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80 Days
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Review by Suz
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80 days is an adventure game that will, as promised, take you on a tour of the world. The main stops are in Cairo, Bombay, Yokohama, and San Francisco. The game begins in London with a conversation with your uncle. Your parents have arranged a marriage for you that must take place within 80 days. Your Uncle has gotten himself in some trouble with betting that Fogg’s achievement of traveling around the world in 80 days can be beaten. Your uncle will finance your trip around the world which will get you out of the marriage and save your uncle’s retirement money. Oh, and there are a few things for you to pick up along the way. Your uncle also needs proof that four major inventions belong to him. If you can’t find the necessary proof then he will lose his title as Pulsativ inventor as well has his pension.
So you set off on your long journey. You can choose between three difficulty levels, tourist, globetrotter, or adventurer. In the tourist mode you can take your leisure as you complete your missions, there are no serious penalties for sleeping on the street and money is not an issue. In the harder modes, globetrotter and adventurer, money is more important, time is a definite issue, and sleeping in a bed is necessary. If you don’t like timed puzzles try the tourist mode. It’s the same basic game play without the stress.
Your character is moved through keyboard controls, the defaults are the WASD keys. Your inventory is accessed also through the keyboard. In the options menu you can set the keyboard configuration to suit your tastes if the defaults are uncomfortable. The mouse is used for view, turning, and using inventory items. You cannot get by solely using a mouse.
One big caveat is that the game automatically saves at completion of missions. That is the only time it is possible to save your game. When you exit the game you lose any game play since the last save, which can be very frustrating.
While there is more action in this game than in a traditional adventure game, the action sequences are not too difficult. The only shooting you will do will be in an arcade with a potato gun. A bit of reflexes are helpful to ride the flying carpet at high speed through Cairo or the hot rod through the hills of San Francisco. You will also need to jump and sneak in a few missions. The one sneak mission in Yokohama is frustrating for many because you can’t save your progress, you must get through the whole thing without a mistake. If you are totally stuck at that point ask around the forums for a saved game. The game is totally linear so it shouldn’t affect your game play.
The game is conducted as a series of missions. You must complete a mission to get the next one. The missions often consist of running around town and finding people. The map in the upper left of the screen has the location of the people or places you are looking for marked in red squares. This helps greatly in reducing mindless running around. As you work on your mission you will interact with many characters. The conversations are often humorous. The game itself has a very humorous bent. If looking back at the Village People and the Love Boat brings back laughs then the game will definitely amuse you. If not, then perhaps dressing a blimp in a kilt will. Yes, that is one of the missions.
The puzzles in the game are interesting. They aren’t all easy, but with some thought and effort you can figure them out. They do make sense in the context of the game. If you’re having problems with a puzzle, look around as you may have simply missed a clue.
There are some problems with the stability of the game. You should load the patch available at the Frogwares website before running the game. There are definitely some bugs that take away from the gaming experience. For instance, while riding a monocycle I hit a curve and bounced up in the air. I ended up on a cloud without a ride and no way down. At that point a load to the previous save point was necessary. Another major bug is that certain objects disappear while you are using them, like the boat you’re sailing. The game is also instable when switching to different programs using the alt/tab command on the keyboard.
80 Days requires a rather high level RAM. 512 MB is set as the minimum requirement. Even playing at a higher level of specifications, the game frequently hangs while it processes data. There are load times in between different parts of the game that take a while. This coupled with the set save points will be frustrating for some players. Adding in the keyboard controls, a few more gamers will not like the game. Additionally there is a certain level of repetitiveness to 80 Days. The missions can feel very similar to one another after awhile.
My conclusions are that 80 Days is a very fun and funny game that has some issues. If you want your gaming experience to be seamless or to only use a mouse, this is not the game for you. If you can see past these problems and appreciate the fun elements of 80 Days, it is a great game.
The final grade is 79/100.
  
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| PC System Requirements: |
| Windows® 2000/XP only |
| Pentium® I GHz |
| 512 MB RAM |
| 64 MB DirectX® 9 Compatible Video Card |
| DirectX® 9 Compatible Soundcard |
| 8x CD-ROM Drive |
| Keyboard, mouse, speakers |
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