GC Review - Jack Keane
The old point-and-click style of adventure games don’t come around much anymore. Maybe there’s a good reason for that, but for me it was still a pleasant surprise when Jack Keane showed up at my door.
The game is set sometime in the 19th century and revolves around a down on his luck adventurer named Jack Keane. He’s so hard up, in fact, that when the game opens he’s being held captive at the top of London’s Big Ben and used as a punching bag by a couple of thugs. His situation doesn’t improve much from there.
After escaping his initial plight, he is soon hired to ferry a British agent to a mysterious island in the Indian Ocean. A nefarious doctor on the island has taken control of the world’s tea production and the Queen isn’t happy about it at all. Along the way, Jack picks up a seemingly naive girl named Amanda and the adventure is on.
The game-play is right out of the 1990s Lucas Arts play book. Anyone familiar with The Secret of Monkey Island series or Grim Fandango will feel right at home. Jack is controlled with the mouse by clicking where you want him to walk. Various items within the landscape can be picked up and used or combined with other objects to solve the game’s puzzles and move through the plot.
Fair warning here: Jack Keane is a slowly paced game, especially in the beginning. You’ll often wonder if there is really an overall plot at all, but it definitely picks up the pace later on. The story is plenty deep, though. There is quite a bit of back-story that gives you some history on the characters and you will also get to play as Amanda during the course of the 13 chapters.
The graphics are all real-time 3-D, but in this case that’s not a good thing. There is really no reason for 3-D graphics in a game like this. Pre-rendered 2-D art would have allowed the environments to be much more detailed and interesting, while giving the characters a wider range of expression. As it is, the backdrops are colorful, but barren, and the people seem very stiff and lifeless, especially during dialog sequences. They have that dead-eyed expression that is typical of polygon-built characters.
The voice work is mediocre, but serviceable. The game sets itself up for failure because there are so many accents in use; English, French, Indian and more. It’s not horrible, mind you, just okay.
The game attempts to be humorous, but this mostly falls flat. There are allusions to other games and pop-culture references that will make you chuckle, but that’s about it.
The key element to any good adventure game, though, are the puzzles, and Jack Keane certainly delivers both in quality and quantity. There are some easy sections, to be sure, but also many head scratchers and the occasional “I want to throw my computer out the window” area.
Overall, I enjoyed Jack Keane despite its flaws. It is certainly not equal to the great adventure classics of the past, but if you’re fond of the genre it’ll pass a good many hours at a relatively bargain price.
—–
The Good: Deep, lengthy plot with many interesting twists and turns. Good puzzles. Lots of bonus items to be found that will unlock extra features.
The Bad: Voice acting is bland. Attempts at humor in the game often fall flat. 3-D graphics hurt rather than help the experience.
More Gaming Clarity goodness:
Want to discuss this? Then leave a comment. Also subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered right to your door. If you'd like to add a custom avatar to your comments, please visit Gravatar.com and register for a free account.
Doesn’t sound like my kind of game.