Review: Snakes of Avalon

Igor Hardy and Alex Van Wijst, initially released a very trippy game for the OROM (One Room One Month) MAGS competition. Having lost for a small number of votes, the game gathered some interest. However my initial concerns back then were that the game was plot-wise tied in a very random way. So Igor Hardy with the help of his old team, and with some great new recruits such as Thomas Regin on the music side, decide to re-release the game, adding some content in the meantime.

-Story:
You found yourself drunk in a bar, hallucinating in the meantime, being asked what happened. It's not clarified whether you talk to yourself, to the cops, or a pretty lady, or this is all just a dream, and that feeling is repeated throughout the game in a great way, so it's up to the player to choose what happened exactly. So the story goes into flashback mode, to explain what happened through the eyes of Jack (you) in that bar. I think Mr. Hardy sums up the story wayyy better than I could ever attempt to:

Snakes of Avalon is a dark comedy point & click adventure game about alcoholic incapacitation and people obsessed with murdering their other half. It mixes the style and atmosphere of Hitchcock suspense films with a surreal game world inspired by your favorite trippy movies.

The game is separated into 4 acts all tied between them in a great way.

The greatest part of the game is the additions though. Instead of somewhat vague and random events, now the game has a more easy storyline to follow. The cinematic scenes help greatly in both the understanding of the story as well as the artistic style of the game.

Also a great number of references appear, including my favorite Knights of the Old Republic, and if you come across one, they will make you smile for sure.

-Graphics:
The graphics initially may seem what one can normally expect. But instead they contain great animations and lots of close-ups for a what seems to be a very simplistic style. They get really great to the eye on some parts of the game, and they help the immersion greatly.

-Music/Sound:
And here comes Thomas Regin. The theme still played in my head while I was writing this review, and I think that pretty much means its bloody memorable. The whole soundtrack is very neatly done and fits the atmosphere and surrealism of the whole game. The ambient sounds help the atmosphere as well, especially on the "boss fight" sequence.

You can play the game here. Or else I'll find you and kill you.