Genre: Adventure
Publisher: CDV
Developer: Pendulo Studios
Release Date: March 12, 2007

Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle is about as delightfully weird as it's ever going to get, and given the adventure gaming genre, that's saying quite a bit. Pendulo Studios, the same creators who featured a basketball star-turned-drag queen in 2003's Runaway: A Road Adventure, are now bringing you a guy with an intense polar bear fetish. It's all in a day's work.

The main characters from the original Runaway, Brian Basco and Gina Timmins, are back in DotT, and what a difference four years can make! When we last saw Brian, he was a bashful, Berkeley-bound physics grad student who wore glasses and was dressed conservatively in khakis and a white dress shirt. Now he's a hunky, Mac-using, new-agey guy with defined muscles, sideburns, and a soul patch. Gina wasn't present in the preview build that we were playing because she's been abducted by aliens. True story.

DotT consists of six levels, just like the original title. There are over 100 locations in the game, including scenes on a plane, aboard a yacht, the fictional Hawaiian isle of Mala, an ancient Tiki Temple, and a stint in the Alaskan wilderness. In this mouse-driven adventure, some levels will be straightforward point-and-click affairs, but the larger levels necessitate an overview map, from which you can select smaller areas to explore.

Over 30 animated characters will be present, and the cast will feature some veterans of the original Runaway. We'll meet up again with Joshua the alien conspiracy fan, who was beamed onto a spacecraft last time, and Sushi the computer expert and her commune of friends.

The unusual story twists are present and accounted for; Brian and Gina are on a relaxing Hawaiian vacation when they decide to take a daytrip to the isle of Mala. Now, anyone who has a rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, French or Latin knows that the island is just a bad idea. Our brave main characters, who apparently weren't privy to this inside information, must go through a series of challenges which involves parachuting from a plane, encountering a secret military camp, and making a harrowing escape from this clandestine locale.

Most noticeable about the entire experience is the extra layer of sheen that's been added. With its deceptively simple appearance, engaging characters and fun gameplay, the original Runaway managed to forge a brilliant combination. DotT doesn't drastically alter any of these elements, but polishes it up for the expectations of today's adventure gamer.

The graphics remain cel-shaded but have been vastly improved, so while it still seems like you're watching a cartoon rather than playing a computer game, everyone – and everything – looks better in this iteration. The locations are more vibrant, defined and detailed than ever before. Extreme care has been taken to imbue each of the pre-rendered backgrounds with modern, up-to-date touches, such as girls wearing low-riding pants in order to better showcase their undergarments, and flat-panel LCD monitors and HDTVs in offices. Characters now have a variety of animated facial expressions, and catch-phrases such as "dynamic lighting" and "atmospheric effects" mean that DotT breaks some new ground with its 3D graphics engine.

The inventory system is another instance of how things have remained faithful to the original Runaway, but still manages to look new and exciting due to the improved graphical presentation. When you click on an object in your limitless inventory, Brian is always ready with a witty and relevant comment. You can delve into items to uncover more useful components, or you can use your noggin to combine multiple items to create something useful.

Puzzles have retained their slightly eccentric edge, and they sometimes require a bit of creativity. When exact matches don't exist, you'll have to be resourceful and look for things that will perform similar functions.

Also making a return in DotT is the zany sense of humor. Wilderness dweller Archibald is not only spot-on with the English accent, but he's also mastered the art of British humor, as evidenced by the deadpan line, "If I'd known you were trying to feed the Village People's blind cousin…." In a nudge and a wink to the player, Brian comments about picking up objects from the environment without knowing how they'll be used, "This must be an adventure game!"

Conversation trees are just like those in the original Runaway, where you select from a list of questions until all of the choices have been exhausted. The voice-acting continues to be excellent in this go-round, with vocalizations from crotchety pilots, sexy bartenders, and laid-back surfers.

Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle is a slick, snazzy and extremely intriguing adventure game that will be sure to generate some new buzz, as well as renew interest in its predecessor. With its endearingly madcap characters, cheeky sense of humor, puzzles that will flex your creative mojo, and attractive, meticulously designed locations, this ain't your parents' adventure game. Be sure to look for it when it hits store shelves later this month.