Randal's Monday - Review
Over the past few years, there has been a resurgence in point and click style games, where players of the old guard are being treated to a resurgence of one of the best genres around and new players are finding out why these games are so much fun. Another title that has been added to this list of rare games is Randal’s Monday, billed as a point and geek adventure the game is even split between geek homage and adventure game.
The game starts off pretty normal, you are sitting in a pub with your best friend Matt and his partner Sally, after sometime and a lot of beer, sadly not Grog much to Randal’s displeasure, Matt feels like he will be sick and retreats to the safety of the alley behind the pub. It is out here that things happen and Randal picks up Matt’s wallet, which contains a special ring. The next morning Randal wakes up and starts his day off by being accosted by his landlord for rent and then going from there, but it is when Randal goes to bed at the end of a very strange day that the game kicks into gear. Upon waking up, Randal soon realises that something strange is going on and today is still Monday.
While Randal is working out what is going on, you as the player are not that lost thanks to some very nifty controls. When you start a new game, you are asked if you want a classic control scheme, similar to the games of old or a more modern take, plus if you prefer you can play using a controller. The game’s interaction elements are really strong and Randal will react to you telling him to talk to a fork with the right level of sarcasm, so you need to click on everything. If you are unsure of just what you can actually click on, don’t fret, because at any point you can press the spacebar, or the mouse wheel down and you will see everything on the screen that can be interacted with.
Interacting with things, even if it’s just a poster on a wall is worth your time because Randal has a great sense of humour about him, with each reaction or comment providing a chuckle from me. Through the length of the game Randal quotes many classic geek properties, like Star Wars, Star Trek and more, some are spot on and others feel a little forced, but each time the reference to what is happening in game is quite amusing. The characters than Randal has to deal with are a mixed bag, Matt is a strange character to deal with, Officer Murray is lazy and often speeds off to get a hot dog and Mel the pawn shop guy has a strange addiction to cola that is known to cause severe stomach cramps. Each those characters and the remaining ones fall into standard stereotypes, which is a shame because as interesting as Randal is, the lack of creativity on the other characters is a shame.
What is not a shame is quality of the artwork, each of the characters has a great look to them and they are bold and easy to see on the screen. When you first see the Koalas lying around the place, you may wonder what you saw, but a second look shows exactly what it is. Randal’s flat mate, Mortimer is shrouded in mystery for most of the first part of the game and when he finally does appear it is not as you expect, but it does make sense once you step into his room. In fact all of the locations that Randal visits are detailed in set ways, his job at Emerson Express shows a place with very little charm, but when it is described as the worst courier company in the city, the image suits the description. The comic book shop is decked out with a heap of items from the geek legacy, Lightsabers, comics, giant purple tentacles and more, in fact I spent a heap of time in that shop just seeing what I could recognise.
Through my time with the game, Randal’s voice never irritated me, something that other point and click games have struggled with, other characters here were not so lucky. Randal is voiced by Jeff Anderson and if that name sounds familiar fans of Clerks might be able to help you out, actually Jeff is not the only Clerks veteran to make an appearance with Jason Mewes also showing up in his most prominent role. The level of belief in the voice roles from all the actors is pretty impressive, but the problem is that most of them are still playing stereotypes of geek characters.
Overall, Randal’s Monday is a fantastic point and click game, it reminds me of why I loved playing them when I was younger and why I am happy they are coming back. Its level of detail into geek culture is impressive, but with boring characters outside of the main character it feels like more of an insult to geeks than compliment.
The Score
7.5
Review code provided by Daedelic Entertainment
The Pros
+A truly wonderful point and click game
+Randal is a blast to see in action
The Cons
-Too many characters are played up as sterotypes
-So many geek calls, make it feel more like an insult
