The Blackwell Legacy

Psychic Detective Graphic Adventure
From the Creator of The Shivah

Dave Gilbert continues his career as the auteur of a new school of old school graphic adventures with The Blackwell Legacy, the first of a series of planned games featuring freelance writer Rosangela Blackwell.

In this first outing, Rosangela comes to grips with her powers--or affliction, as it may be--and is forced to deal with a haunted dog run in Greenwich Village's Washington Square Park. Helping her out is the mysterious Joey Mallone, a fedora-wearing ghost whose dialog is straight out of Raymond Chandler and who has apparently been haunting her family since the 1940s.

As with Dave's previous game, the great strengths of The Blackwell Legacy are in the writing and voice acting, both of which are excellent. It's a classic puzzle-solving graphic adventure in the Sierra mode, with better graphics than The Shivah (but still in a somewhat pixellated old school mode). One basic hint: Sometimes selecting two notes in Rosa's notebook will combine them to create a new clue to the puzzle.

Between this game and Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine, perhaps we're seeing a renaissance of the classic adventure game? We can but hope...

The Developer Says:

The Blackwell Legacy is the first case in a miniseries of games that stars a medium named Rosangela Blackwell and her spirit guide Joey Mallone. Their mission, it seems, is to assist tormented spirits and investigate supernatural goings on. They don't understand why they are thrown together, but they do the best they can.

The duo's first case will involve a series of suicides at a local university. Something unnatural has forced these students to kill themselves, and nobody knows why. Rosangela, who is just coming to terms with her new status as a medium, finds herself cast as the unwilling detective in this gruesome mystery.

Reviews

"...an unusually compelling psychological study for an independent game to undertake."
   - Gameboomers

"With such an excellent pilot episode, the audience is bound to hang on."
   - 8.5/10, PC Player

"Go and take a look at this game. If nothing else, your support for Wadjet Eye will ensure they keep making adventures for Rosa and Joey, and that will lead to one very happy reviewer. But seriously, graphical adventures are all too rare these days. This is an excellent example of the genre with a good plot and great characters and I hope to see more appearing soon."
   - 88%, Bytten

Walkthrough of sorts

Player Reviews

User Reviews
9
out of 10
Once again, a mature, well-written murder mystery from Gilbert

I was a huge fan of the Shivah, so I was pretty excited to play the Blackwell Legacy. Happy to say, it didn't disappoint. The writing and story are very engaging, and the voice acting is top notch (especially for Joey!). I love the style of the puzzles - much more cerebral than most adventure games. You won't find any pixel hunting or random try-every-combo-of-inventory-items in this game! Gilbert keeps the puzzles rooted in solid logic and avoids excess fluff. My only complaint is the price - I would've felt better about $10, considering the length of the game. But, considering how enjoyable it is and how unique it is in its theme and style, and considering Gilbert isn't funded by some big corporate publisher, I'd say the premium is worth it! I can't wait for the next one...



10
out of 10
I'm looking forward to more

Blackwell Legacy is a fantastic, provocative start from the little development studio that could. If you're considering playing it, the game is well-written and robust for its various intriguing puzzles.



9
out of 10
Absolutely impressive

Not only does this game capture the visual charm of the classics, it also delivers in terms of gameplay. I don't remember enjoying a graphic adventure that much since the times of Monkey Island. Awesome work!


Voice of the Masses

The Blackwell Legacy

Blackwell Legacy or Blackwell Unbound first?

minipost Posted: Submitted by Mars on Thu, 2007-11-22 20:43.
Posts: 2
Newbie

Just like the title says, is it better to play BL or BU first, what with BU being a prequel? Or do I just play them as they were released?

Thank you!

 
Profile
login or register to post comments