Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 23, 2015

  Atmospheric psychological horror point-and-click adventure with beautiful enviroments, good voice acting, fitting music, likeable characters and for the most part great and imaginative puzzle design. Even have old school text parser type puzzles in it. Classic point-and-click adventure fans should feel right at home here. Saddly you only have 1280x800 resolution but even still game looks fine. Faces on 3D character models may sometimes look like wax figures but huge hand-drawn portraits in dialogue window are very beautiful indeed. Enviroments are especially beautiful and night sequences with northern lights are breathtaking and eerie. Perhaps notepad could have used little bit more. I really love natural looking notes, books and magazine cutouts in my adventure games, it just makes it feel so much more lifelike enviroment and luckily what they have feels very authentic, giving great backstory and making it feel like real place where real people might live. I guess it's bit nitpicky thing to say but notes in Syberia series were huge reason why I fell in love with it back in the day as well. One of my all time favourite point-and-click adventures and really hoping to see new game by Turmoil Games someday. ...also remember polar bears get bored too. Final verdict: 9 well fed and happy polar bears out of 10
• gamedeal user

  Oct 25, 2015

  If you are in the mood for a short horror adventure, that is inspired by Cthulhu & The Thing, you can't go wrong with this one. The voice acting is good and the graphics are neat with 3D renditions mixed with 2D comic book arts. A nice departure of the current indie trend with rough pixels. The only downside is the games short length, which is about 4 hours. Beyond that I liked it.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 26, 2015

  + nice humor + great atmosphere + great voice overs + great audio + great dialogues * Character art can be bit quirky at times Good fun for about 5h maybe more when you want to solve everything yourself.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 20, 2015

  Alpha polaris is truly an interesting beast. It is a point and click "Horror" game that was very underwhelming. Here is why First off, the controls. Obviously, a point and click game does not have the most intricate system of controls, but none the less there were some problems here. Interacting in the game could be difficult, as when you try to select an item you often will leave a room instead, forcing you to go back and try to select the item again. It can happen four or five times in a row depending on which item and room it is. On top of that, the loading screens in between rooms are ten to twenty seconds on average. This would not be a problem, except for the fact that you have to go through a black loading screen for every room. Second, the story. I will not go into the actual story too much as I want to avoid spoilers. My main problem is how unsatisfying the resolution was. After suffering through multiple days of loading screens, I was hoping for a lot more than what I got. It's sad, because the buildup was done well, however it seemed to rush the ending for whatever reason. What makes this more sad is that it has a very good story and story idea, but because of the games format it seemed to be held back. The game progresses through in game days, each days end marking a new progression in the story. And the gameplay, oh the gamplay. It was very good at times, but then you get things that are pointless or difficult, and sometimes both. Like baking dessert. In a horror game. Again, this would not be bad, but the item selection and loading screens make it feel like a chore more than a fun bit of filler. Some of the interactions are hard to figure out and some items hard to find/obtain. I do give it credit for not having the main character pick up things he does not need and just carry them around. This is mostly due to the self contained environment. My biggest problem though is that it just was not scary. Most of the scares were done in cutscenes, but they are easily (and sometimes accidently) skipped. The ones that were in game didn't have a great effect. And this is because I really wasn't able to connect with any of the characters. I don't even remember most of their names. And because this is not first person horror, I don't even really care about what happens to me. Because this is point and click, you can't even die, at least not as far as I can tell. Overall, the game was not horrible, but it needs work. Reduced loading screens and an increased ease of item interaction would make it much more enjoyable. Flesh out the story and you might have a great game. If you are looking for an interesting, albiet it frustrating, point and click, I would say check it out. If you want some scares, I don't think this is the game for you. I hope the game gets worked on and improved in the future, but for now, that's all I can say.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 3, 2016

  This is... not a bad game. I really like the character designs. The plot and even the puzzles strive to be realistic, although based on the premise I was hoping I'd get to do more sciencey stuff. Sadly the game is very short and despite the gore and scares I wouldn't call it a horror game because there's pretty much no tension in the storytelling. I'd still recommend it because it does have a certain charm and atmosphere to it - though perhaps not for the full price.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 24, 2016

  What I think makes Alpha Polaris a very good adventure game is that it has a lot more to offer than a story. Its story is based on genuine Greenland culture. We get to learn a lot about the job of an arctic biologist and prospection and esquimaux. Even the puzzles are tailored to the story, allowing us to immerse in the game even further. I highly recommend this game made by a few folks from Greenland that took this project from an idea to a fun game :)
• gamedeal user

  Jun 13, 2016

  I'm playing adventures since the 80s and here is my opinion regarding Alpha Polaris: Short and solid point and click adventure. I was lured to it by the premise of a Cthulhu mythos inspired story which is a bit of a stretch but I still wasn't disappointed. Mostly because I like storys involving polar regions. + Neat backgrounds and detailed 3D model characters + Good voiceactors + Good story + Hard but logical puzzles + Mostly not trial and error - Cutscenes look worse than ingame gfx - Short (4 hours) - only 1280x800 resolution All in all an impressive first work for an independent studio. I hope you'll do another one! Would be an instabuy for me!
• gamedeal user

  Jun 25, 2016

  [i]Alpha Polaris : A Horror Adventure Game[/i] is a game that I bought on sale as a whim because I enjoy point and click games. It looked promising -an element of horror you say? Well, sure! I also did something that I rarely do, I played the game soon after I bought it because I was very excited to try it out. What I got, however, was a rather mediocre game that while fun didn’t live up to my expectations. That being said, I don’t regret the purchase and do think it has good points to enjoy. First and foremost, my biggest complaint: This game doesn’t instill any sense of horror in me. I was never scared during the game, perhaps a bit disturbed but never scared. This was a bummer but I just learned to live with it because I was interested in the story. You play a lad named Rune who likes polar bears, you’re a tree hugger working on an oil researching facility. You’re there gathering research on the polar bears while also being preachy about the environment. I love nature as well but no one else at the station cares, aside maybe Nova who is your love interest. She’s very in touch with her Inuit heritage and is a well of useful information, I’m also rather certain she’s a feminist but thankfully not too preachy. Two other characters are at the station; Tully, a rude and crude guy and also Al who just wants to find oil and make money. To sum the story up, Al finds oil but also some ancient artifacts, he brings them back to the station and then it becomes haunted. Everyone starts having horrible nightmares and then the bodies hit the floor. I found the build-up to the scary parts a bit slow, you spend the first half of the game pretty much doing mundane things like heal a polar bear. When things begin to reeve up it doesn’t last very long because the game ends, it’s not very long. Overall it wasn’t a bad story but the characters could have used more fleshing out and the horror part needed some work. As the genre suggests, you play the game entirely with your mouse by pointing and clicking things. It’s how you grab objects, solve puzzles and interact with people. Some puzzles require you to also type in answers with your keyboard. The gameplay is a bit clunky, I found myself confused a lot of times because there wasn’t always much direction on what I should do next. Clicking on Rune gives you a bit of a hint but sometimes it was enough. Some of the tasks and puzzles were also dull, like making a birthday cake. And the times where you have to input and answer sometimes just resulted in guessing or using a guide. One thing I did like is that Rune would not pick up objects he didn’t need at the time, like when you first find the maple syrup he just comments on it, you can only pick it up later to bake the cake. The graphics in the game are ok, but dated, and the cut scenes look worse than the ingame artwork. Compounding the lack of a horror element, anything remotely scary in the game didn’t really come off as such due to the artwork and mediocre cutscenes. When characters talk you get speech bubbles with a 2D representation of them which I enjoyed. The music is fine and fits everything that is going on. The game is also fully-voiced in English. I personally had no issues with it, and thought the cast did well. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*]Overall presentation looks good. [*]Decent graphics and creepy music. [*]Interesting facts about Inuit culture. [*]It has trading cards and achievements. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*]Short and a bit pricey. [*]No real horror element in the game. [*]Needs more character development. [/list] While [i]Alpha Polaris : A Horror Adventure Game[/i] isn’t perfect and not much of a horror game, I still enjoyed playing it. The story was good but the ending was underwhelming. The game has Steam trading cards and challenging achievements so it’s a good title if you enjoy those things. The original price tag of the game seems a bit steep and I would not buy it for that price. I’m glad that I picked it up on sale and do recommend you do the same when it’s at a good price. [h1]Usagi’s Rating[/h1] [list] [*]Must buy. [*]A good game to buy. [*][b]Only buy if on sale.[/b] [*]Mediocre. [*]Avoid at all costs. [/list] [code]For more recommendations and reviews on our favorite up and coming quality games follow [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/sgiveaways]SUPER Giveaways[/url] group curations [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/sgiveaways#curation]here[/url]![/code]
• Alloytrident

  Sep 24, 2016

  This game is a good game for a few hours of fun. Getting this game for sale is the only thing that made it worth it for me. The game has a brilliant premise and the story at the first half is laid out well with the first puzzle being easy enough to get used to controls and latteral thinking but not too simple to bore the player in the beggining. the first half of the game until you go off base (intentionally left vague as to not spoil the game) is brilliantly structured and is interesting. The dream states are curious and are actually disturbing thereby contributing to the horror aspect. The middle however. How in the blazes do you eplain that. The middle is like the roller coaster you get taken up hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh and then you hit the drop. FAST. it went down hill faster than a pigeon who suddenly had a bowling ball teleported into it's stomach. The story basically deterioted after the middle. the characters seem mundane, the story just has everything hit the fan at once. it just seemed to finish too quickly as if they ran out of time, this game honestly just needed a few months extra work at the end but like college students they blew the end of the game. NOT TO MENTION THE RANDOM SEX SCENE Yes you read that right, there is a random sex scene between the protagonists. This is not really a problem other than the fact that it is very well illustrated but that one of the main protagonists who is displayed as self sufficient and being incredibly strong minded actually becomes the helpless woman in the end. The cotrols are intuitive and are easily understood. The puzzles do require lateral thinking but are not unamanageable. In conclusion MEH.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 28, 2016

  I want to like this game. I really do. It's a shame, but I JUST BARELY can't recommend it. This game moves slow, and the romantic subplot is a big part of the slowness, which is unfortunate since the romance really doesn't quite justify its presence. It's not that it's bad so much as it fails to integrate properly, feeling more like a distraction from the plot than a part of the plot. While the game still manages to create a few real moments of horror, it's all spaced out between so much banality. Whoever tagged this "Lovecraftian" fails to understand Lovecraft. It very superficially resembles Derleth's story of Ithaqua, but has none of Lovecraft's cosmicism. At no point do any of the humans in this tale feel insignificant -- if anything this game is bogged down by its obsession with the mundane frivolities of mankind. Horror and slow burns go together like chocolate and peanut butter, but you have to make the horror worth the burn, and the threat is ultimately just a little too pedestrian for that. The environmentalist themes are painfully heavy-handed, and what should be a work of art ends up feeling a little more like propaganda. "Art raises its head where creeds relax." -- Friedrich Neitzsche From a technical standpoint, while most of the puzzles are JUST hard enough to make for a decent adventure game, the game throws in a number of parser puzzles where you are asked to TYPE an answer to a prompt. The prompt is usually hideously vague, and in many cases if you don't have a walkthrough you're screwed. So even from a gameplay perspective, this game just insists on sabotaging itself out of "recommended" territory. Also, while the game engine is gorgeous, the cutscenes look like something from the late 90s, so it's even sabotaging its own success from a graphical standpoint.