Times Like These

Well if you’re going to play Ben There Dan that, you may as well play its sequel Time Gentlemen Please. And, like it’s predecessor, it’s been shown the door out of my Hall of Shame.

I loved the first game so does the sequel offer anything new? Well quite a bit actually: Time Gentlemen Please takes what works in the first game and expands on it – you know, very much like a true sequel (Gasp! Horror!). Yes, the jokes are funnier; the situations even more ludicrous, there are a lot more locations to visit and the game certainly feels bigger and longer. The homages to point and click adventure games are still in place, with various allusions and self-awareness to the nonsense within the situation – but again, never once does it slow down the game’s mission of saying something of its own.
Throw in some clever writing, and a surprisingly epic final showdown and you’ve got yourself a gem.

Alas, not all is great with this game: I can see one glaring problem with Time Gentleman Please (and the same goes with Ben There Dan That) in that it lacks voice acting. This is a wasted opportunity as there are some real some fantastic lines in this game and seeing them presented purely as text loses a lot of the impact. Still, I paid for this game on Steam so hopefully it’ll go to Zombie Cow (or Size Five as they’re now known as) and inspire them to hire some actors and get a patch together.

It’s kind of funny: As my faith in the video games industry continues to wane, it’s interesting to see something come along that challenges some of the frequented problems that are running rampant (nostalgia-blinded remakes and sequels that don’t do anything interesting). Thus, playing both Ben There Dan That and Time Gentlemen Please is one of those things that remind me that not all is lost, we’re not all heading towards catastrophe and there are some game designers out there who have their heads screwed on straight.
Of course it’ll be doubtful that we’ll see more of Ben and Dan but perhaps it be better left that way – I mean there’s not anywhere further they can go following the end of Time Gentlemen Please. Still I have heard that Size Five are working on something new so I’m interested to see what comes of it.
Your move Size Five.