Not quite a game, and not quite an e-book, but sitting somewhere in between as an 'interactive novel', The 39 Steps is a new digital adaptation of John Buchan's classic tale of espionage, intrigue and suspense. The novel has been adapted several times in film, with Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 classic being perhaps the most well-known version, and has also been told via radio, on stage and television. The story clearly lends itself well to being told in different media, and is now making the leap to digital with The Story Dynamics' interactive experience for iPad, Android, Mac and PC.
It's not quite clear just what kind of experience you're in for following the stylish and very film noir-ish opening credits. It's been suggested that the hero of The 39 Steps Richard Hannay was a precursor to James Bond, but as far as video games go, this is about as removed from the classic Nintendo 64 shooter Goldeneye 007 as it's possible to get. There are similarities here with point and click adventure games of old like Myst, and more recent DS titles like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney or Another Code, but despite sharing some of their traits The 39 Steps sadly shares little of their fun. Proceedings kick off with a brief tutorial which explains the controls, and there are progress based achievements and un-lockable character artwork to collect as you progress like any number of games, but make no mistake, what you'll be doing 99% of the time is reading. Lots of reading.
Read read click.
The story begins with our dashing hero Richard Hannay returning to Britain in 1914 having been overseas for many years. Finding London to be a bit of a bore, he decides to head off in search of more interesting diversions. Before he can pack a case though, he's confronted by a mysterious stranger who claims not only to be dead, but also that he has knowledge of a plot to assassinate the Greek premiere Constantine Karolides. Not surprisingly, this grabs Hannay's attention, and this is where things get interesting. The adventure that follows is as enthralling, gripping and twisty as the novel ever was. The problem is, this new version of The 39 Steps doesn't deal with its source material particularly well. Its snail-like pace manages to make an exciting story seem, well, a bit dull.
As the player (or more accurately, the reader) your input is only minimal. Essentially, on each screen you'll be cycling through a few lines of text (only the dialogue is spoken) with your mouse before clicking when you're ready to move on to the next screen. Occasionally, you're required to interact with the scene by clicking on highlighted objects to discover more details, or by clicking and dragging the mouse pointer (or swiping your finger on the screen in the mobile version) to perform various actions such as opening locked doors or, quite strangely, eating a pie, but that's about as far as it goes. The problem with this being a straight adaptation is that there is not much scope to explore on your own. You're really just reading the (abridged) story in a new way, rather than playing a video game set in the novel's world. Unlike adventure games like Sam and Max or The Walking Dead from Telltale, there's no real player choice in any given situation, or any puzzles, and as such you don't really feel like you're having an affect on what's happening. The problem with The 39 Steps looking so much like an adventure game is that, when you realise there's no puzzles to solve, no inventory items to collect, and no choice of what to say or where to go, it feels slight and thin. Judged on its own terms though, there is a cracking tale being told here, in a unique style. It's just a shame that it's dressed up in such a way that suggests greater depth of play.
It really would have been nice to have some puzzles...
The 39 Steps is undoubtedly well presented. The hand painted artwork for each screen is beautiful, and the subtle animation touches give it a look that is quite unique. The music is suitably atmospheric, and the voice acting does its job well, with some very authentic accents making an appearance once Hannay reaches the wilds of Scotland. But in all, the 39 Steps is a classic case of style over substance, which a real shame, especially given the exciting source material. If there was more to do, if it were more of a game than a digital book, then the addition of sound, visuals and player interaction would have been put to better use. We'd love to see a full adventure game adaptation of the story in the style of LucasArts' '90's classics like The Secret of Monkey Island or The Dig for example, (especially as the genre is enjoying a bit of a revival at the moment) but for now you'd probably be better off checking out the Hitchcock film or getting stuck in to the book.
Format Reviewed: PC
