Puzzle Agent 2 is the latest game Telltale Games, a studio known for its humorous adventure titles. While most of Telltale’s projects are episodic in nature, the original Puzzle Agent was marketed as new game pilot. It seems it did well enough, as Puzzle Agent 2 is here in all of its quirky glory.
Game: Puzzle Agent 2
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Genre: Puzzle Adventure
Price: $9.99
Pros: A wide variety of puzzles are complemented by a fun, off-the-wall adventure
Cons: A majority of the puzzles are a little too simple. Ends abruptly.
Verdict: Fun and worthwhile ride leaving you wanting more.
Publisher Provided
In Puzzle Agent 2 you reprise the role of special agent Nelson Tethers of the FBI’s Puzzle Research Division. After the events of the first game, Agent Tethers can’t stop thinking about the missing eraser factory foreman. He decides use up some vacation time to return to Scoggins, Minnesota and get to the bottom of things. Despite leaving the town a hero, Agent Tethers finds Scoggins less than welcoming.
As its name suggests, Puzzle Agent 2 is all about puzzles. It ditches the inventory system that most adventure games have and instead information is gathered by solving puzzles thematic to the situation. Need to get through a locked door? Make one cut that will get through all of the boards. Need to get through a room without being seen? Rearrange the furniture to block the windows and allow a path to the door.
Puzzles are difficult to review as each person approaches them differently and with a different skill level. I found the puzzles complex enough that I certainly needed to pause and think, but I never found them unsolvable or frustrating. Each puzzle includes up to three hints, each less vague then the last. I rarely found them necessary, although they are incredibly useful if you get stuck. A wide variety of puzzles helps keep things interesting without relying on a potentially frustrating difficulty curve.
After completing a puzzle you are scored based on how many hints you used and how many incorrect attempts you took. The suspense between submitting an answer and receiving the result makes a correct submission immensely satisfying and failures a bit crushing. I had flashbacks to seeing my report card in school. Thankfully, most puzzles were solvable on the first attempt and Agent Tethers’ proud smile looking back at me always gave me a warm glowing feeling.
While puzzles are important, having a worthwhile story to tie them all together is equally as important. It seems there are multiple disappearances in Scoggins beyond that of the eraser factory foreman. Agent Tethers must interview the various townsfolk as he works his way to the bottom of the disappearances. The journey is full of subtle and quirky humor involving everything from forest gnomes (the hidden people) to astropsychology. The unique hand drawn art style and occasional awkward pauses work perfectly with the dialog to produce some genuinely funny moments.
Unfortunately, Puzzle Agent 2 is unusually linear for an adventure game. There is a town map used for fast traveling, but after each conversation you are specifically directed to the next location so there is no reason to explore. For a game all about an investigation, this is a little disappointing. I would have preferred it to be a little more open ended.
My biggest issue with the game was its ending. The story got so over the top that it was a bit difficult to understand exactly what was happening. It then ended so abruptly after the climax that I thought I’d been thrown out of my apartment to begin my walk of shame without getting any cuddle time. It would be like the credits rolling immediately following Darth Vader’s paternity announcement. There wasn’t any time to digest what just happened. To the game’s credit, it was engaging enough to keep me going until two in the morning, and I was left wanting more.
Overall Puzzle Agent 2 is a fun and engaging puzzle game that manages to avoid being frustrating. The puzzles may be a little too easy for die hard puzzle fans, but the variety packaged with a zany mystery story easily make this a worthwhile game for all audiences. It might leave you wanting more, but on its own it’s still fun as it is.
GrE Grade: B+
Popularity: unranked [?]
