OLD SKIES

The concept of time-travel is something we encounter quite often in the arts. Dozens of books and films have been written about what would happen if we could go back in time or somehow witness the future. This is one of the many consequences of the arrogance of man, who wants to be in control of his life in everything that concerns him: either to correct past mistakes that cost him (personally, financially) or to predict his future and plan accordingly, to his advantage. Such a theme is also dealt with in Wadjet Eye Games' Old Skies, which handles the topic of time travel in a special, existential, we could say, way. After all, the mastermind behind the project, Dave Gilbert, whose last game was 2018's Unavowed, had been working on Old Skies for years and it's obvious that he chose a more mature approach compared to more "light-hearted" Back to the Future-type cases, which is reflected in the final product.

The story takes us into the future and into 2080, where time travel is a reality. Thanks to an innovative technology developed by the company ChronoZen, it is now possible to travel to the past, a service mainly aimed at wealthy people, who would like for various reasons to make such a "visit". Either for entertainment purposes (e.g. to see a concert of a favorite band) or for more serious reasons that would directly affect their present, such as saving a loved one from death or getting more money/better job prospects.

Whether or not it is possible to make a change in the past and if it can significantly affect the time continuum is something that is controlled by ChronoZen, as some things are forbidden to be touched (important persons and events, such as great disasters and inventions). For example, the existence of Professor Joe Anderson, who developed a formula that doubled the average human lifespan and is the first (for the players) mission that the central figure of the adventure, agent Fia Quinn, will take on.

The job of a ChronoZen agent is one of the hardest that one can undertake. There are very few agents available (among them are the on-site assistant Nozzo and her mentor, Duffy) and one of the reasons is that, as they move through time constantly, often changing past events, they also live in (infinite) parallel universes, in which their "alternate selves" may not even exist or may have a completely different life from their current one. However, ChronoZen's technology has managed to leave their memories and existence unaffected, as long as of course they are not in the same room as their respective selves.

With this concept in mind, Fia takes on the seemingly easy assignment of accompanying Joe Anderson to his student days, where he just wanted to relive some of his good times, before saying goodbye to this futile world, due to an incurable disease he suffers from. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that Anderson had other plans in mind, and with a simple trick, he escapes Fia's attention and begins to wander freely into the past, which is particularly dangerous for the time continuum.

So first of all, Fia is tasked with tracking down Anderson and doing the right thing (there are very strict rules for those who don't follow the terms of the contract with ChronoZen). But this story is only one part of the plot of Old Skies, as subsequently, regardless of Anderson's fate, Fia will take on other cases, seemingly unrelated at first glance, which are ultimately connected in some way. The game puts a lot of emphasis on how a small, minimal, event can affect the course of even all of humanity, while also focusing on the lonely thoughts of ChronoZen's agents and whether or not it's possible for them to leave their own mark on history.

All in all, it's a somewhat unusual story, but it's well-written, raises nice and interesting queries (without necessarily giving answers), and makes us really care about the protagonists of the adventure and their feelings. Being an adventure that "plays" with time, it follows that we will travel to different times in history, such as the so-called Gilded Age, the Prohibition era, as well as the seventies and the '00's.

Each case we undertake is self-contained, so anything concerning the period that the client has chosen to visit is limited to that time only, with very few exceptions. For the most part, Fia, as an attendant and experienced... time traveller, is the one who takes on the task of communicating with the rest of the world, and as you might expect, cases get complicated very quickly and don't always have a happy ending...

Now, as an adventure, Old Skies follows the familiar pattern of point 'n' click adventures, with a few handy additions in the controls' aspect (such as being given the description of each item by simply hovering the cursor over the hotspot), however it puts more emphasis on research and data utilization than on item and inventory management. Not that puzzles of this type don't exist, but for the vast majority of them, they are fairly straightforward as to what we need to do, as a result of the few items we'll be asked to carry.

During the longer part of the adventure (which lasts about 10 hours), we will need to communicate with people by asking the "right" questions, combine data through a peculiar database system to get information about names, locations, events, etc. and of course take full advantage of the fact that we can "play" with time. Fia is possible to die, however each time Nozzo takes it upon himself to bring her back through ChronoZen's rewind feature, meaning that when given the chance again, we can act differently, having learned something new after our earlier "death".

Besides, there are certain points in the story where we are called upon to make a definitive decision (mainly about the fate of some clients), which slightly affect the course of events, but not to the extent that it completely changes the outcome of the adventure. Old Skies still tells a complete story, and it does it very well, combining some very imaginative puzzles and some ingenious sequences that surprise with their inventiveness. The difficulty level isn't particularly high, however there are several times when we had to scratch our heads to find the solution, and there is the possibility of being given some hints through the intercom with Nozzo, but without offering the solution per se. The important thing is that, for all its time-travel concept which, in a way, becomes a convenient ace up the sleeve to "look the other way" in any gaps in the plot, there is a remarkable coherence of events here and the plot "flows" with a paradoxical smoothness. Certainly, a difficult feat on Dave Gilbert's part that justifies the six years it took to develop the game.

One of the Old Skies' trump cards is its graphics, being the first game of Gilbert's to feature HD resolution (AGS engine is evolved, I can say) and it manages to do it brilliantly. Appreciating the fact that we jump to different time periods, a very good job has been done in conveying the aesthetics of each era to the screen, both in the environments and the appearance/dress of the characters. Special mention must be made of the sound aspect, both with Thomas Regin's atmospheric soundtrack and the brilliant cast of actors who amazingly lend their voices to the characters in the adventure. Easily one of the best voice-overs we've ever heard.

In conclusion, Old Skies is another successful production of Wadjet Eye Games. The prudent management of time-travel concept, which can easily go off the rails and become corny, the remarkable writing combined with the quite inventive puzzles, make for a quality adventure, where its place can be no other than the "top shelf".

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