I've been playing Secret Files: Tunguska on Wii a couple of evenings with my s.o. I would really want to like Secret Files: Tunguska on Wii. The point-and-click adventure genre could be combatible with thw Wiimote and my tv screen and could even evolve into something more social and fun together with Wii's other features and a bit of game design magic.
Alas, the game's drawbacks make the experience a bit of a grind. First, the main character Nina's voice actor speaks in a really irritable nasal drawl. I mean, it sounds like the dreaded accent of people living in Helsinki (for all of you Finnish-speaking readers, for those fluent in English I would compare it as a mix between a popular high school teen-aged girl and Draco Malfoy). And, because she's speaking all the time you find yourself pulling your hair out especially when you are stuck with a puzzle.
Second, Nina looks a bit like a character from a low-budget tv series flirting with sex and porn. Do you remember Silk Stalkings? Ugh. The idea probably was to make Nina a cool, active woman protagonist but on the visual front the plan was botched big time. Overly slim waist and large hips along with ridiculous open cleavage (even when driving a motor cycle) give an unintendedly comical look to Nina, much like to the stars of those soft porn tv series. This is becoming a staple of point-and-click adventures so much that I'll probably refer them to as soft porn games from now on. I mean the characters in Syberia and The Longest Journey (the newer edition) were done with much better taste, but the underlying formula seems to be the same in each one. Could we have a change to this trend, please?
Third, the puzzles are as incoherent as ever.
Some of them are easy and logical enough, but a lot of time you have accidentally combined items in your inventory in very silly ways before you have any clue that you will need this kind of combined contraption in a future puzzle. Very puzzling indeed. But, this for me is something you probably just have to accept when playing a game of this (soft porn) genre.
But, it's not all bad. In fact, Tunguska is the most I've enjoyed playing a point-and-click adventure game in a while. Having a bigger (tv) screen makes playing together a lot easier while in front of the tv is a more comfortable place to be than in front of the desk where my computer is at. The UI also has some very nice innovations: The wiimote rumbles a little when you point to something you can manipulate, making finding the right combinations of inventory items a lot less hassle than before (but in part leading to the problem described above). Also, the key places in background are highlighted when your pointer hovers over them, making finding them easier. There's also a magnifying glass option making key points even more visible.
All in all I think Tunguska is pretty good entertainment. The plot hasn't yet captured my interest completely, but it hasn't yet bored me silly either. What I'm really waiting for is the release of Sam & Max Season 1. I really expect them to break out the point-and-click adventure bank on Wii. And besides, I'm pretty sure that there's no awkward soft porn characters there, except maybe on purpose.
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