Shardlight
Rating: N/A - Rating Not Applicable

The world is awash with terrorist attacks, my state is sunny but grim, my city Oakland is grim with police scandals – and I could have used happy game about happy people. Wadjet Eye's Shardlite is a dark game. In the first scene our protagonist mercy kills a compatriot which opens the scene into a dystopian world left destroyed with the population suffering from a lethal disease. The upper I% are the only ones who have access to a life saving drug. The 99% either die or work dangerous jobs for a chance to get the drug. In the Blackwell trilogy there was interaction between the playable and non playable characters. Technobabylon, had a good dose of macabre humor. Here Amy pretty much goes it alone. Actually it's technically a good game. Cues come from talking to everyone repeatedly until you get a hint and keeping a sharp eye on the sets for minor incongruities. I could handle all this but there are no jokes or wise cracks to lighten up the load. Music is good as we have gotten to expect with Wadjet Eye games but nothing beats the jazz in Blackwell. Come on Dave – lighten up.

Reviewed by: Editor - Jul/16