This nifty little game took me by surprise. The first game in the now three-titled Journeyman Project series was first released way back in the sepia-toned year of 1993, and has since been spruced up in this newer, “Turbo” version.

The premise of all the Journeyman games is simple and compelling: A wacky, brilliant scientist has at last developed a usable, reliable method of time travel. His method involved the wearing of a special suit, like a very very high tech space suit, that whisks you back and forth through time. The only problem is, some mysterious person is using new time machine technology to travel into the past and mess things up by committing evil deeds, such as assassinations or acts of war. Naturally, it’s up to YOU, Special Agent Gage Blackwood of the supersecret Temporal Security Agency, to repair the damage!

I’m not going to belabor the graphics (which are pretty good) or the story (which is pretty darn good) or the music (which pretty darn excellent) or the puzzles (which are, I admit, pretty darn easy).

What I want to talk about is the gameplay, and the feeling I got during the short but pleasant experience of playing Journeyman Project Turbo. What impressed me is how the game took two characteristics that are frequently criticized in adventure games and used them to distinct and unexpected advantage.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

First is the “loneliness” complaint. Adventure gamers endlessly carp about empty, MYSTical worlds that many adventure games feature. Journeyman accomplishes the rather remarkable feat of having virtually no character interaction even though it takes place in four highly populated environments. It pulls this off due to a clever conceit of the game: during your time travels as an agent from the future, you are allowed absolutely no contact with any other human being –you know, the Butterfly Effect, and all that. Therefore, in the game you’re constantly creeping through hallways, listening behind doors, all the while hearing echoes of speeches, applause, and intercom broadcasts. This was actually very fun – it made me feel like a kid trying to sneak through a house unobserved.

5, 4, 3, 2 . . .

The next “forbidden” element is that dreaded boogeyman of adventure games, the “timed” puzzle. Much of what you have to accomplish in this game is indeed timed. Now, everyone just calm down and take a deep breath! Don’t hang up on me here. Believe it or not, in this game the timed element actually works, adding a hushed urgency to the proceedings.

The net effect of the above two gaming elements is that playing this game is a very giddy experience: I really felt like I was sneaking around, stealthily trying to put things right, and to get them put right before my time runs out. I kept thinking, “Man, I sure don’t know what I’m doing . . . okay, I’ll try THIS . . . okay, maybe THIS . . . ooh, don’t go through THAT door, there’s PEOPLE there . . . eek, only thirty more seconds . . . maybe THIS will do it!?”

On the down side, I’m not crazy about the playing screen in this game. It’s a precursor to a type of screen that I’ve grown to hate in science fiction games like Rama and Dark Side of the Moon: A cluttered area with interface, inventory, personal digital device (or equivalent), etc., etc., and, finally, almost as an afterthought, a small viewing screen. Whoever came up with this idea needs to be forced to play a few games in this format. I want a game to fill my screen! I don’t want to play a game through a small porthole, and what’s more I’ve never met a gamer who DID want to.

The Journeyman Project is lean and mean, short and sweet, and it was very worth my time. I certainly look forward to playing the next two titles in the series.

Note: How bad does it SUCK that the wonderful Presto Studios is, as of September 2002, out of business . . .

PROS: It’s lean and mean, cleverly written and has several unique gameplay highlights.

CONS: Small view screen, may be too short and too easy for some adventurers.

CONCLUSION: A lean and mean little hip-pocket treat.

Final Grade: A

System Requirements:

IBM PC or 100% Compatibles 33MHz 386DX or faster Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later 4MB RAM Super VGA Color Monitor (256 colors) Sound Blaster or compatible sound card CD-ROM Drive Mouse Macintosh or 100% compatibles Macintosh.

This review is copyright Ray Ivey and Just Adventure and may not be republished elsewhere without the express written consent of the author. Republication of said review must also contain a link back to Just Adventure.