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Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass

Score: 78%
ESRB: Not Rated
Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Media: Download/1
Players: 1
Genre: Classic/Retro/ Adventure

Graphics & Sound:

Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass is another retro-style adventure title from Wadjeteye Games, the developers behind the Blackwell series. This time though, the developers have gone for a more light-hearted and comedic experience that reminded me at times of everything from Day of the Tentacle to Full Throttle.

Da New Guys has an unusual visual style. In an age when most people expect either super photo-realistic visuals or at least stylized graphics, Da New Guys takes on a badly hand-drawn style, almost as if a middle schooler was asked to draw out the different characters and locations. For some reason though, this really works for the quirky game and it just adds to the overall absurdity that Day of the Jackass emanates in every way.

Similar to the unusual art style, the game's voicework feels over-the-top and a bit hammy, but it's hard to tell if that is bad acting/directing, or just bad for the sake of being bad, like the visuals. I will say, however bad the acting may be, either on accident or purpose, the dialogue does a great job of conveying the different characters' personalities. The three main characters, Brain, Simon and The Defender, are all very different characters and those differences come out in spades as you control each one.


Gameplay:

Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass focuses on a trio of roommates who just happen to be a part of the local professional wrestling circuit. The game starts off with the titular team getting into a belt-challenging match against the reigning champs. With some crafty work, Brain (known for being the worst brawler in Wrestle Zone history) ends up being the last contestant standing and winning the belt. Unfortunately for him, no one really thinks he deserves it and after dodging the rest of the wrestlers in the company, he gets kidnapped.

While there is a detective assigned to the case, one of Brain's roommates, The Defender, decides to do some investigating on his own. Everyone assumes Brain's disappearance has to do with the belt, but not everything is adding up to that conclusion.

During the adventure, you will end up controlling all three of Da New Guys in order to resolve this most unusual case, but in the mean time, you will have to deal with everything from overly obsessed fans to car chases and street fights, but at least the game is really straightforward and you always know where you are going from beginning to end.


Difficulty:

In fact, Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass is so straightforward, I didn't find it much of a challenge. There was the occasional point where the solution to a problem wasn't obvious to me, but classic adventure game tricks like going through your inventory with various on-screen hot spots pretty much always resolved these hiccups.

In fact, pretty much every puzzle in the game is inventory-based, and as a result, any adventure gamer with even a mild bit of experience shouldn't have any problem getting through this amusing story. As long as you remember to try and pick up everything, you shouldn't have a problem getting through any obstacle Da New Guys throws at you.

The only variation from the inventory-based puzzles found in this game are the dialogues. There isn't any real kind of complex branching structure built into Day of the Jackass, nor are there any consequences for choosing the wrong options. As a result, every time you find yourself in a discussion, make sure to explore every option and you will do fine.


Game Mechanics:

Da New Guys: Day of the Jackass really nails the classic 90's adventure game feel. Not only are the graphics very fitting of some of the less serious games from that time, but the subject matter and humor fit as well. I will say that the game needed to be a bit more difficult for me to really get the old-school feel from it, but pretty much every other aspect does the trick.

While there does seem to be a resurgence of adventure games these days, and let's hope the DoubleFine Adventure craze that recently hit Kickstarter continues this trend, the market for gamers looking for that retro feel in the genre isn't likely to grow beyond its current numbers. As with most retro-styled games, the idea is to grab the players who remember the games from that era, and while that was only 20 or so years ago, Da New Guys isn't likely to catch the eye of any younger gamers, adventure fans or otherwise.


-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

Minimum System Requirements:



Pentium or higher processor, 64 Mb RAM, Windows ME or higher, any DirectX-compatible sound and video card
 

Test System:



Windows 7 Ultimate, Intel i7 X980 3.33GHz, 12 GB RAM, Radeon HD 5870 Graphics Card, DirectX 9.0c

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