GSY Preview PS3

We do not get a lot of preview codes these days, but for once, we got one. Red Johnson's Chronicles is a PSN exclusive and it is in fact an adventure game mixing point and click gameplay with Professor Layton-like puzzles. Impressions inside.

Like Magnum P.I. without Higgins and the Ferrari

Red Johnson's Chronicles puts you in the shoes of a P.I. going by the name of Red Johnson - I'm sure you did not see it coming, or did you? Anyway, because some lazy police officer preferred to ask him to take care of an ongoing investigation, Red will find himself in the midst of a plot that will lead him to meet with a bunch of very different characters. It all starts with the murder of a John Doe that you will first have to identify in order to figure out what happened. The game's presentation is a bit similar to the CSI games in that you can't move freely in the environment and you have to move the cursor around until you find something interesting, in first person view. Though each screen is a still image (minus the various animations you can see here and there to make things more lively), everything is modeled in 3D, as proven by the occasional camera moves that take you from one area to another.

Red Johnson's Chronicles is a very good-looking game, with great art design and 3D modeled characters that appear only in the cutscenes or the interactive dialogs. When you meet with a NPC, say for example a witness or the victim's wife, you are given several sentences to choose from. Now hold on a minute and don't get carried away, I am not saying you will be completely free to question them the way you want. These sequences must be successfully completed in order to be allowed to continue. Make one mistake and you will have to start all over. Depending on how fast you have been to succeed, you will be given a rank (A to C) and some money and it works just the same with the rest of the game (puzzles, QTE, etc). The money you make can be used to buy tips from Saul, your faithful informant, a Huggy Bear lookalike.

Like MacGyver without the gum and pen

When Red is not in deep conversation with other characters, he looks for clues just abut everywhere. At some point, you will for example have to find a way to get the tape of a video surveillance camera, open a safe the old fashioned way, improvise yourself an electrician, a plumber, or even a pianist to reproduce a famous classical tune. Every single one of these puzzles will require to pay close attention to your surroundings and then use the analog stick to look for clues and manipulate objects. Make circles to unscrew bolts, push it to the right or left to open a panel, shake it to get a coin from a vending machine, it almost feels like playing Heavy rain at times. QTE are also reminiscent of Quantic Dream's title and allow the game to offer more action oriented sequences. Similarly to the questioning scenes, the time it takes you to solve a puzzle will decide of your rank and the amount of money you deserve. If you ask Saul for help too much, don't expect to reach the highest possible rank.

What makes Red Johnson's Chronicles so enjoyable to play is that, contrary to many adventure games, the different puzzles are all logically embedded into the story. Sure, you will also get some that are not really realistic, like the sliding block puzzles (I don't think plumbing is that simple), but overall everything makes sense and nothing feels out of place. At some point, you need the victim's spouse to leave her apartment so you can rummage through it. In order to achieve that, you must go back to your office, find her phone number in your files and call her to ask her to go to the morgue to identify her husband's body. You should also pay close attention to the evidence you find or the information you learn as Red will always recapitulate what he has discovered, asking you to complete his sentences with the correct elements.

Like in the good old days without the homework

One thing I should point out is the fact that money is not scarce, even when you do not do that great in the puzzle department. Whether it was due to the preview code or it is a choice of the developers not to make the game frustrating to players, we will find out when the game is released. The beginning of the game is not too challenging anyway, so you will not get stuck for too long. The main reason is that the puzzles are not far-fetched, which prevents the game from being frustrating. the voice work is ok, though it is no Oscar winning material and the soundtrack gives the game a nice feel of the seventies. You can tell that the developers are a bit nostalgic of the 70s and 80s when you come across names like Angela Bowers, Tny Mitchello, Harry Coleman or Chock Norris in an address book.

General impression


Considering that, handheld excepted, console games are mostly first person shooters and racers, it is always nice to see something different for a change. Apparently, Red Johnson's Chronicles could very well bring that bit of fresh air players are looking for, with its mix between Layton and CSI (you even get to look for fingerprints and to analyze them!). Whether the storyline will manage to be interesting in the long run still remains to be seen, but given the overall realization of the game, we are hopeful Lexis Numérique will not let us down. The preview code barely unveiled the very beginning of the plot, so it is hard to say it will deliver, but we had a very good time playing so we'll keep our fingers crossed!

16 images

  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - 16 images

Characters

  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - Characters
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - Characters
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - Characters
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - Characters
  • Gamersyde Preview: <br>Red Johnson's Chronicles - Characters
Cavador
Cavador
Commented on 2011-04-11 10:16:14
Like Magnum P.I. without mustache
In reply to
UkHardcore23
UkHardcore23
Commented on 2011-04-11 13:54:03
Looks pretty good!
In reply to
Megido
Megido
Commented on 2011-04-11 14:27:55
Red johnson? Time to visit the urologist. *pa-dum-pshhh!*

Looks nice though. Like the art style.
In reply to
Frozpot
Frozpot
Commented on 2011-04-11 19:22:30 In reply to Megido
Posted by Megido
Red johnson? Time to visit the urologist. *pa-dum-pshhh!*

Looks nice though. Like the art style.
Don't lookie if you are easily offended.
Hey, that happens to me once a month... What? I have needs...
Neat artstyle...
In reply to
KORNdog
KORNdog
Commented on 2011-04-11 19:50:34
think i'll be buying this one. seems like a cool game. hopefully it's a decent length
In reply to
Kostchtchie
Kostchtchie
Commented on 2011-04-12 06:46:05
looks and sound cool, thanks for taking time upload it
In reply to
dofry
dofry
Commented on 2011-04-12 13:53:31
Any word on the release date as it is not mentioned in the preview?

EDIT: and if it is point&click, does it have Move support?
In reply to
Driftwood - Dictateur en chef
Driftwood
Commented on 2011-04-12 13:59:26 In reply to dofry
It is planned for release at the end of this month. Not sure if there's a specific date yet, I'll check it out.

As for PS Move support, not that I know of.
In reply to
dofry
dofry
Commented on 2011-04-12 14:11:53
Excellent. I have been waiting for a Layton-style game for bigger consoles.
In reply to
PlumbDrumb - Still drinking
PlumbDrumb
Commented on 2011-04-13 05:44:59
That's the best looking point and clicker I've seen
In reply to
About the game
Platform
PS3
Patreon

$135 of $400 per month

What's up?
  • Loakum

    Loakum @Driftwood Awesome! I’m loving it! It does show a much crisper picture and the frame rate looks good! I was playing Stella Blade and Dragonball Soarkling Blast! :) (2 Weeks ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood @Loakum: enjoy, the one Sony sent us will be there on launch day. Coverage will follow asap. (2 Weeks ago)

  • Loakum

    Loakum *takes a large sip of victorious grape juice* ok….my PS5 pro arrived early! So much winning! :) (2 Weeks ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood @reneyvane: non ils l'ont publié le 1er octobre et je crois que tu l'avais déjà linkée. ;) (5 Weeks ago)

  • reneyvane

    reneyvane Factornews à joué à KingdomComeDeliverance2 au Gamescom 2024 mais ne publie sa preview que maintenant ? [url] (7 Weeks ago)

  • CraCra

    CraCra Y a un souci sur les forums ? (8 Weeks ago)

  • nostradamus

    nostradamus very few with religious beliefs are naive or zealots, but for sure don't find amusing their beliefs being thrown in for clout. maybe STFU with that discourse? (11 Weeks ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood Download is now functional again on Gamersyde. Sorry for the past 53 days or so when it wasn't. (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood Another (French) livestream today at 2:30 CEST but you're welcome to drop by and speak English. I will gladly answer in English when I get a chance to catch a breath. :) (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood GSY is getting some nice content at 3 pm CEST with our July podcast and some videos of the Deus Ex Mankind Divided preview build. :) (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood For once we'll be live at 4:30 pm CEST. Blim should not even be tired! (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood More Quantum Break coverage coming in a few hours, 9:00 a.m CEST. (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood We'll have a full review up for Firewatch at 7 pm CET. Videos will only be tomorrow though. (> 3 Months ago)

  • Driftwood

    Driftwood Tonight's livestream will be at 9:15 GMT+1, not GMT+2 as first stated. (> 3 Months ago)

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