Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the DS is perfect for point and click adventures and titles such as Another Code have demonstrated just how versatile the touch screen and stylus can be. Clearly both developers and producers have caught on and before the end of the year there should be around have a dozen such titles to choose from although sadly this doesn't include anything from the mighty Lucasarts or York based Revolution. Hotel Dusk is, once again, from CING and while they laid down the foundations with their previous adventure it was criticized for being too simple and not nearly long enough. Hopefully they've dealt with these points here, in the mysterious Hotel Dusk...

Gameplay

Even back in the classic days of Lucasarts' point and click adventures (Monkey Island, Sam and Max, etc) there was one single element which made the game enjoyable: storyline. It's the quality of writing that either makes you want to investigate further or simply lose interest and insert another game into your DS. Before even beginning the review I can tell you that the quality of writing here is really very good indeed and given that you begin your adventure with the minimum of details, it has to be. The year is 1979 and you play the role of Kyle Hyde an ex-cop from New York who is now traveling salesman. Moving from town to town and staying in run down hotels is part of the job but there's something different about Hotel Duck and too many links to the past.

That may seem like a great deal of background information but it really is all you have to go on and then it's up to you to use your skills to unravel the various mysteries around hotel. Your first point of interaction is talking, and at some point in time all the residents and staff will be up for a chat, but it's important to extract as much information as possible from them, without giving too much away about yourself. This is all time sensitive and some areas cannot be explored or people interrogated until the 'right' time. Fortunately you'll always be well aware which time frame you are in and wandering around will nearly always deliver your next objective.

In addition to your ability to talk you have a few other items at your disposal. The first of these is an inventory where you can store all of the items you have amassed during your stay. You'll also have a notebook, which contains a list a description of all the people you have met. Just as important though is the ability to jot down your own notes with the stylus or (and this is a slight spoiler) give it to other guests to scribble down their thoughts. Last, but by no means least, is the incredibly useful map, which you'll constantly refer to. It's then all up to you but as long as you think in a logical manner you shouldn't have too many problems. That is unless someone recognizes you.

Controls

If this were on a PC it would require a mouse so it stands to reason that being DS based it requires the stylus.

Graphics

While on paper the combination of visual styles would probably just seem at odds with one another it actually works surprisingly well. What I'm talking about here is the mixture between a very competent 3D engine and what appear to be pencil drawn characters. There's been no attempt here to make them fluid in their movements, but the frames that are there make their gestures meaningful and make them seem fully alive. The result is very atmospheric and elevates the whole experience to something a great deal more sinister than it would have been.

Sound

The music and sound effects are pleasant and suitably low key allowing you to get on with the business at hand.

Dual screen

Quite frankly if the game wasn't touch screen driven then it would be a lot less playable. It includes using items and checking your inventory and notebook. Interestingly, you also move around with your stylus which is actually much easier than you'd imagine.

Final comments

For those who enjoyed Another Code this represents a vast improvement on the genre and almost all of the criticisms levied at the DS' first adventure outing have been dealt with here. The production values are incredibly high, it's very stylish, it has a well-designed and implemented plot and it's long. Very long. It's also all very logical and if you are a fan of adventures you'll know just how frustrating illogical puzzles can be. The recent Touch Detective was a good example of this but Hotel Dusk has everything rooted in the 'real' world. Overall this comes highly recommended and is yet another quality title to join Nintendo's Touch Generations line.

Pro: Great Visuals and Story Telling, Logical Puzzles.
Con: Pace Can Be a Little Sluggish.
Final score: 8.2

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