When I last left off, I was in a cave. There are quite a few items, a nickel. Reminds me of the dime from the last game. And a hand-crank-
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| HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! |
No joke, the second I get the item I fall off. Right away I start laughing. That was just perfect comedic timing. That is the fall to compare all other falls. The developers were smart in their coding too, just cuts to the menu after a few seconds. Was this intentional, or am I just reading this all differently? There's another item perilously close to the edge, a paper bag. At first I think there's something inside, but using it blows it up. Using it again has Carnby saying he's not just here for fun.
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Well, we'll find out ten hours later
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Two screens over, I find Striker's corpse. Its not exactly a shock, since I did see the intro cutscene. He has a pipe cleaner and the other half of the notebook. In it, Striker explains the plot of the game so far. This is for Carnby's benefit, he doesn't know that. Apparently the papers were wrong, how shocking. One-Eyed Jack is a monster; Hell's Kitchen is full of secret passages; "The solution is in the cards. Remember our poker games."* They also make whisky. Oh, right, this takes place during prohibition...I have to stop that, even if it means destroying their supply one flask at a time.
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Just a normal puzzle from the school of bad game design
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But first I have to get out of this room. So, the door here is locked, although "Its closed" doesn't exactly cover that statement. Wanna know how you unlock it? Realize that the key is inside the lock on the other side, use the piece of newspaper, use the pipe cleaner, then I get the key. There is nothing telling you this. You have to make the logical jump that that is what's happening. I had to look up a clue to gently guide me to the solution, since I was completely stumped and as soon as someone told me that there was a key inside there, it was obvious. How about an examine feature? This reveals that the piece of newspaper is actually a contract between Sean O'Leary AKA Music Man, and Elisabeth Jarret, "arm of the evil powers". He's immortal and I have to tear this document in his presence to defeat him. Not exactly a deep puzzle we have here.
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The clock is in the way because you really don't want to see what I've done to him
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I cautiously advance, until I see this fellow. At first, I assume its O'Leary, but I don't see any musical instruments nearby. There's one way to solve this problem. He gets a few shots in, but I manage to beat him. He drops quite a few items, a riot gun, whatever the hell that is in this day and age, another book and more bootleg whisky. First I take care of the whisky, that will trouble no good law-abiding citizen anytime soon. Curiously, this was actually supposed to be a puzzle. Use the brown-paper bag to awaken the guard, then push the lever when he jumps out in front of a previously seen barrel's path. Only problem is I figure this out after killing him and instead kill myself. Nice. The book is relatively pointless, its just talking about how the cook wasn't terribly fond of Jack's executions.
After I eventually don't end up killing myself with a big barrel, the next step isn't difficult to figure out. Use hand-crank on clock, and that opens a wall of crates. The crates were hiding yet another book, more talking about Sean O'Leary, the only thing of interest is that he has an accordian, he's one-handed, and his Vivaldi is slightly fast. There's also a box of riot gun shells. Nice.
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About as terrifying as he'll ever be
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After I eventually don't end up killing myself with a big barrel, the next step isn't difficult to figure out. Use hand-crank on clock, and that opens a wall of crates. The crates were hiding yet another book, more talking about Sean O'Leary, the only thing of interest is that he has an accordian, he's one-handed, and his Vivaldi is slightly fast. There's also a box of riot gun shells. Nice.
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Three guys, bad
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With much in the way of choices to go, I go upstairs. A short man screams help. I assume, wrongly, that he's asking me for help, since one of the books mentions that the cook isn't too fond of the others. I'm wrong. It isn't even a fight, the three guys that show up instakill me. And then the burly guy tosses me out to the sea again. I thought I killed him. Oh, well. I've still got choices.
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Two guys, fine. Game logic everyone
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The next room over is a shooting gallery, or at least its being used as a shooting gallery. There are two armed guards in here...which is really fun to deal with and not in any way whatsoever annoying. After a few reloads I eventually manage to defeat them in a way that won't screw me later. The duo drop nothing, but nearby is another box of shells. There's also a set of cards on the wall and a series of revolving boxes with card suits on them. At first I think I'm just supposed to match them, but that does nothing. Enhancing this puzzle is that you have to shoot the boxes if you want them to move one space, hitting them with one's fists/battledore moves it two spaces, and you can't push it.
Then I figure this is the copy protection thing, only, the cards that solves does nothing here. Oh...good. With no more options, I figure I might as well go for a flush. Which opens the door and another zombie pops out. Thanks...thanks for that fellas.
He was guarding a brewery room, with a flask, a bottle of whisky, two books and a cash register that I absolutely don't need to use the nickel on or anything. After disposing of the devil's brew I get to reading the books. One is about someone called De Witt with masterful skill at billards, and another about the cook, T.Bone who seems much more sinister than the game previously told me. After this I noticed that Carnby was curiously sluggish and had lost a little health. Hang on then, that means that the flasks aren't actually alcohol. I guess the whisky is for a puzzle. So I reload. Now, that register. Upon using the nickel, I get two tokens of differing colors...oh, no...
Dejected, I wander outside of the room back into the gallery. I'm going to have to rush past those big guys on the 1st floor. My plan is interrupted by the appearance of another zombie, this one ignoring me and standing somewhat unclothed, next to a sack. After a few attempts, I defeat him in a satisfactory matter. He dropped nothing, despite having a revolver, a continuing theme in this game. The sack is interesting, as I can search it and get...
...a Santa Claus suit. I think that's a good place to leave off for now.
Total Time: 3.5 hours
This Session: 1.5 hour
*Referencing the infamous card puzzle copy protection
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