The Great Cow Race is the second installment in Telltale's Bone adventure series. The three cousins Phoney, Fone and Smiley Bone have been chased out of Boneville, and end up at a farm under attack by rats. Thorn, Grand'ma Ben and Fone prepare to attend the spring festival at Barrelhaven, where a cow race is about to take place. The three main characters have different quests to solve, with interfering actions, similar to Day of the Tentacle. Smiley needs to find a cow costume to enter the race, Phoney has to influence the betting, and Fone tries to win back the heart of his lost love.
The game uses a 3D engine and a point-and-click interface. There is a backpack to store items, you can switch between characters, and there are optional hints. The mini-games from the first act have made place for more adventure elements.
The game can be ordered as a direct download with extras available on the site, or as a packaged product. The latter comes in a DVD slipcase, and contains the soundtrack and bonus videos - plus the downloadable version to start playing right away.
In December 2006, a director's cut version was released, free for all owners of the game, and replacing the existing version, developed in collaboration with the original creator Jeff Smith. The improvements for the second game include technical tweaks, such as scalable resolutions and better game stability, and added dialogue lines to improve story flow and enhance character development.
Thorn
As those who played the first Bone episode will only be too well aware, the voice for the Thorn character has changed to a more childlike tone. As explained away within a developer's chat..
Thorn is a really interesting character, both because of how she is presented in the comic (visually) and because of the transformations she undergoes. She is supposed to be a youngish to mid teen. At this point in the story, she is pretty innocent and going through that awkward teenage phase. Keep an eye on her though....
