D.O.G and the abandoned train

Name: D. O. G. and the Abandoned Train

Developer: Phantavi-Productions

Story: This was made as a school project, apparently, the story aimed at young children. Indeed, it is populated by anthropomorphicized animals and the heroics of the MC are of the variety that only a very small child (someone young enough to be captivated by Dora the Explorer and Lamb Chop's Sing Along) could take seriously, like a detective becoming a local hero for rescuing a goldfish. Likewise, any darker, or more serious matters are watered down for young children (the typical private eye always has a flask of bourbon or whiskey handy, whereas D. O. G., instead joneses for coffee...not saying that P. I.'s don't drink coffee; it's just usually not what they're jonesing for). All of this is fine, and it is all very well done. D. O. G. must get a wallet from a pick pocket, evade larcenous rats, and help a bi-polar ghost rescue her friend. The story follows D. O. G. as he investigates a train for an elephant guardsman (the lights were on and the train was supposed to be abandoned, and that's scary). D. O. G. is sort of a mashup of Sam Spade and Sergeant McGruff, the Crime Dog. His full name is Detective Othis Green (D. O. G., get it?). While the characters are terrified of the various situations, none of them are very scary, although a small child might worry about some situations such as the mecha rat or the security orbs. Anyhoo, D. O. G. must make his way to the train via the sewers (because everyone has to go through the sewers when the police block off the streets.). In figuring out what the situation with the train is, he meets Widow ( think that's her name. Sorry. I've changed computers in the past year and I have the current Degica versions of the 2K and 2K3, so I haven't had to download the font patch for this machine; I actually completely forgot that I needed that.). Widow is a ghost that helps you get past other ghosts in the train. When the train stops, you have to go through a laboratory to find a switch to open a track gate for the train to continue it's journey. You see, Widow's friend has been kidnapped and she has to reach the end of the line to find her. And that is all I'm going to reveal.



Writing: Most people who read my reviews know that I only include a writing section when there's something I specifically want to address about the technical aspects of the writing. Here, I'm more confused than critical. The developer's grammar and writing for the most part seem perfect, except there are places where words are in the wrong places, making the sentence sound like Yoda-speak, and there are cases in which the wrong tense of words are being used, such as using learn instead of teach. At first I thought it was imperfect English as a second language, but it occurred to me that the developer may be attempting a Chicago style city accent (“Let me learn you something.” You know what I'm talking about.) If this is the case, then it's very inconsistently applied and the actors constantly slip in and out of it. This is really more of a question. Is this an example of English as a second language or an attempt at an accent? Another thing I should point out is the laboratory. Obviously, this is not on the train, but the story doesn't really make that clear. Some may be confused at first. Perhaps place a map showing D. O. G. leaving the train to enter the laboratory.





Gameplay: There are no problems here. The game is interesting and engaging. There are no fights. This an avoidance game, whereby you avoid being touched by enemies using various abilities, or be penalized, whether it's by losing coin or by losing energy. This game also has several puzzles. You have to figure out how to avoid ghosts and rats, how to keep security orbs from seeing you, or how to convince two rats to tell you how to get the train moving again. Overall, the game is enjoyable and there are no real challenges, though it's target audience would be very well challenged by several of the puzzles, most of which are maze based.



Graphics: Almost entirely RTP, only the characters are custom, since they're animals, of course. There a few mistakes, such as in D. O. G.'s office, the carpet border follows the furniture, showing that the dev either didn't know about shift mapping or failed to use it. Whatever the case, as you can see for yourself, it doesn't look right. The maps are largish, but they're decorated well enough and not difficult to navigate. Other than these problems, everything is fine.





Music: The dev has been apparently having problems with the music. I think I have the wrong RTP because I don't have any music either. I got used to it pretty quickly. In truth, the atmosphere of the game works quite well without music, but a few spooky tunes could certainly help.

Glitches: A couple of lines repeat, and a trash can isn't working in the train car after you make it through the lab.

Conclusion: Some may find it a bit too much for children, but for the most part, I see no reason why a grown person can't enjoy it. I did.