Giveaway of the Day - Archibald’s Adventures

Archibald’s Adventures:

Introduction

Today’s game is a 7.99Mb download that expands to 11.4Mb when installed. It was previously given away earlier this year. You can check out the previous comments HERE. The installation is straightforward; with the default location for installation going to the root directory’s games folder (usually C:\Games\). There is no desktop or Start menu shortcut installed, but it’s easy enough to create a desktop shortcut by right clicking on the appropriate icon and selecting Send to Desktop (Create Shortcut) using the executable found within the installed games folder. (You can find a simple tutorial on how to create both a desktop and start menu shortcut in the games discussion forums HERE)

The game plays on XP and Vista. I don’t know about Win 7 though.

This is a really cool side-scrolling, puzzle platformer developed by ‘Rake in Grass’, the creator of Jets and Guns. The hero of the game is a skateboarding kid called; ‘you’ve guessed it’, Archibald. The following is the brief storyline (with corrected grammar) which I find on most sites that review game which was released just over a year ago, (Sept 08).

Quote;

Archibald and his friends were near a dump behind a mysterious mansion of inventor – professor Klumpfus. Accidently Archie fell down a pipe and ended up in professor’s basement.

At the same time some crazy experiment went wrong and all genetically engineered creatures escaped from their containment in laboratories, while a paranoid central computer locked the whole complex up! Now both Archibald and professor are stuck in the mansion!

Reference accessed 26th Feb 09

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The Game:

On first starting the game up a configuration screen opens in a window that enables you to set certain graphics options such as full screen or window as well as the quality of the graphics. Toggling to high will give the best color quality and frame rate but if you’re using it on a mobile device the battery will be drained quicker. You can turn the configuration screen off so that it doesn’t appear whenever you start the game up. It can be turned back on at any time via the main menu. You can choose to set you screen resolution from a lowly 640 x 480 pixels through 14 choices of resolution up to 1280 x 1024. ([i]in later versions there’s more choice[/i]) You can select to play the game from several languages which include English, French, Russian and Polish; later versions also have German plus other languages.

The game usually comes with two sections, the original game that contains 114 levels and is called Trapped in the Mansion and a further 49 levels called the The Great Cleanup and in the latest version (v1.5) there has been a further 16 levels added, making a total of 179 levels. Unfortunately this version (v1.01) does not include these levels so you get 114 levels, which is still enough to keep the average gamer going for a few days or more.

When you first start the game you are taken through a cartoon storyboard initially of 12 pages then a further 20 pages once you’ve selected the first campaign. (you can see the story board via the image links below) You can skip the story if you wish by clicking on the skip button to the bottom left. Each section is subdivided into chapters, for example in the original ‘Trapped in the Mansion’ there are eight chapters each containing 16 levels, apart from the last chapter which contains only one level. The expansion pack which is now fully integrated into the game (from v1.4) is divided into four chapters, the first three having 16 levels and again the last chapter containing only one level.

You’ll find a variety of environments to stop you from getting bored with the graphic and Archibald gets around using a skateboard initially, but then progresses on to using a variety of methods to navigate through the various levels. These range from using a robotic vehicle capable of riding on walls and ceilings, using a jet pack or via a remotely controlled floating bubble. You can see some levels in the videos I’ve linked to below. The first few levels introduce you to the various mechanisms such as teleporters, switches and traps that include acid dropping from the ceiling, spikes that shoot up from the floor or ceiling and lasers. There are buttons and switch gear that you must use to open certain doors and in some levels you are required to move objects from A to B, before you can escape to the next level. Each level is relatively short and sweet, with a good variety of puzzles being thrown at you in quick succession.

You will also find save points in each level which enable you not to have to start from the beginning if you lose a life trying to get through a particularly hard level. There’s enough variety to keep the majority of ardent puzzle lovers entertained for a good few hours or much longer, depending upon how good you are at this sort of game. The game can be played with either the keyboard, mouse, joystick or gamepad. You can use a combination of Keyboard and one other as well if you wish. It’s set up for either Windows XP or Vista; can someone confirm whether or not it works on in 7? Thank you. This is a definite keeper for me.

One of the things I like about this game is the ability to select any level you want to play from the first three chapters instead of having to follow a linear path from the beginning. If you find yourself stuck on a particular level you can just skip it and return at a later time to see if you can succeed.

Main Features:

• Go through 114 levels in this mind blowing action puzzle platform game

• Experience innovative gameplay with many unique features of the hero: transportation of objects, riding on walls and ceilings, flying with a jet armchair and more

• Use your wit and fast reaction to avoid nasty dangers of the mad scientist’s mans

• Use the professor’s device pod to climb the walls or his artificial intelligence matter to solve riddles

• Encounter lots of weird and funny lifeforms running loose in the levels!

• The game can be controlled with a mouse, keyboard, gamepad or joystick.

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Resources

Video:

Watch Video of Archibald’s Adventure’s HERE

Watch more Videos of Archibald’s Adventure’s HERE

Just a few more Video’s of Archibald’s Adventure’s HERE

Watch even more Video’s of Archibald’s Adventure’s HERE

See more Video’s of Archibald’s Adventure’s HERE

There’s actually over 60 videos covering a good number of the available levels, so if you get stuck there’s a good chance you’ll find a level walkthrough, though that would probably make the game much too easy. You can search amongst the three pages of videos here:

Here’s a list of 60 Video’s of Archibald’s Adventure’s

Rake in Grass have created a page with links to all the videos linked to specific levels HERE . Those in red mean no video available for that level; however, there may still be video’s for those levels now, so it’s worth checking out the link I posted previously.

Images:

Click HERE to see slideshow of Images from Archibald’s Adventures

Click HERE to see all images on one page

Other Reviews:

Reviews worth reading

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Conclusion

I‘d give this game a definite thumbs up and a good 8 out of 10 for an excellently made puzzle game that has enough variety and excellent graphics to keep me entertained for quite some time. I do hope the developer releases a levels editor for this game as I’d love to add more levels.

It’s an ideal game for the whole family. The puzzles are initially way too easy, but ideal for the younger child. Later the levels can get quite difficult and should challenge all but the ‘Brainiacs’ amongst us.

Alternative games for free:

We’ve posted (Me, Wizzard and ReverseOrder) loads of excellent platform games that are similar to Archibalds Adventures in the games discussion forums as part of the free games project. You can find these amongst the thousand plus games within the games synopsis HERE. They are easy to find because G@rgoyle, who created the synopsis and keeps it up to date has labeled each game according to their genre.

You’ll also find 400 + platform games HERE, many of which are as good as today’s giveaway. The link takes you to one of our primary sources of platform games for the free games project.

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First thing I look for after installing is an un-installer but can’t find one with this game. How can I do this please?