The Odyssey Trail of Tears Review

I’m surprised that that aren’t more games that incorporate video in the games we have on the App Store. There have been a couple (Alternate Endings being a favorite so far) but it seems like there should be a lot more. Maybe putting everything together is just a lot harder than other game aspects.

For whatever reason, I’m always happy when I see a new entry into the genre. Which is exactly the case with this new app, “The Odyssey: Trail of Tears”.

In Odyssey you play the part of some unnamed person from four years in the future who is helping another unnamed person in the present time solve a mystery that is a… well… a mystery. You made a couple of choices for the on screen actor and he takes it from there.

I’m really not quite sure where to go with this review. There are many nice things about this game, some rather confusing parts, some repetitive parts, and the fact that it’s not complete. I’ll just take it in order I just laid out.

The game itself is very interesting. Our hero takes on the tasks you give and goes all the United States to look for clues. I was pretty impressed with this level of dedication in the travel. I really appreciate the level of research that went into the mystery as well. The acting and film work is not too bad. Everything is done in very amateur sort of way, and that’s exactly the way it should be here. If it was too professional it wouldn’t ring quite the same.

Now the confusing stuff… As interesting as the mystery is, I’m not sure I know what the mystery is. There’s all sorts of stuff going on, but at times it’s a lot like watching someone working string theory. It all looks really impressive but you have no idea why they’re doing it or what will happen when they figure it out.

I also don’t know why this person was picked to solve the thing, or for that matter, who I am. It would have taken just a few minutes at the beginning to give a little bit of back story.

They might be saving that for the big ending (like maybe the two people are the same – shock!), but there needs to be something going on. And finally, how are they talking? There is some sort of wormhole thing that happens every time you send a message, but we don’t know what it means.

The game has some very repetitive parts that can really drag the game down. I mentioned the wormhole bit already, but the fact that you see it so many times with the same music sting will drive you crazy very quickly. Also, as much as I like the traveling, seeing several shots out the window of a car gets old fast.

But the oddest repeating thing is when the game suddenly claims that a signal was lost and you start all over again. The actor even says that he knows he’s done this before but you have to go through it all again.

I do have one little fix for this. You can go to the “settings” section on your device and you’ll find a setting for “The Odyssey”. From there choose the “normal” view for the movies and you’ll be able to fast forward your way through the video segments that you’ve already seen. The game should tell you that option up front.

And, it’s not complete. Sure they tell you that you’ll get the rest of the story in updates, but it just seems strange that you invest time into the game and find out that it’s not all there. When I do get the update I know I’ll have to go through the whole thing from the beginning again just to get caught up so it makes me wonder why I spent the time on it now.

So there you have it… The Odyssey is a very ambitious project and for the most part it’s pulled off quite well. I look forward to seeing how everything will finish up, and even more interested to see how it all began. Oh, and I’m still trying to figure out the middle.

The Good

Very Interesting Story
Locations & History Are Good
Original Concept

The Bad

That Worm Hole Thing Will Make You Scream
Story Is A Bit Slow
The Game Isn’t Complete

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Tags: Adventure Iphone, Review, The Odyssey Trail, Trail of Tears Review

Category: Games