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Visit the Gory, Steampunk World of 'Stormwinds: The Mary Reed Chronicles'

by Ben Deitz on November 17, 2010 at 05:50 PM

The Mary reed Chronicles
Having grown up on classics like 'Day of the Tentacle' and the 'King's Quest' series, fogies like us are lifelong fans of adventure games. The genre possesses more than just retro appeal, however. In fact, we've now entered a kind of indie renaissance. This week we'll share our favorite free-to-play picks for those in the mood to do a little pondering and puzzle-solving; take a refreshingly nostalgic break from all that furious button-mashing.

Although having played Hero Interactive's 'Stormwinds' series of tower defense games will help you grasp the steampunk-y world of 'Stormwinds: The Mary Reed Chronicles,' it certainly isn't a prerequisite for enjoying Ms. Reed. 'Chronicles' places you in a world of gyrocopters and hulking robotic manservants, and charges you with rescuing a group of rebels that have been imprisoned on a massive airship. Streamlining the point-and-click UI of most adventure games, the game does away with inventory, and lets you click directly on objects in your environment to manipulate them (much like 'Machinarium'). While this does make things simpler, it can also result in long periods of clicking randomly about your locale until you find the right hot spot. While not exactly revolutionary, it's still nice to see a Flash developer branching out into different genres. (That reminds us: Blizzard's unreleased 'Warcraft' adventure 'Lord of the Clans' is still in progress.) Dark and violent, 'Mary Reed' might force those who have thought that adventure games are for kids to reconsider their position.

Mary Reed Chronicles


Tags: FlashGames, gamesonthego, gaming, hero interactive, HeroInteractive, machinarium, mary reed chronicles, MaryReedChronicles, steampunk, stormwind, TimeWaster, top, videogames

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