Case 1: In Search for the Skunk-Ape
Ah, Ben’s very first case: The (original) Search for the Skunk-Ape, released on May 25th 2004. I first played this game some time in 2005, about one year after discovering the AGS (Adventure Game Studio) community and its huge game database. The Ben Jordan Cases 2 to 4 had already been released at that point of time, so I played these first four games in direct succession. But more about that when I review the later cases. Retroactively viewed, Case 1 is a competent start to the series. I've always enjoyed revisiting it after having played through the rest of the series. As a stand-alone game, Case 1 is also quite good for an indie adventure, but not great yet. I should mention here that I had come to expect very high standards after having played some of the other AGS classics before, like the Apprentice series or the Chzo Mythos games. BJ1 didn’t quite manage to reach these hights, but it certainly showed a lot of potential and already contained lots of the features that made the later Ben Jordan games so addicitive and fun to play.
Story/Characters
The story is quite simple in the first game. In a quick intro we learn that Ben decided to become a paranormal investigator after graduating from college (what else is a young man to do with his life?). The actual game kicks off shortly after Ben received a phone call with his first case: a bigfoot-like hominid, the mysterious Skunk-Ape, goes on the rampage in the Florida Everglades. Over the course of the game, you have to do some research, find the Skunk-Ape and the reason for its behaviour and put a stop to it. The denouement seemed to come a bit out of the left field for me, but nonetheless it was a memorable way to close Ben’s first case. The actual ending itself is pretty disappointing though, just a short dialog and a couple of text boxes recounting the aftermath. As for characters, the first game only has a few other persons you can interact with, but the Sierra-inspired character portraits during dialogs are a great way to give them more personality than possible with mere pixel art. The dialogs are also good, sometimes humorous and/or informative and they go on to become a key feature of the Ben Jordan series. Still, of the characters you meet in the first game, we only get to know Ranger Rick a little better, and he meets a sudden bloody end before the game is over. Goodbye red-shirt Rick, we hardly knew ya! Though Rick’s death isn’t very emotional (we knew this guy for too short a time to really care about his demise), it shows Ben the dangers of his newly chosen profession, which is all the more interesting if you are aware of what is to come later in the series. Speaking of Ben, the first game does a fine job with the protagonist's introduction, but we don’t learn too much about him yet, other that he’s an likeable enough young man that likes the X-Files and wears green trousers.
Gameplay/Puzzles
Gameplaywise, BJ is you typical AGS point & click adventure. It uses the Sierra interface known from games like Gabriel Knight and Knight’s Quest. Clicking on the right mouse button cycles the cursor through various modes: looking, talking, using/taking and applying the selected inventory item. Additionally you can access the different cursor modes plus the inventory by using the menu bar on the top of the screen. It’s all very straight-forward and intuitive, one of my favourite adventure game interfaces actually. Some might find the constant cycling through the various cursour modes cumbersome, but personally I love the higher freedom it gives the player compared to simple right- and left-clicking. Similar to the Gabriel Knight games, BJ1 also awards points for some actions like solving puzzles or asking certain things in the dialogs and every time your score rises you are awarded by a Skunk-Ape roar, which I found both funny and fitting. What I really appreciated about BJ1’s gameplay is that you can click on any point of the screen with the look-cursor and get detailed, interesting, sometimes even funny answers. Most of that is optional, but these additonal interactions makes the game world a lot more interesting and a lot less frustrating to explore. Talking about frustration, you won’t have much in Ben Jordan anyway, as the game is very short and can be easily completed in about half an hour. The puzzles are all very straight-forward and easy to figure out. Structurally, the game is split into two puzzle blocks of roughly the same size: 1) Ben’s initial investigation in the park and 2) the following search for the Skunk-Ape in the woods. Though the final scene gives an impression of urgency, none of the puzzles are time-sensitive and the player can’t die in this game.
Graphics/Music
The last thing I want to discuss in regard to BJ1 is the art: the graphics and the music. The background graphics are not that detailed and a bit blurry, but they work well enough and have their own unique style that reminds me of watercolor paintings. The character sprites are a bit off regarding proportions and posture and the portrait close ups vary in quality. Ranger Rick’s is quite good for example, while Ben’s own portrait could have used some additional work. But needless to say, this is the first part of the series and all graphics will become much better as the series goes on. Sound-wise there’s little to critisize. The soundtrack was composed by Andreas Slotte, wo did the music most of the early Ben Jordan games. The main title is a classic, the theme for the park is very catchy and the sound effects are fitting, down to the already mentioned roar whenever your score increases. The only downside is that there are so few different tunes, but as there aren’t many locations in the game anyway it doesn’t really bother me that much.
Final Verdict
So, what’s my final verdict for case 1? On the Ben Jordan Scale of Awesomeness, this case gets a 2/5. That might seem low, and looking back over what I wrote I mostly concentrated on the positives. But the reasons I can’t give it a higher rating are: 1) As a stand-alone game, the story is rather short and generic (but it gets plus points for building on the real Skunk-Ape legend!). 2) There are very few puzzles, and what is there is very easy. 3) The art is still a bit wonky that early in the series. 4) The game is rated in comparison with the other BJ games and other classics from the AGS game database, which set a very high standard.
Story/Characters
The story is quite simple in the first game. In a quick intro we learn that Ben decided to become a paranormal investigator after graduating from college (what else is a young man to do with his life?). The actual game kicks off shortly after Ben received a phone call with his first case: a bigfoot-like hominid, the mysterious Skunk-Ape, goes on the rampage in the Florida Everglades. Over the course of the game, you have to do some research, find the Skunk-Ape and the reason for its behaviour and put a stop to it. The denouement seemed to come a bit out of the left field for me, but nonetheless it was a memorable way to close Ben’s first case. The actual ending itself is pretty disappointing though, just a short dialog and a couple of text boxes recounting the aftermath. As for characters, the first game only has a few other persons you can interact with, but the Sierra-inspired character portraits during dialogs are a great way to give them more personality than possible with mere pixel art. The dialogs are also good, sometimes humorous and/or informative and they go on to become a key feature of the Ben Jordan series. Still, of the characters you meet in the first game, we only get to know Ranger Rick a little better, and he meets a sudden bloody end before the game is over. Goodbye red-shirt Rick, we hardly knew ya! Though Rick’s death isn’t very emotional (we knew this guy for too short a time to really care about his demise), it shows Ben the dangers of his newly chosen profession, which is all the more interesting if you are aware of what is to come later in the series. Speaking of Ben, the first game does a fine job with the protagonist's introduction, but we don’t learn too much about him yet, other that he’s an likeable enough young man that likes the X-Files and wears green trousers.
Gameplay/Puzzles
Gameplaywise, BJ is you typical AGS point & click adventure. It uses the Sierra interface known from games like Gabriel Knight and Knight’s Quest. Clicking on the right mouse button cycles the cursor through various modes: looking, talking, using/taking and applying the selected inventory item. Additionally you can access the different cursor modes plus the inventory by using the menu bar on the top of the screen. It’s all very straight-forward and intuitive, one of my favourite adventure game interfaces actually. Some might find the constant cycling through the various cursour modes cumbersome, but personally I love the higher freedom it gives the player compared to simple right- and left-clicking. Similar to the Gabriel Knight games, BJ1 also awards points for some actions like solving puzzles or asking certain things in the dialogs and every time your score rises you are awarded by a Skunk-Ape roar, which I found both funny and fitting. What I really appreciated about BJ1’s gameplay is that you can click on any point of the screen with the look-cursor and get detailed, interesting, sometimes even funny answers. Most of that is optional, but these additonal interactions makes the game world a lot more interesting and a lot less frustrating to explore. Talking about frustration, you won’t have much in Ben Jordan anyway, as the game is very short and can be easily completed in about half an hour. The puzzles are all very straight-forward and easy to figure out. Structurally, the game is split into two puzzle blocks of roughly the same size: 1) Ben’s initial investigation in the park and 2) the following search for the Skunk-Ape in the woods. Though the final scene gives an impression of urgency, none of the puzzles are time-sensitive and the player can’t die in this game.
Graphics/Music
The last thing I want to discuss in regard to BJ1 is the art: the graphics and the music. The background graphics are not that detailed and a bit blurry, but they work well enough and have their own unique style that reminds me of watercolor paintings. The character sprites are a bit off regarding proportions and posture and the portrait close ups vary in quality. Ranger Rick’s is quite good for example, while Ben’s own portrait could have used some additional work. But needless to say, this is the first part of the series and all graphics will become much better as the series goes on. Sound-wise there’s little to critisize. The soundtrack was composed by Andreas Slotte, wo did the music most of the early Ben Jordan games. The main title is a classic, the theme for the park is very catchy and the sound effects are fitting, down to the already mentioned roar whenever your score increases. The only downside is that there are so few different tunes, but as there aren’t many locations in the game anyway it doesn’t really bother me that much.
Final Verdict
So, what’s my final verdict for case 1? On the Ben Jordan Scale of Awesomeness, this case gets a 2/5. That might seem low, and looking back over what I wrote I mostly concentrated on the positives. But the reasons I can’t give it a higher rating are: 1) As a stand-alone game, the story is rather short and generic (but it gets plus points for building on the real Skunk-Ape legend!). 2) There are very few puzzles, and what is there is very easy. 3) The art is still a bit wonky that early in the series. 4) The game is rated in comparison with the other BJ games and other classics from the AGS game database, which set a very high standard.