Heart of China is an excellent adventure game and the most cinematic of the trio designed by Dynamix' Jeff Tunnell (the other two being Rise of the Dragon and Adventures of Willy Beamish). Set in the exotic Orient in the 1940's, you are pilot/mercenary/wannabe romancer Jake Master who gets hired by the beautiful nurse Kate's father to rescue her from the clutches of a powerful Chinese warlord. What makes this game so riveting and revolutionary (though sadly almost no-one noticed it) is the true replayability that was often mere lip-service in other games: while the game is linear in the sense that you must do A before B and so on, each puzzle has alternative solutions. Something to know about is the action sequences, which use a 3D engine that was obviously taken directly from Damon Slye's simulations. Dexterity-impaired adventurers (like this reviewer) will be relieved to hear that the game, like its predecessor Rise of the Dragon, mercifully allows a skip after a number of failures, so you can get on with the game and Jake's future escapades. Two thumbs up! Reviewed by: Underdogs |