A Golden Wake Review (PC)

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key review info
  • Game: A Golden Wake
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
A Golden Wake title screen

Wadjet Eye Games is one of the standard bearers of the classic point-and-click adventure genre, and the latest such title to come out from under its mantle is A Golden Wake, an experience that is as old-school as they get.

The developer’s previous titles, the Blackwell series, provided a solid mix of adventure gameplay and nail-biting storytelling, astutely catering to the needs of the audience, delivering a timeless experience wrapped in a classic packaging.

There is a distinct niche that Wadjet Eye Games is focusing on, and its publishing arm decided to enrich it with Grundislav Games’ A Golden Wake, enabling long-time adventure fans to immerse themselves into another retro gem.

Story

The game kicks off in 1921, in New York City, and you are put in the shoes of Alfie Banks, a real estate agent with a fine pedigree, working for one of the most prestigious firms in the city.

After his father’s death, his legacy translated into him getting the best leads, which in turns means that business is booming for young Alfie. Unfortunately, that’s not also true when it comes to the big picture, and you quickly find out that the business is struggling.

You are asked by your boss to pick one of your two coworkers to be fired, only to fall prey to a scheme that sees you thrown into the streets with nothing to your name and no prospects in New York, which leads you to notice the neat billboard outside and head to Florida.

Down south, a land boom promises ample opportunities to ambitious and skillful salesmen such as Alfie, and as his intentions are to get rich and make a name for himself, he jumps right in.

Fortunately, Alfie has his wits and charm packed in his suitcase, so it doesn’t take long for him to land a job with the most promising real estate developer in Florida, George Merrick, a man with big plans for the future and the will to see them realized.

Of course, things are never as clean-cut as they initially seem to an over-optimistic and idealist character such as Alfie, and as the game progresses, the sprawling web of cynical interest and corruption surrounding the development of the Coral Gables estate gets him tangled and sends him on a path that severely tests his character.

Surely the first time that's been said
Surely the first time that's been said

Although finding success in his exploits, Alfie gradually grows annoyed with how he is always merely a pawn in other people’s machinations, always doing things that benefit others while never getting to see his reward, or at least feeling like his efforts go increasingly unrewarded.

He starts off ambitious and over-confident, oblivious to the true nature of the things around him and convinced that he can get everything he wants by putting his skills to good use, but soon he starts a rapid descent that sees him taking more and more questionable decisions.

Gameplay

The game at heart is more like an interactive novel than a proper video game, as the story takes front and center, and often times you feel like you’re just pushing the pieces into place in order to progress through the narrative.

That, however, is not bad at all, since the writing does have its virtues and does a pretty good job of evoking the color of the era, the so-called Roaring ‘20s, complete with a bunch of colorful characters and even some taken right out of actual history, such as Mabel Cody’s Flying Circus act.

The aim of the story is to show the effect of certain events on young Alfie’s personality, to see his goals and attitude change over the years, after his expectations clash with those of other central characters time and time again.

Of course, the journey is peppered with what has come to be the mainstay of the point-and-click adventure genre, things that we are so used to by now that we’re not even noticing how they impact the flow of the story anymore.

Entertainment was really weird in the 1920s
Entertainment was really weird in the 1920s

There is a ton of running around trying to mix and match various items, talking to people in order to uncover useful information, using it on certain characters so that they do our bidding, so that we may get an item that we can then use on a certain other object to speed something up and please another character that we need something from and so on.

This kind of exploration and the unweaving of a tangled web is what any adventure fan is used to, and so it's not likely to make the story feel disjointed or contrived in any way, being all part of the convention we accept when embarking on such an interactive journey.

The story moves pretty fast, and for the most part the puzzles are mainly busywork, running errands and talking to people, with not much to wrap your brain around, just enough activity to move the story forward.

That being said, there are also some interesting sequences, and the entire experience is by no means stale, as there is quite a lot of variety. There are a couple of frustrating puzzles, such as one that requires precise timing, and the interface does a poor job of enabling you to pull that off, but things are otherwise pretty standard.

One notable interaction is the use of what the game calls Seller’s Intuition, a Sherlock Holmes type of deal where Alfie can use his perception to guess the potential outcome of a certain encounter by deciphering his interlocutor and providing various cues that may help you solve the puzzle.

The game is very linear, but from time to time you’ll get the option of choosing from some different courses of action, which will ultimately lead to the same end, only with a slight variation, giving you the option of choice without really having an impact on how the story plays out.

Impending betrayal... feels like Game of Thrones in New York
Impending betrayal... feels like Game of Thrones in New York

Sound and visuals

As is expected from Wadjet Eye Games’ adventure titles, the graphics are realized in a very old-school low-rez manner, but the effort that went into recreating the 1920s is commendable.

The artwork itself does not have the spark and shine of Blackwell Epiphany, but the pixel art is generally very well made, complete with realistic lighting and a wonderfully recreated Florida of the time period, with the ubiquitous Mediterranean architectural influence and everything else.

The streets are bustling with life and there is a lot of detail in the world, making the experience more immersive and credible, even at the low resolution the game is rendered in.

Where A Golden Wake really shines though is when it comes to its sound production. In a move that’s surprising for a retro game with pixelated visuals, all the in-game character lines are voice-acted, which makes playing the game a lot more entertaining than simply reading through everything.

The acting itself is good most of the time, with the occasional questionable delivery, but it certainly complements the experience even when at its driest. The only thing that could have made the game better would have been for the various descriptions to also be delivered in Alfie’s voice, like a sort of internal monologue, which would have fit right in with the character study theme.

The music is also an important part of A Golden Wake, as your adventures are always punctuated by some nice background jazz, swelling during the more tense moments and generally doing an admirable job of setting the mood.


The Good

  • Great atmosphere and engaging story
  • Good, enjoyable writing
  • A lot of attention to detail
  • Decent voice acting
  • Period-appropriate soundtrack complements the action

The Bad

  • Trivial puzzles for the most part
  • You only have the illusion of choice
  • A few disjointed moments

Conclusion

A Golden Wake is not the kind of adventure game that will convert non-believers any time soon, but those who enjoy the genre and can stomach its lo-fi visuals will definitely be entertained by its numerous quips and lighthearted attitude, as well as challenged by its more somber undertones.

The game basically presents the story of a man who is born into comfort and then has to make a new life for himself, only to discover that his newfangled condition isn’t quite what he imagined it would be.

This realization, together with a series of testing events, sends him on a path of greed and morally objectionable decisions, ultimately leading to his destruction, unless he is able to find redemption somehow.

A Golden Wake is very sober, very grand, but it has a lot of pitfalls, both when it comes to actual gameplay mechanics and to its story, which has a couple of misses. But overall, it offers a pleasurable and, most importantly, memorable experience, with some pretty sharp and witty writing, and a flavorful depiction of a fascinating era.

story 9
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 7
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 

A Golden Wake screenshots (14 Images)

A Golden Wake title screenSurely the first time that's been saidEntertainment was really weird in the 1920sImpending betrayal... feels like Game of Thrones in New YorkA Golden Wake screenshot
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