered that, because a Doctor without a companion isn't much cop, if Amy gets disintegrated it's a fail.

It all gets even more sinister, however, in Act 2. If you want to end a Dalek takeover, your best bet's probably to head to their (supposedly-devastated) homeworld, right? Right. Except, of course, history's gone all wonky and it's no longer devastated. This is quite an exciting prospect for Whovian folk. While Skaro is one of the most iconic locations in the Whoniverse (yes, non-fans, that's an actual word that actual people actually use) it has never been properly visually realised. Previously it's consisted primarily of quarries, mist and tunnels. Now it (or the capital, Kaalann, at least) is all towering, monstrous buildings and harsh reds reminiscent of Mars. Sumo has gotten to set the bar for what the place looks like. Not bad, eh?

Anyway, inside you need to get to some puzzling. Amy's a bit under the weather (read: fading in and out of existence because the human race has been exterminated and she's a paradox) and needs some help.

First off, this involves a mini-game in which you have to use the mouse to guide a Dalek component through an electric maze. You need this because your sonic screwdriver isn't doing too hot a job of opening the door (it won't open everything. Having a tool that will open most locked doors – locked doors being a development staple in adventure games - was a bit of a bind for Sumo. Charles Cecil, who consulted on development, said “Originally we were going to have it missing.” Steven Moffat, the new-ish showrunner, shot that right down).