DW: The Gunpowder Plot

So, a traditional historical story, with hardly any aliens to be seen. A rare treat... no, hang on... I'm thinking of The Plotters. No, in this, the latest computer game, as is standard for New Series Who, everything that happens on Earth is due to aliens. In this case, there is a small issue of Sontarans and Rutans... (I will give the new series this, they do have the actual battles between aliens that we only dreamed of in the old series.)

Anyway, with the backdrop of the Gunpowder Plot to explode ol' London town, the Rutans are trying to wipe out the Sontarans, as they do, and need to help events along to get their crashed ship out. And so our hapless heroes get mixed up in history as they put paid to another alien invasion.

And heroes indeed! This adventure features the Doctor, Amy... and Rory! And you get to play as all of them! Indeed, Rory gets more to do here than he ever did in the actual stories. And that's another point: this game is long. Far longer than any of the previous adventures. Mainly because it is split up into lots of smaller segments, but have a few hours spare if you want to work your way through it. But considering how thin some previous adventures have been, this is only for the better.

Not to say it's all wonderful of course. Levels get repeated a bit, and long segments are repeats of the "dodge the guards" mechanic (ugh, the Sontarans really over-guard the sewers... and can't see people sneaking right in front of them). The camera didn't help in many cases, especially when I had to move backwards to go forwards. There were a few puzzles where it took me a while to work out what I supposed to do (especially Rory vs the Rutans). And a very odd bug: while in the Rutan ship, Rory and then Amy literally lost their heads! (Another bug, Amy getting hung up on scenery... caused me to die, stupid woman!)

But the free roaming levels were good. They do visuals well, so being able to look around pleased me. Although it's not always clear where I can go and where I can't (a few odd invisible walls). And there were a few places I didn't look, which bring me to...

Would I play it again? I think so, but not immediately. And I didn't find the surprise guest, so that will be something to look for. (Unlike cards, none of them to be found.)

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