Gateway II

A sequel in the truest sense

Reviewed by Shawn from afro-ninja.com

Last year we got Gateway, a point and click style game where you progressed through a series of rooms until the end, solving a puzzle in each one. Gateway is back with a sequel, and it does everything right- More rooms, a new set of original puzzles, and a storyline that ties it all together this time.

The setup for Gateway is still the same. Walk around, collect items, solve puzzles. I liked the original Gateway for its puzzle design. Not only does the sequel bring more of it, but it links all of it to a developing storyline that makes you really want to figure out what’s going on. Think of the TV puzzle from the first game, only with a fleshed out story attached to it. The tutorial puzzles are back, but this time you can skip them and they don’t take up a quarter of the game. The puzzles all require a bit of thinking to solve, with none of them being too hard or too easy in my opinion. Well, I did get stuck on the very first puzzle for quite a while (don’t ask why) while I got through most of the other without much trouble. The puzzles do a good job of throwing you off at times, when you first look at one and think ‘oh, I know what I have to do here.’ Instead of being a straightforward progression this game also has a ‘hub’ format to it, which I like. It’s different, and it requires you to sometimes solve a puzzle twice (a different way each time) when passing to and from the areas.

The graphics have the same pseudo-3d style, but there are more locations to check out, most of them fairly detailed as well. The main areas you play through are modeled after locations in a house, so it was easier to spruce up the environments this time. No quips in the sound department, but I’ll note that this game feels a lot more creepy than the last one, both due to the storyline and moody, desolate music.

I have a feeling not everyone is going to enjoy the storyline. Although the story itself is nothing groundbreaking, I commend it for intertwining with the game perfectly and adding in subtle connections here and there that you might not pick up on if you play through quickly. The only real thing that annoyed me with this game is the loading times- I would have much rather had one large loading time at the beginning instead of having to load each piece of the game as I go, but I can live with it. That, and the fact that with a game this good it’s going to be hard to keep coming up with original ideas and puzzles. But I’ll leave that to Anders. As far as I’m concerned this game is a point and click masterpiece. Go. Play. Now.

Click here to play Gateway II

Graphics	Sound	Gameplay /Control	Presentation	Overall
9	9.3	10	9.5	9.7
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