''Deadfall Adventures'' is an

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

video game developed by

The Farm 51 The Farm 51 is a Polish video game developer founded in 2005. It was most known for creating video games such as '' Get Even'' and '' Chernobylite''. History The studio was founded by Wojciech Pazdur and Kamil Bilczyński, which previously work ...

and published by

Nordic Games The Nordic Games were the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and were held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden's Swedish Central Association for the Promotion of ...

. ''Deadfall Adventures'' was released on November 15, 2013, for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

, and on October 28, 2014, for

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

under the name of ''Deadfall Adventures: Heart of Atlantis''. The game is set in the universe of the

Allan Quatermain Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel ''King Solomon's Mines'', its one sequel '' Allan Quatermain'' (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. An English professio ...

series, created by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...

Gameplay

''Deadfall Adventures'' is a first person action-adventure video game that takes place before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The protagonist, James Lee Quatermain, is a treasure hunter who fights Nazi soldiers and supernatural enemies through various environments like Egypt, the Arctic, and Mayan ruins. He has a compass that helps him find hidden treasures that improve his stats. He uses Allan Quatermain's notebook to solve puzzles and overcome traps, and a flashlight to travel in dark areas and fend off supernatural enemies like mummies. He can use various weapons like revolvers, shotguns and a knife for melee combat.

Plot

The story takes place in the year 1938, with players assuming the role of famous adventurer Allan Quartermain's great-grandson, James Lee Quatermain. James' goal is to escort a U.S. agent as they travel to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in search for the Heart of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

. Rival factions such as the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

are looking it for their own purposes.

Development

''Deadfall Adventures'' was developed with Unreal Engine 3. It is reportedly inspired by action-adventure books and movies such as ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

'' and adventurer Allan Quartermain (from the novels written by Henry Rider Haggard). The development team researched popular films and also took assistance from movie industry professionals to capture the treasure hunting genre’s tone and look. The game was announced to be released on July 30, 2013, but was delayed twice to September 27 and November 15, 2013, when it was finally released. A collector's edition was released that contains an Allan Quartermain revolver skin for the revolver in single-player mode and three multiplayer skins, a "Making Of" DVD, original soundtrack CD, a printed game manual and a "Bonus Content" DVD that included an artbook. A beta version for Linux was released on December 31, 2013, for those who bought the Windows version of the game on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

. On June 11, 2014, the developers announced that a

version titled ''Deadfall Adventures: Heart of Atlantis'' would be released in the summer of 2014 with a number of enhancements. The game includes a new co-op survival mode, new boss fights, cutscenes, locations and an improved leveling system.

Reception

The game received a mixed-to-negative reception. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions have scores of 53/100 and 43/100 respectively on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Cameron Woolsey of

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

gave it a negative review of 3/10, saying "Deadfall Adventures becomes hopelessly predictable, breaking down into a tiresome formula of kill rooms and effortless puzzles." Craig Pearson of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

gave it a negative review of 4/10 saying "It's an uninspired retread of good concepts, and an unfortunate visitor into a genre with some genuine giants. It might take you on a long trip across the globe to visit some attractive locations, but by the end the only temples I cared for were throbbing away in my head." Jeff Marchiafava of

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

gave it a score of 4/10 calling it "An Adventure Best Forgotten".

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

also gave it a review score of 4/10.

References

{{King Solomon's Mines 2013 video games Action-adventure games The Farm 51 games First-person adventure games First-person shooters Adaptations of works by H. Rider Haggard Linux games Lost world video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 3 games THQ Nordic games Unreal Engine 3 games Video games developed in Poland Video games set in 1938 Video games set in Egypt Video games set in Guatemala Video games set in the Arctic Windows games Xbox 360 games