Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Platform: PC, Mac
Release Date: 8 August, 2018
Price: $14.99
Where To Buy: Steam, GOG, Direct from the Developer (Humble)
Demo: Coming Soon?!
System Requirements
- OS: Windows XP or higher
- Processor: Pentium or higher
- Memory: 64 MB RAM
- Graphics: 640x360, 32-bit colour: 700 Mhz system minimum
- DirectX: Version 5.2
- Storage: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: All DirectX-compatible sound cards
About
Unavowed is the the latest Point & Click adventure from Dave Gilbert and his team at Wadjet Eye games. A brand new game set in an urban fantasy version of New York City inspired by Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series mixed with a dash of BioWare-style origin stories and companions. All lovingly wrapped in the LucasArts influenced adventuring style Dave and company are known for.
Synopsis
I don't think I can do any better than the official description:
One year ago, a demon possessed you; forcing you to tear a trail of bloodshed through New York City. Your salvation finally comes in the form of the Unavowed – an ancient society dedicated to stopping evil.
You are free, but your world is in tatters. You have no home, no friends, and are wanted by the police. Your old life is gone, but perhaps you can start a new one. Join the ranks of the Unavowed, and fight against the oncoming darkness.
Personnel:
- Story design by Dave Gilbert (Blackwell series, The Shivah) with Jennifer Hepler (Dragon Age series) as a narrative consultant
- Background art by Ben Chandler (Shardlight, Technobabylon, Blackwell series) with character portraits by Ivan Ulyanov (Shardlight, The Charnel House Trilogy, Technobabylon)
- Music by Thomas Regin (Blackwell series)
- Programming by Dave Gilbert with assistance from Janet Gilbert (Blackwell series, Resonance)
- Male or female protagonist
- Three backgrounds with playable origin stories - Actor, Bartender, Cop
- Choose two companions from a pool of four to take on each mission
- Choices that influence how the story plays out
- Lush 640x480 graphics
- Eli Beckett (VA: Frank Todaro) - A fire mage and former accountant who's looks might be deceiving
- Mandana (VA: Sandra Espinoza) - A 400 year old half-jinn, half-human warrior who wields a mean sword
- Vicki Santina (VA: Arielle Siegel) - A disgraced cop from Staten Island who has also recently joined the Unavowed
- Logan Brown (VA: Logan Cunningham) - A psychic medium tasked with escorting lost ghosts to the afterlife with his companion spirit guide KayKay
Screenshots
Trailers
Previews
Courtney Ehrenhofler, Adventure GamersThe traditional style of play combined with player choice inherently built into it marks a refreshing change in a genre that often either relies too heavily on the singular personality of a game's protagonist or sacrifices gameplay for choice-driven narrative. Here there's always plenty to do, while the characters and story are both engaging and deep, giving me the feeling that I'd only just scratched the surface of what's to come. These are characters you want to follow to the end to find out what happens to them.
John Walker, Rock, Paper, ShotgunIt sounds an awful lot, and of course all of it will depend entirely on the quality of the story and the writing. But then this is Dave Gilbert, and he's yet to let us down in those areas, so there's good reason to hope. What I've seen certainly suggests good things, with strong voice acting, and even background banter between the NPCs in your party.
It's a fascinating prospect, taking all the best story elements of the RPG and working them into an adventure. And thanks to some desperately needed advancements in AGS, it looks much lovelier too – twice as many pixels are now available to artist Ben Chandler, and he's done what looks like might be his best work yet.
Adam Riley, Cubed3From these early stages of the adventure, Unavowed does not disappoint in any way, taking the formula used in past Wadjet Eye releases, polishing it to perfection, and then expertly mixing in themes from other titles, along with fresh ideas to make for a highly engaging experience.
Cassidee Moser, ShacknewsThe Unavowed is edgy, but not in a faux, middle-school "mature" way. It has something to say about humanity and control, and it's not afraid to spill some blood and tackle some very sensitive themes in order to do so.
The urban fantasy premise works nicely, and the grim edge makes Unavowed feel uniquely inspired, borrowing ideas from Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to create a compelling and engrossing story about conquering demons and cleansing out the flaws in our souls.
Reviews
John Walker, Rock, Paper, ShotgunIf Unavowed had been released in the early '90s, it would be remembered today as one of the all-time classics of the adventure genre, lauded for its innovations with the form, referenced as an inspiration for games still being made today.
Andy Kelly, PC GamerUnavowed is another fantastic adventure from Wadjet Eye, and it's great to see studio founder Dave Gilbert back in the saddle. The humour didn't always land for me and some of the voice acting is a little iffy, but otherwise this is a fine example of a modern point-and-click adventure.
Richard Hoover, Adventure GamersThe interesting characterizations, complexity of storytelling, jazzy soundtrack and beautiful visuals of Unavowed are all what we've come to expect from Wadjet Eye, but throw in multiple introductions, teammates, and impactful player choices and the quality is kicked up another notch.
Rob Pritchard, Video Games UncoveredOverall, Unavowed is one of the best point and click adventure games to be released in the current generation. The high-resolution graphics, along with the strongly written dialogue, excellent puzzle design and emotive soundtrack provide the ingredients for a modern classic that will be very difficult to duplicate.
Aggregates (Last Updated: 08/31/2020): Metacritic: 87, OpenCritic: 86
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: You mentioned this has RPG elements, Is there combat?
A: Nope! If you are looking for adventure/RPG hybrids with combat, you might want to look into the Quest for Glory series or its descendants such as Heroine's Quest, Quest for Infamy, Hero-U, and the upcoming Mage's Initiation.
Q: Does this require knowledge of the Blackwell series?
A: Unavowed is set in the same version of NYC as the Blackwell series so there are some familiar elements such as ghosts and Bestowers (a responsibility common to Logan and Rosa Blackwell), and maybe a stray cameo. Beyond the shared setting, there's no connection between Unavowed and the Blackwell series.
Q: Will there be Abe Goldfarb?
A: Probably. It wouldn't be a proper Wadjet Eye game without him!
Confirmed! He plays several small parts this time. See if you can spot them!
Q: Is there be a mobile version?
A: Nothing announced yet, but Wadjet Eye has a good track record of doing a mobile port after the PC launch.
Q: What about consoles?
A: Unfortunately, the engine this game uses doesn't support current consoles
Q: Which engine is that?
A: Adventure Game Studio is a freeware engine that was created back in the dawn of the Internet by Chris Jones (now maintained by a team of volunteers) dedicated to making games in the style of classic Sierra and LucasArts adventure games. AGS powers nearly every Wadjet Eye game and those of many other indie adventure game developers.
Q: What's the story behind Wadjet Eye Games?
A: Wadjet Eye Games is a very small (3-4 employees I believe) indie company that specializes in point & click adventure games with a focus on telling a good story, top-tier production quality, and not letting puzzles get in the way.
After mucking around with AGS for several years in the early 2000's making freeware titles, Dave was one of the first developers in that community to make an attempt at releasing a game commercially with The Shivah in mid-2006. Which was an incredibly risky since at the time the point & click adventures genre was considered "dead" (following the abandonment of the genre by Sierra and LucasArts around 1999-2001) and any remaining mainstream attention was focused on Telltale's early efforts such as Sam & Max Season 1.
The Shivah was followed by The Blackwell Legacy at the end of 2006 which kicked off a 5 game series that culminated in 2014's Blackwell Epiphany. Over the years Dave has also worked as a publisher and shepherded titles such as Gemini Rue, Resonance, and Technobabylon to commercial release and critical acclaim. Over the last 12 years the company has released 15 games, 8 of which were created in-house.
Q: Why is this the first time I've heard of them?
A: I don't know! But you should consider yourself lucky as you're in for a real treat. Go play Unavowed, and if you like it please give their other games a try. Their back catalog contains some of the best modern point & click adventure games you can find. Feel free to ask for a recommendation if you can't pick one to start with :)
Other
A quick shout-out to the fine folks in the Point & Click Adventure thread for the encouragement to create my first OT. If you're new to the genre or just want to learn about other games in the genre, stop on by!
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