Windows

Eye of the Kraken

A kraken is a legendary sea monster said to live in Norwegian waters. Why, then, does the game Eye of the Kraken take place on the Mediterranean Sea and revolve around squid? This and the answers to many other baffling questions about the game probably will never be answered ...

Overall, this is a fresh, zany, and novel game with humor that is not always on target. People with a background in classical literature and philosophy are going to get a treat (and possibly a hoot) from this game. It is inspiring to see independent game designers bringing fresh ideas to the adventure game arena. How many mainstream games can you remember that the words “zany”, “fresh”, or “avant-garde” could apply even superficially? This game thoroughly deserves a B - it is a well made game not without faults. For those who believe we should judge independent games differently, you could put a plus in front of the score.

« Absurdus », tel est le nom de la charmante petite compagnie canadienne auteur de ce jeu d’aventure atypique sorti en 2002 et rendu depuis téléchargeable gratuitement. A visiter le site Internet de ces doux – dingues, dont le but déclaré est le rachat de Microsoft aux environs de 2006 (avant la domination totale du monde), on comprend un peu mieux le ton décalé et l’ambiance pour le moins atypique qui règne dans « L’œil du Kraken », leur dernière et, à notre connaissance, unique, production.

Regular Quandary readers will no doubt be aware that I am a fan of humorous, third person perspective adventure games so when I loaded up Eye of the Kraken I was immediately in my element. I always find this sort of game so easy to get into with no fiddly interface to learn, no arcane combination of keyboard commands to memorise, and no holding down keys in order to move around. Just a simple point and click on screen and away you go, exploring your surroundings, picking up items, talking to characters, and smiling a lot.

EOTK definitely pokes fun at itself and gaming in general, but does it in a unique and stylish way. Not up to scratch by today's standards, but a decent game nonetheless.

Shakespeare probably never imagined that one day his immortal words would be emblazoned across tote bags and baseball caps. It is equally unlikely that he could have foreseen Ophelia, the tragic heroine he created for Hamlet, hob-nobbing with the 15th century poet François Villon, and the inebriated Russian monk, Rasputin. In Absurdus' 2002 release Eye of the Kraken, however, such encounters are frequent, with the developers uniting a host of famous literary and historical figures, as well as original characters, in an entertaining third-person detective game.