Earlier this month Urchin Games released their new game Outlaws: Corwin’s Treasure. In this new puzzle game, you are about to go on a search to solve the mystery of Corwin’s Treasure. Taking place in a wild west like setting, it is you who got an invitation to solve the old mystery. So let’s have a look and see if Urchin Games’ mystery is worth solving or if it’s better to put it aside.
What we liked!
- Story: The story of the game is a simple one but also one you can enjoy. You get an invitation to an old wild west town to help discover a long lost treasure. But upon arriving there you find out that the one who invited you is in fact a treasure seeker who kidnaps your wife. In order to save her, you will have to find the treasure so that the treasure hunter can have it in exchange for your wife.
- Graphics & sound: Just like the story, the graphics and sounds that are in the game are simple ones. However, they greatly fit the theme which is lovely. Every area has a new look which incorporates really a lot of detail and every area has its own unique sound. So the devs really did a good job with this part of the game.
- Puzzles: Another lovely thing about the game is the variety of puzzles. Okay, some might be a bit repetitive. But most of the time, you really have to keep track of what item you need, where you need to get it, and what other item you need in order to get it. This is also what keeps you busy most of the time, so you really need to use your brain.
Somewhere between
- Short: The game is short. Really, really short. I personally finished my first run in 75 minutes. And I didn’t use any of the hints or anything else. If you did, you would probably finish it in 30/45 minutes. In my opinion, what they offer with this game, is enough, but I can imagine that people who paid 5 euros for it find it a waste of money for a game you basically play once and then never touch it again.
- Fast travel: A thing that is really nice about the game is that it offers a map with all the different areas that there are and you can simply click on the one that you want to go to, which, of course, is really nice. And saves you a lot of time. However, apparently the developers found it necessary to add a big fat red explanation marker to the area that you need to go to in order to progress in the story, which in my opinion takes away one of the factors in order to call it a puzzle game.
What we disliked
- Hints: The thing I disliked the most about the game is that you constantly can click the hint button and it just keeps telling you what to do. Okay, yes, maybe sometimes it is nice that you can use it when you really don’t know what the next step is. But after you used it, they should create some sort of mechanism forcing you to complete the next 5 steps on your own, or give you a 5-minute cooldown on it. Now it’s just 5 or 10-second before you can use it again. And like I mentioned already in the point above, you can finish the game in 30 minutes or so. And the constant spam of hints isn’t the only thing. When you are doing a puzzle, at the top of your screen a timer starts ticking. And no, it’s not a timer of how long you have left to solve the puzzle. No, when the timer runs out, you can actually skip the puzzle so you don’t have to do it at all. They help you way much in the game, which is really disappointing.
- Ending: Say you play fair, don’t use the hints or skips. You finally find Corwin’s treasure and… you get a big slap in the face. You don’t get to see what the treasure is since the treasure hunter comes running along claiming it and… Yeah, not going to spoil anything furthermore. But believe me the developers really slap you in the face with this ending.
Like I already mentioned, the story of the game is intriguing, the puzzles are well executed and the game looks lovely. However, the developers made some questionable decisions by taking out all the factors to call it a puzzle game. When I think of a puzzle game, I think of parts where I’m stuck for a while and I really need to focus in order to progress. But Urchin Games decided to add infinite hint and skip buttons and even points you in which direction you should be going. If these weren’t the case, the game would probably be twice as good, but for now it’s disappointing and definitely not worth the 5 euros they are asking for it.