Been there done that

Regular readers would note that I’ve been paying a lot of point and click adventure games over the past few months. Well, another one has been cast down from my Hall of Shame. Who’s out on their arse this time around? Ben There Dan That!

As is often the case, I’d become aware of this game largely through word of mouth: As was my understanding, it was a more recent point and click adventure game which was really funny. Ho Hum right? After all is there ever a point and click adventure game without humor? And isn’t The Dig?
But wait! Ben There Dan That boasts an animation quality on par with South Park! And shares the same demented sense of humor too! And it’s made by British people! Well, I’m all for that. Now as far as I’m concerned the point and click adventure games made by the British are in the minority and the few I have played (Beneath a Steel Sky and Simon the Sorcerer) are of high quality so what the hell? I’m curious.

So I found the game on Steam, played it all the way through and at the end of it? Well to begin with, this is more or less a love letter to the various point and click adventure games from the early nineties. There are various references, in both the visuals and dialogue that call back to this era – but whilst that may sound like a bad thing it never once bogs down the game itself. Yes in an age where people seem intent on celebrating the games they enjoyed as a youth, Ben There Dan That never once gets blinded by nostalgia – no it has something of its own to say and won’t stop in getting its message across.
Holy shit! I can’t believe I just typed that! Yes unlike a lot of other modern point and click adventure games Ben There Dan That seems to have been made by people who have a clear idea of what they want to convey and avoiding pioneer reverence like the plague. I guess stranger things have happened…

Okay, cynicism aside, I found a lot to admire about Ben There Dan That. The puzzles are well thought out and there is a lot of hilarity in the humor and the crude nature of the graphics. The South Park comparisons are inescapable but it’s nice to think of Ben There Dan That as a visitor from a parallel dimension where Trey Parker and Matt Stone were from the UK. Now whilst there are some signs of being a first time game (the limited locations being one such example), this is still an impressive feat for game bashed out by two guys.
And apparently, someone else thought so too for apparently, there does exist a sequel….