Puzzle Agent 2 Review

Written by Phil Bruton Sunday, 17 July 2011 08:20

Puzzle Agent 2 from Telltale Games is a point and click puzzle solving game in the same vein as the Professor Layton games. The story picks up right where the first game left off, which can be an issue if you've never played the first (such as myself). FBI Agent Tethers is a puzzle solving whiz who is back on the case in Scoggins, Minnesota.

When you first get to Scoggins, you'll notice that they're none to friendly to Agent Tethers. This is where the game lost me, I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to play the first game in the series. I instead had hoped for a new story or even a sequel that lead in a different direction. The most important thing about the story that I can tell you is: play the original game first! Without this prior knowledge of the story, you'll be completely lost, as I was.

The puzzles themselves are all quite clever and well put together. I ran into an issue with a couple, but thankfully (just like Prof. Layton), you have up to 3 clues that you can use per puzzle. That is, if you have the gum. Yes, gum! Gum is found stuck to everything throughout Scoggins and you'll keep enough around to help you when you get to a tricky spot.

The graphic style of the game reminded me of the TV show "Home Movies." It's visually appealing and the "squigglevision" look helps with the indie feel. Each character is nice to look at and their little quirks are amusing. The sound and voice acting in the game are nothing short of excellent, each character has full dialogue and it's delivered very well.

This brings me to one of my main gripes about the game. I live in Minnesota, WE DON'T SOUND LIKE THAT. I find the stereotypical "Fargo" accent cute, but when every character sounds like a parody of themselves, it becomes a bit grating.

Overall, Puzzle Agent 2 is a solid Puzzler, if you ignore the story. I highly recommend that you play the first game in the series if you want to get the full effect, otherwise I fear that you'll be lost, as I was. Minus the story faux pas, the puzzling and traversing of Scoggins, Minnesota is a raucous good time.