Lost in Time (MS-DOS)

Wow, that's a terrible looking logo. This is by Coktel Vision so I'll be surprised if it isn't an adventure game.

Okay, it seems that I'm trapped on a 3d rendered boat 152 years in the past, and the protagonist is as confused as I am how we got here.

I guess I'll just click on stuff until something happens.

Whoa, a pre-rendered 3d video clip appears when I click the stool, showing a nail stuck on the underside. I have absolutely no need of a nail, so I immediately grab it.

That is a really jarring mismatch of art styles, to go from 3d interior to this. This map's not much use to me at the moment anyway seeing as I'm still trapped in the hold.

Oh cool, a 3d rendered video transition when I turn around. It seems that I play the game in first person, moving around the boat by clicking the edges of the screen to turn or take a step forward.

Uh, no... this is the first lock I've come across in the game. Also the character can't even seem to pick it with any of the tiny metal things I've got in my inventory.

Ah, so that explains why I'm bored.

I pump the water out of the boat, and click the chain again to find a corkscrew, which doesn't seem like great game design to me. Look how tiny that thing is, even zoomed in.

Hey, I finally found someone else on the boat! And it seems like they've got half a blue screen still on them.

He tells me he's going to kill himself with a knife he's somehow gotten hold of, but I manage to talk him into giving it to me instead. Well my character does anyway, it seems that all the conversations in this take place in cutscenes.

And I've escaped the hold!


SOME PUZZLE SOLVING LATER.

There's someone else up here too!

Apparently my character doesn't like to show the bottom half of her face, every scene of her talking is cropped like this.

Oh wow, he's from a different time too! I was worried it'd be one of those stories where no one believes I'm from the future, and the protagonist keeps confusing people with her stupid modern pop culture comments.

We tell this guy our story so far so he can piece together how we got here.

And so we flash back earlier to the present day... where it seems my character has has just inherited a manor from a relative who died in 1840. Did it take 152 years for the lawyers to sort out the paperwork or something?

Wow, I just noticed, this background is from a photograph now, there's no 3d at all.

Every time I find something new I have to sweep the cursor across the screen trying to find everything I can interact with. Like this hidden basket on the rood, or the car battery and toolbox inside the tractor.

Whoa, now there are video clips of the character grabbing the items! That's not something I've seen in many games.

They broke the fourth wall! Now my immersion is RUINED!

Haha, an apple does the trick, and I'm through to the gate.

It looks like a nice day, shame about the outline around the buildings. Apparently a smuggler has been using my property for hiding his loot and might still be around, so I need to be careful.

I can't believe I couldn't figure this one out myself. A friend told me the answer in the end, and I felt like an idiot when I realised what it was.

Some of the puzzles in this take some real leaps of logic to figure out though. Which does make it more rewarding if I actually figure them out myself instead of using trial and error.

Like when I immediately thought to fire a cork out of a bottle to knock the can down from the wooden beam.

Or when I used vinegar, a door handle, and a bit of wire to construct an electromagnet to get a key from underneath a door.

On the other hand, some puzzles are so stupid I don't think I ever had a hope of solving them. Like when I had to use a hose tied to an elevator railing to pull a door open...

The door is at the lighthouse, and the elevator is at the vault... how long IS this hose?

I had to use up one of my two 'jokers' and ask the game how to do that one in the end.


HOURS LATER.

Hey I've finally reached the shipwreck in the present day, only it looks more drawn than 3d now. This game really does have a weird mix of art styles.

I'm not too worried about the warning on the box. It seems that this game follows LucasArts rules thankfully, I haven't found a way to get stuck or die yet, no matter how badly I screw up.

But oh noes! I'm interrupted by this guy throwing his face in the camera and explaining how doomed I am. Events occur, and now I know how I got into the boat at the start. She really DID break open a lot of locks that morning.

You know, despite the awkward puzzles I think I actually like this one, it kept my interest. I might even go back and finish the game at some point.


But right now I'm moving on to the next game.