Branching Narrative revealed a first-look demo of their new interactive video adaption of Ian Livingston’s classic gamebook adventure Deathtrap Dungeon at EGX 2019 in London a couple of days back.
For those of us unable to attend the event, thankfully we live in the internet age where we can gather what we can and glean how participants felt about Branching Narratives unique approach to bringing the adventure to a new medium.
For anyone hoping for a more traditional video game experience like the one developed in the 90s, you might be surprised to learn that the developers have brought a much less complex, though no less elegant game design to bear on the adventure.
In this iteration of Deathtrap Dungeon, British actor Eddie Marsan ( V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes, Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw) sits in a large, padded chair and narrates the complete gamebook while you make choices and select items from menus along the side of the screen.
As one user comments of the experience on his website, the design is simple, yet the experience overall is pleasing, particularly to longtime fans:
“It may sound silly and not very interesting, but it’s a bit of a dream… to have a famous actor read to you, with a theatrical verve, the story that you have lived intensely as a teenager, while taking pleasure in explaining how you missed this or that roll of dice and you find yourself on the verge of death is a very delicious experience.
It’s very simple, I could not help but get a big smile at the listen to the first pages of the book with only background music hearth crackling in the room.”
The game will be available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android eventually, but right now you can subscribe for updates on the official Branching Narrative website.
Here’s a little taste of what to expect.
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THE PULSE is out now on Google Play
Our sci-fi text adventure The Pulse is out now. Our novels New Horizons and The Blue Moon are also available now.
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