Unforeseen Incidents | Steam | Review

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From the moment we were greeted by Unforeseen Incidents’ foreboding title screen, filled with flashes of lightning and lashes of shimmering rain, we suspected we were in for a treat. Being solid fans of point-and-click gameplay since first encountering the iconic Monkey Island series, we were looking forward to having our minds playfully tickled by the brand of puzzles that have you jolting awake in the middle of the night having finally deciphered them. If that sounds like a brain-bruising nightmare to you, rest assured that, in this instance, you’ll face grounded problems that are woven into a delightfully engaging narrative.

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by Amy Mallett

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@amy_mallett

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Developer: Backwoods
Entertainment
Publisher: Application
Systems Heidelberg
Platform: PC
Players: 1

As the journey begins, we’re introduced to the dulcet tones of Bobby on Backwood Radio, along with the startling news that a small suburban area called Yelltown has fallen prey to a mysterious epidemic. Zombie enthusiasts pipe down - this virus is closer to, let’s say, ebola, in that it’s a potentially fatal disease that, whilst not turning members of the public into undead degenerates, has an alarming number of similarly grizzly symptoms. Bleeding, coughing, oozing, weeping - it’s nasty business.

From here, players assume the role of a local handyman with a shrouded family history. Whatever tragedies may have affected Harper Pendrell, he seems more than content tinkering with various old electronics and engineering bygone relics such as broken consoles and TVs. The beginning of the game feels a little stunted, with Harper wandering around playing IT consultant to a his childhood friend, a Scottish scientist by the name of Professor MacBride. Things hit their stride when Harper meets a dying woman in the street and unwittingly stumbles into a diabolical conspiracy, the kind where one should really be armed with more than just a multi-tool.

We’ll get our aforementioned and only real major gripe with Unforeseen Incidents out of the way early: the story is brilliant, but the pacing can be totally off. Pure adventure games are all about wandering around solving puzzles, but there are rather drawn-out sections here that feel like they dwell a little too long before allowing us to rekindle our love affair with the story. The concepts themselves can be wonderful, but, whilst on your quest to collect A, so that a character gives you B, before those are combined into C, it’s easy to concede that more could’ve been done to feed your curiosity.

Adventure games are all about wandering around solving puzzles, but there are rather drawn-out sections here that dwell a little too long before allowing us to rekindle our love affair with the story.

It’s a credit to how good the cutscenes, dialogue and storytelling are that we rather selfishly wanted more of them. The soundtrack evokes a soft melancholia, with piano drops and violin swells. The dialogue is self-aware and the voice acting is sharp as a tack; so often does Harper seem to perfectly narrate the player’s thoughts, sarcastically breaking the fourth wall in that cheeky Sam & Max way, or playfully scolding you for suggesting something daft in order to solve a puzzle. The amount of times we caught ourselves smirking at Harper’s reactions to hilariously misguided attempts to make progress is beyond measure.

This makes Unforeseen Incidents’ puzzles both a delight and a frustration rolled into one. It’s a strange ebb and flow, as one minute you’ll be flying high whilst lamenting the wasted years in higher education, as you were clearly born a genius, then, around two minutes later, you’re stumped and rapidly approaching rock bottom whilst being presented with amusing dialogue to keep you sweet. The main offenders here are very mechanically complex puzzles, which may well be fine if you’re practically minded and love your tinkering, but, if you’re anything like me, you’ll just have to call your dad and ask him how to repair a fan belt or whatever.

All in all, Unforeseen Incidents offers a challenging and engaging take on the point-and-click genre that fans of a good mystery - who also have the patience to persist through some of the more difficult puzzles - should definitely download. Give yourself the gift of feeling like you’ve earned a great story, and a pat on the back for being dead clever.

Pros

• Well-crafted puzzles vary in complexity
• Your hand isn’t held, making solutions feel earned
• Engaging story with superb voice acting & a haunting soundtrack
• Beautiful, hand-painted environments & distinctive visual style

Cons

• Poorly paced at times
• Some of the more technical puzzles may be alienating

8/10