What is a great adventure game – I'm talking the likes of Monkey Island, Sam & Max, King's Quest – but a series of screens? And what is a train if, in essence, a series of screens? (Look, we all have our ways of dealing with travel stress). It makes the railway setting for Loco Motive, from Robust Games, which takes place on luxury train the Reuss Express, the perfect avenue for throwing coal on the fire of retro-styled adventuring gaming, and the results are a real toot!
Arthur Ackerman provides the perfect introduction to this many-wheeled murder mystery. On the surface, as a lawyer who loves paperwork, this will-penning leading man may seem a little dry – but, almost Guybrush Threepwood-esque, his hapless demeanor makes him the perfect foil for stumbling upon comically complex puzzles aplenty. So single-minded is he on his precious papers, that he carries a real himbo energy for everything else, making getting to grips with the cast of characters and different train compartments a joy.
