5 Days a Stranger

The Good
I’ve always felt that horror in games works best as an adventure game like Clock Tower for example and now 5 Days A Stranger is yet another example of that being true this like the Clock Tower games will actually freak you out and thus ranks as one of the best horror games I have ever played.

The story begins with a cat burglar simply known as Trilby gets a tip from his fence about the Defoe Manor and since the mansion will be empty because the last heir Clarence Defoe and his wife have just been found dead mysteriously, presumably suicide Trilby has decided to loot the place of valuables but when he gets in the house and discovers there is no loot he also finds there is no way to escape and that he is not alone in the mansion. The other people in the mansion are Philip Harty, Simone Taylor, Jim, and someone known only as AJ upon discovering the mansion you learn of the shady past of the mansion and the mystery behind your current imprisonment all taking place over 5 days.

The controls of the game are like a simply point and click, click to move and you have options to look, grab, and talk the puzzles are rather simple usually involving finding a clue in a journal or some other document and combining items to use to help you solve the puzzle the graphics are very good in the sense that he looks like a classic adventure game like Kings Quest, Or Monkey Island and the music is not an original score it was taken from an RPG Maker but it still fit’s the game well.

The Bad
There Really isn’t much to complain about unless you don’t like adventure games and the fact that this game can be completed in one sitting.

The Bottom Line
All in All this game is an excellent example of horror done right and adventure game done right it’s a very solid adventure that goes back to the old days of adventure games and its Free!!!!!!! Well unless you get the Special edition for $5.

The Good
Well, it's crappy and short, but it does have a heart. There is a sincere attempt to surprise and entertain the player despite the technical limitations.

The sound effects work fine for me and if you are not picky you might consider the graphics to be just adequate. The pacing of the story is kind of engaging, I was hooked and also, to my surprise, a little shocked (the dream sequences worked very well, I was impressed). The characters have enough presence to make you care about their roles and agendas. There is also enough humour that fits with the tone of the game.

The Bad
It's too short. It can be way too easy. The possibilities of exploration are little. The big secret of the manor is as trite as it is predictable. The graphics are crappy and with little attention to marginal details. And, it's also terribly overrated.

The Bottom Line
Overrated independent adventure game with a heart.

The Good
The story (and how it ties in with the other games in the series), the horrifying atmosphere, the puzzles are hard but not nonsensical, the main character is quite a chap

The Bad
The graphics are below par of course (this being an indie title) and the game length is a tad short (short and sweet though)

The Bottom Line
The Trilby Trilogy is a freeware adventure game designed by Ben Crosshaw. The first chapter pits you in a mansion, where you are faced with the mansion's dark and gruesome past which unfolds and replays in front of you, taking one victim after another, always being hot on your own heels.

The game can be quiet creepy, considering the relatively "low" (by no means bad) graphic standards (think classic Lucasarts). The game is not very long and not ultimately hard, simply because the scope is not too big and you will never have too many options in terms of where to go or what items to use anyway. The story is a big payoff however and (in case you are interested) ties in very nicely with the other titles in the series.