Ah Nate. Having survived the trials and tribulations of the first Book of Unwritten Tales, it was only a matter of time before his particular brand of humour would appear in a second game.

The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, from Germanys KING Art Games opens with Nate falling through the sky, accompanied with a collection of detritus. Welcome to the world of point and click adventures set in the world of Aventasia, a realm full of fantastical fantasy creatures.

In the game you get to play as one of the four main characters: Obviously Nate, a pirate, bold of heart and swift with the odd witty quip. You also get Wilbur Weathervane, a gnome mage, the elf Princess Evo and Critter, a rather strange little creature. Each have their particular skills and you will need to use them all to progress through the game.

Following your rescue of Nate, the game takes you into a tutorial screen deliberately reminiscent of the opening titles to Game of Thrones. This referencing is deliberate and the game continues to reference other forms of cultural entertainment throughout which only adds to the game's charm.

The game exudes quality, and not just with the visuals, which are detailed with smooth movement, the differing environments are colourful and attractive. The voice acting is of a very high standard as is the funny script and you get a full orchestral soundtrack. Obviously as a point and click game it is ridiculously easy to play, with every action requiring just the mouse.

Although the game does have a very good plot, progression is via puzzle solving. Some games go for obscurity instead of invention, but not so Unwritten Tales 2. All puzzles are solvable in a logical manner, so long as you remember that it is the logic of the game and not real life which takes precedence. To help you along you can press the spacebar to highlight all the objects of interest in any location.

So, once the game gets underway properly Nate finds himself on the flying pirate island of Tugator and as usual he and Critter are getting up to no good. Princess Evo roams her palace bored out of her mind and Wilber has opted for the quieter life of a teacher in Seastone. There is a political undercurrent in the game especially with the political machinations of Cybil Van Buren, who with her daughter is making a play for power.

I really enjoyed the first game and if anything this one is better. Although the events in this game follow on from the last, you do not have to have played it to get the most out of this game.

This is one of the best looking point and click games that has come out for some time, it harkens back to the good old days of Lucasarts games.

Honestly I really enjoyed playing this game, even laughing out loud at some of the jokes. Sensibly the German firm gave over the translation of the script to an English company allowing the game's humour full range, without suffering from poor writing. Overall the game has a lot to recommend it, there is the odd glitch where the character might get stuck in the environment, but even this does little to detract from a class act game.

9

Charles Packer