Gobliiins 4

First impressions are hard to change. A screenshot is enough to tell you about a game before you even play it, and from the very start Gobliiins 4 had encountered this problem. However, the problem was not the dated looking graphics, anyone can get over that. Instead, it was the fact that the game appeared to be aimed at children. This was always going to be the case for a series of games that dates back to 1991, a time when games didn't require a meathead with a shotgun to be classed as an ‘adult' game. Société Pollene, founded by one of the original creators of the Gobliiins series, has arrived to create a fourth instalment, but is sixteen years too long a time to revisit the series and are they able to shake off the stigma of goblins equalling child's play?

The game focuses around individual levels filled with puzzles which must be solved before continuing. Each level is a single screen with objects, characters and clues making up the series of puzzles. You take control of three goblins with whom you are able to move and interact with the world. Firstly, there's Tchoup; a detective whose ability to store things in his inventory proves invaluable. Then there's Stucco; the strong man of the group whose strength and fitness helps with some of the more arduous tasks. Finally there's Perluis; a magician with the ability to reanimate fossils and make objects float in the air. Therein lies much of the games puzzles; deciding which goblin should interact with which object to reach your goal.

The game opens with a menu, the three goblins cheerfully greeting you and the screen acting as a brief tutorial to learn the mechanics of the game. Little information is actually imparted on the player, however, making it more of a ‘practice' screen than a tutorial. The controls are not hard, though, so this isn't exactly a problem. You begin with Tchoup lazing around his home when a letter from the King arrives, who is seeking aid. Tchoup decides he must find his friends and visit the castle to see what the King wants. This storyline is limited at best, in short, the King asking your troupe of goblins to search for his pet aardvark. Where the game fails most in this regard is in the way the story is told. Usually point and click adventure games have character interactions or cut-scenes to relay the story, Gobliiins 4 has (unbearably) long loading screens with a brief sentence putting the next level into context. But be thankful for even that because, without it, much of the game wouldn't make sense at all. This is a shame, though, as a couple of video clips are placed into game and one on completion; even a few short seconds of video between levels would add to the whole experience.

The implementation of controls in Gobliiins 4 is good; I rarely encountered any problems with the manoeuvring of the goblins - a pleasant surprise, considering the characters are just 3D sprites on a static background. You take control of one goblin at a time, selecting them by left-clicking one. As previously mentioned, each goblin interacts with the world in their own way, and it's a method of puzzle solving that is particularly enjoyable. Especially since many objects can be interacted with by all of the characters, it can be fun to try each character on every object, just to see how differently they react. As an example, a large ball sits in the entrance of one level; Tchoup decides to display his acrobatic skills by balancing on it, Perluis raises it into the air with his magic whilst Stucco simply gives it a good booting. Tchoup, the main goblin, gifted with the ability of speech and of storing items in his unbelievably sized pockets, has control of the inventory. Right-clicking whilst having him selected opens the inventory, then simply selecting an item and using that interacts that object with the world. It's as simple as that. There is no item combining in the game, which does simplify matters, though is a shame. There is a lack of comments when trying particularly unusual ideas as well, which is a wasted opportunity for humour.

Then there are the puzzles. They begin easy enough, with little or no clue required to solve a problem; not that there are many clues. Société Pollene tell us the game is ‘for all ages' and that an eight-year old would complete each level between one to two hours. In truth, though, I don't believe an eight-year old has the attention span to last that long. All of a sudden, around fifth level, the puzzles become less about solving a problem and more about clicking on anything and everything until something happens. Couple this with the fact that you'll have to repeat this with every item in your inventory and each of the three goblins until the puzzle is ‘solved', it's hard to believe a child would have the patience for it. Add in the fact that many times the reactions your goblins have to an object aren't always predictable (mostly with Perluis magic abilities) it becomes even harder to try and think logically about solving the game. Don't get me wrong, point and clicks often fall into the trap of ‘clicking until it's solved', but without so much as a subtle hint at what to click, Gobliiins 4 might be a few too many clicks beyond a joke.

This game seems very archaic; from the sub-par graphics, the level-by-level gameplay, even the codes used instead of a save file. It's all very nostalgic, as if the millennium never happened and we're still playing games on floppy disc. Yet in truth, there is a lot to like about the game. There are colourful characters and locations, the whimsical and varied puzzles and differing abilities of each goblin. It is, however, still hard to decide exactly who this game is aimed at. The characters and situations seem tailored to a child's demographic, whilst the game requires the iron will and stubbornness of an adult to solve. The game seems unsure of itself, stuck in no man's land trying to appeal to everyone. Despite that, though, a puzzle game whose flaws lie with the solving of the puzzles is hard to see as a success.