Telltale Games released a little game called Puzzle Agent. With the continued assistance of Graham Annable, the sequel to this marvelous puzzler got its release exactly one year later. For those unaware of what Puzzle Agent is, just imagine a comic book style LA Noire… I’m kidding of course. Puzzle Agent plays like a linear point and click puzzle game. Talk to people, ask them questions, search for clues, and, oh yea, solve a nut ton of puzzles! But, to set the stage, Puzzle Agent 2 picks up where the first game left off. Agent Nelson Tethers of the FBI’s Department of Puzzle Research isn’t satisfied with the conclusion of the Scoggins, Minnesota case. The factory foreman is still missing, people are going mad, and the “Hidden People” remain a mystery. Nelson returns to the town to finish the work he started, and he has a wide variety of puzzles to solve as he gets closer to cracking the case!
While I would love to divulge deeply and massively into each nook and cranny of this baby, I won’t. Some of the best features of this game are the twist and turns that it takes you on. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a wrench gets thrown into the mix. And while you not only do have to solve a mystery, there are literally puzzles at every location waiting for you. And, while I wish I could discuss some of the unique puzzles that the game has to offer, I can’t. That would be like slapping a huge “READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO RUIN YOUR GAME EXPERIENCE” sign on my review. But, what I can do is tell you about the pro’s and con’s of the game. So let’s get into that.
The comic artistry works wonderfully for the game. Seeing instant expressions from complacency, then straight to fear, then back to complacency is just hilarious to me. It may not be for everyone, but oh well. Many of the cut scenes mix the 2D comic art with 3D perspective animation. To clarify, everything in the game is flat, like Paper Mario. But, things move according to the camera, so it feels like a 3D environment. Most of the time, this combination works out to the games benefit, while others feel like they probably shouldn’t have used it. For example, there is a small chase scene, while the use of 3D animation works in this instance, it just didn’t seem to be executed correctly. Again, just me.
Even though this is a puzzle game, and previously I had mentioned it was a linear point and click title as well, I feel like it was far too linear. Each person you interviewed, knew where you should go next but if they didn’t, Agent Tethers would tell himself where to go. Now I know this is a little stubborn to admit, but I feel a puzzle game should really make you figure out each potential element in order to solve your solution. This game feels like a cartoon with random mini-games. Kind of like watching Blue’s Clues and them stopping the whole show to make sure you found a clue. I understand why they do it this way, just wish that had done it differently.
Score: 8/10 – The game is smooth, the puzzles vary in difficulty, the story is hilarious and interesting. Telltale games created an impeccable sequel to an already amazing game.
Puzzle Agent 2 was designed by Graham Annable and published by Telltale Games for the PC, iPad, and PS3. A copy of the game was provided to us by Telltale Games for reviewing purposes.
