STORY

The Terrific Menace of the Invaders From Audiogalaxy - that title alone deserves a medal!

But what is the game about? Well, our un-named hero is just a typical teenager - having fun on his computer... honing his programming skills... Oh, and the odd bit of hacking. He's just cracked a particularly hard of piece of programme, and his feeling quite proud of himself... when he finds himself abducted by aliens!!! The aliens, attempting to beam his powerful computer on board their spaceship to help with their 'Master Plan', accidentally beam our hero onboard, as well.

On board the spaceship, our hero finds himself trapped in a glass case, on display, like a museum exhibit. Quite naturally, he's not very happy about that. So despite Elvis (yes, Elvis is alive and well, and aboard the alien ship) being in the display case next to him, he's determined to escape. But who are these aliens? What do they want? What is their Master Plan? After a bit of snooping, we quickly find out they are planning to invade Earth, and enslave all of humanity by stealing 'Catalysers' (people and items) from around the world. Well, our hero just can't let that happen! He has to follow the alien throughout the world, and even time itself, to thwart their evil plan, and save the world. All without getting caught. But he can't do it alone... he needs YOUR help!

GAMEPLAY

The Terrific Menace of the Invaders From Audiogalaxy is entirely mouse-controlled, and you can interact with the game world, simply by clicking your mouse on a person or object. The programmers have put a lot of work into this, and built the game engine from the ground up, making it context-specific. If you quickly click on an item, you'll just get a standard 'Examine Object' result. But if you click & hold the mouse for a second or two, the game knows what you are clicking on, and gives you such options as 'Read The Sign' when clicking on a sign, or 'Talk To RoboDog' when clicking on the dog. It can be a bit cumbersome at times, but on the other hand, the context-specific actions means you don't have to try EVERY option on EVERY item.

After you find the TimeBelt, you are able to teleport to different locations, in your effort to thwart the aliens plans. To teleport, click and hold your mouse for a second or two, and highlight dial\TimeBelt icon at bottom of the circle. Now click on any of the 6 locations and click on 'OK' to travel there, or click on the cross at top right if you change your mind and don't want to teleport anywhere.

As well as allowing you to teleport, the TimeBelt also gives you access to your Inventory, simply by clicking & holding the mouse down anywhere in the screen, then selecting the suitcase icon. The suitcase, as well as storing your Inventory, also allows you access to the Game Menu, so you can Save\Load your game, as well as Setting Music & Sound Effects on or off.

The game had me in stitches a lot of the time. There is so much wacky humour and hilarious jokes - everything from poking fun at DRM, to Eddie (any Iron Maiden fans out there?) really existing, to a 'Where's Wally' scene, to Sid Vicious with writer's block, and so much more. I also loved how, if you don't do anything for a while, our hero will start playing with his yo-yo. However, it must be noted that there is some very minor references to adult themes and maruana usage (for the Woodstock scenes) - although it is done in good humour, it may not appeal to everyone. I personally didn't have a problem with it.

TECHNICAL NOTE

This is an older game, and as such, may not work properly on modern machines. If you have problems downloading\playing it, don't worry. The creators also offer an online version which can be played here - http://www.genereavventura.com/eng/play.html . It is the same game, with your Games Saves stored in the cloud, but this online versions required Flash on your computer.

GRAPHICS

I love the graphics in this game! The bright, colourful style gives it a cartoony feel, which is fun to play. Things like the alien's megaphone-shaped spaceship, the panting Melody O Matic machine, the rocker DJ in the radio station, and the Little Shop Of Horrors plant, all help bring the game to life. And if you look carefully at the arcade machine in the alien's room, you'll see classic arcade games playing in the background. After you teleport, the eyes stay behind for a second, and blink at you, which is a lovely touch. But my favourite has to be the aliens themselves. Their heads are upside down, with their mouths at the top, and eyes below!

Game icons (interact, talk, walk etc) are custom made, and I love how the red shoe for Walk, matches our hero's red shoes. When you move the cursor around the screen, our hero will follow it with his eyes, which is a nice touch. Inventory items are shown as icons, and when you hover the mouse over them, it displays text, saying what the item is. Conversations are also shown as text, with each character having a different colour.

SOUND AND MUSIC

Music for The Terrific Menace of the Invaders From Audiogalaxy has been used to great effect throughout the game, with each location having it's own theme. The radio station is quite rocky, Woodstock is funky, London is upbeat and cheerful, etc. Sound effects, on the other hand, are almost non-existent. The only sound effect I heard, is when our hero transports to a different location, and the eyes blinked at you. I would have liked to hear RoboDog bark in the alien's ship, but the music more than makes up for lack of sound effects.

SUMMARY

The Terrific Menace of the Invaders From Audiogalaxy is a hilarious Point & Click adventure game, that any adventure fan is sure to love! It's inspired by the likes of Day Of The Tentacle, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, and other classic LucasArts games, so that gives you an idea of the zany humour you'll find. The creators have crammed so much humour, jokes, witty dialogue, clever puzzles, as well as reverences to classic films like Lord Of The Rings and Wuthering Heights, that you can't fail to be impressed by it all! Gameplay is mouse-controlled, using a point & click interface. You have to find the TimeBelt before you can see your Inventory, or Save\Load the game, but it doesn't take very long to find the TimeBelt. The interface is context-specific, meaning you can 'Read The Sign' when clicking on a sign, but you can't 'Read The Dog' when clicking on the dog. This takes a lot of the guesswork out, since you don't have to try every option on every item, but at the same time, the controls can be rather cumbersome at times, having to click through several buttons to perform an action, instead of one button. The bright, colourful graphics give it a unique style, and make the whole game fun to play. I just love those aliens, with their upside-down heads. Music is played throughout the game, with each location having it's own theme. I fantastic game I can highly recommend!