Blue Toad Murder Files: Episodes 4-6

Apr 19, 2010 by Lloyd Davies    No Comments    Posted under: Video Games

Ever since March 6th this year, I had been eagerly anticipating the next installment in Relentless Software’s Blue Toad Murder Files. So anxious was I to play the next episode and solve further riddles, that I found myself pretending to be a detective at work. I would sneakily enter the office, slink around the client sofa and stealthily make my way over to my desk, all the while looking for clues to lead me to the infamous Biscuit Burglar. Of course, since my workplace consists of only me and my boss, so you think the answer to the heinous biscuit crimes would be obvious, but oh no!, somehow the crumb trail would always lead back to my desk *shifty eyes*. So when the Playstation Store finally released not one, but three whole epsiodes (Bringing the case to an end), both I and my boss let out a large sigh of relief.

My self-induced hype was not deflated as I continued my adventures in the homicide filled village of Little Riddle. Once again, the voice acting and narration were spot on and Just as comical as ever, with the writers vocabulary and prowess in script-writing knowing no bounds. As the story needed no introduction I was thrust immediately into a typically fiendish puzzle, although not as fiendish as some I would encounter later on in my investigatory adventures (see Mr. script writer, I can do it too!).

After successfully completing the puzzle (a gold medal I’ll have you know), the story progressed at a more interesting pace than before, for instead of instantly leaping from crime scene to crime scene, I was at first confined to the same place for several puzzles. I enjoyed this pace as it gave me time to really think about the case and make a few conclusions of my own. After that however it was back to the same old whizzing around town as before. While not a bad thing, as I now had a good idea about which characters I was about to visit, maybe a change in gaming style would have been called for. Each episode progresses in the same manner as the previous three with a quick recap to begin, a good load of puzzle solving in the middle, and a whodunnit finalé follwed by a cliff hanger. Once you are at the point where you find out who the culprit of this entire case file is, then everything seems to slot nicely into place and you get a warm fuzzy glow for feeling like you worked it all out on your own, despite the fact that all you did was solve some tricky brain teasers.

All in all the newest episodes are great fun to play, with all the characters making me chuckle with their stereotyping and over the top, yet well done, voice acting. The controls are just as simple as ever with, at most, three buttons to be pressing. Please be prepared for some of the toughest puzzles you have yet faced though, although some of them were made tougher by the puzzle explanation not being clear enough. There are a couple of puzzles where you need to connect one end with the other like the old ‘drainpipe’ games for PC and early consoles, but what they dont tell you is that you not only have to link them up, but make all the other parts of the puzzle link up too. You’ll know what i mean when you get to it, and I do recommend wholeheartedly that you purchase these episodes. They will make you smile and laugh in a wholesome way that many of todays video games are devoid of.

My Personal Score: 8/10
Pros: Excellent writing and voice acting with easy controls and wonderful visuals. Brain teasers are great fun too

Cons: Completely scripted with no way to really affect the outcome of the story, not a great variety of game styles.

Overall: You can’t have everything, or maybe you can – look out for Relentless Software’s next release. If they keep up this level of programming, they may just outperform themselves.

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