RedJack: The Revenge of the Brethren

People say:

• The bell may well be tolling for adventure games, but in tossing this little curio into a volatile market, THQ would appear to be oblivious to the trend - although clearly not as oblivious as they are to the concept of an original idea. Check this: a callow youth with a dodgy syrup wants to be a pirate. He comes across an old sea dog in a pub and is promptly set three tasks with the promise of a life on the high seas. They might as well have called it I Can't Believe It's Not Monkey Island. Clearly familiar with the old adage plagiarism saves time', what we have is essentially a loose remake of the LucasArts classic, albeit with higher production values and less comedy (unless the word bastard' qualifies as mirth). It's effectively the New Skool of Old Skool, with some obligatory 3D tomfoolery, and movement implemented either by cursor keys or the slightly awkward mouse business, lurching you forward in a predetermined direction. The story moves on at a reasonable - if linear - pace though, and the glib chat is interspersed with pseudo sub-games such as learning to sword fight (where have we seen that before?). Depending on your patience, these are either enjoyable diversions, or just make you angry. There's plenty to keep you occupied - the game spans three CDs - although purists will be upset to learn that death is a fairly common occurrence in the game, necessitating regular saves - which isn't something that really has any place in an adventure game. But if you can put up with that, it's easy to kill a few hours, and if you really can't be arsed to leave the house, and you're not in the mood for hectic action, Red Jack could provide a viable alternative.