Ah, Professor… Where do I begin? Wait. You’re an ape. You’re handy with a spanner… Pretty much everything else, to boot. Your partner is a dog whose bark is far worse than his bite. Still he can talk to the various sentients you two run into.
Author: lordcrocosquirrel
Steam: Released
Developer: Red Dwarf Games
Publisher: Red Dwarf Games
Genre: Point and Click Adventure
Release date: 20 of October, 2016
Type: Single-player
Tales of Cosmos is an open-world point-and-click adventure game, featuring a small dog and a rather daft ape. The two have very different roles in the game—our doggie friend is the brains of the outfit, as well as our able narrator. The ape is referred to only as Professor, never speaks, and does all the grunt work, including building a new ship for them after the old one is destroyed in the opening moments. The humor is very tongue-in-cheek, in some cases plunging right through into interstellar space.
Once you’ve completed the planet you crash-land on, you’re off to wander the universe set up as an open world—you have near-complete freedom of movement, but approaching the wrong planet might get you into trouble. In some cases, you won’t be able to complete one world without visiting another, as you may be lacking an object that’s only found on that world. Occasionally, it’s at the very end of the puzzles for the other world. The Part Left Over syndrome at work.
There is a bit of Developer Logic at play here, as each thing only fits into the game one way. You must poke your nose into everything—explore, and leave no stone unturned. You will be spending a lot of time running back and forth between worlds, unlocking more as you progress. If you can’t approach something immediately, go check out some of the other places until that changes.
If you like exploring puzzle games with a rather odd sense of humor, this game will be a solid entry to your library. I liked it, even of our humble narrator isn’t the most useful character in terms of puzzles. His greatest use is as a walking hint system, telling you about the various objects in the game, and talking to the natives. Takes a bit to get your head wrapped around, but worth it in the end.
Is it the best game ever? No, not really. It’s competent as adventure games go, and has its own charms. There were no major bugs in the build I played, and it ran quite well on both machines I have available. It should run on nearly every Windows machine made in the last five years. There are steam achievements and a level editor that can be used to create all-new tortures for our gallant crew. At a price of $14.99 on Steam, it’s well worth the price of admission.
It’s a solid game, full of wit and humor. The puzzles make sense in their own strange way, but the game is not for the faint at heart or people with low frustration thresholds.