[HEADING=1]Gemini Rue PC Review[/HEADING]
Gemini Rue, unlike most games of its genre, also features, a combat system. The system itself is not very prominent, is fairly shallow and not exactly the highpoint of the game. It's easy to write it off as a random gimmicky. However it is at least adequate, which is more than can be said about many bigger budget titles, and I found that its existence and correct use helped flesh out the world in ways many other competitors have failed to achieved. By having an actual fighting system the developer could tackle intense confrontations without having to resort to either quick time events or "deus ex machina" contrived solutions. It adds a different level of intensity to the game. At one point early on you're being chased through some back alleys by some henchmen. While most adventure games would simply have you leg it, or drop a crate on the enemy's head, Gemini Rue puts you right in the middle of the action, and in a shoot out with pursuing gangsters.
Had it been featured more prominently and less graciously, the fighting system would have become a shallow and repetitive negative point, but as it is in the game I find it to be a rather well conceived complementary gameplay element.
As far as duration goes, Gemini Rue clocked in a fairly decent 6 to 7 hours for me for a first playthrough, also featuring a Valve-style "Developer Commentary" version, and several easter eggs and achievements that are bound to make fans of replays easily double that. So for sheer quantity alone, it's most definitely worth its price.
In short, Gemini Rue is a brilliant "old school" style adventure game full of new life. It's well designed, with a lot of attention to detail, and absolutely worth the paltry admission price. If you're at all a fan of adventure games or simply good stories, it's not a difficult decision at all.
Oh yeah, did I mention this game had, literally, one developer?
Caliostro thinks that if you're having Beneath A Steel Sky and Blade Runner flashbacks you're not the only one.
Platform: PC
Buy From: Steam [http://store.steampowered.com/app/80310/?snr=1_4_4__13], Desura [http://www.desura.com/games/gemini-rue] or Wadjet Eye Games [http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/gemini-rue.html].