FADE, by Fade Team, Price: $29.99
Reviewed March 2003

If there was any award for storyline and scripts for games, it should go to FADE. Stylishly created with beautiful photographical images and a story that twists and turns till the last second, FADE is a graphic mystery adventure game.

Set in modern France, FADE tells the story of Louis who seems to have a normal peaceful life as an antique dealer and live in a small village with his beautiful wife Anne. But as his memories fade in and out, they lead him to different places and different times. He can’t say why this is happening to him, maybe it’s the amnesia, maybe it’s those dreams that seem too real at times, maybe he is going insane which might be why he ended up in a mental hospital. But Louis will not give up searching the truth, the truth about his wife and the true about his life. Throughout the game, every time you think that you might have cracked the case, there is always something else that will throw you off course. With easily 30 hours game play, you will take this long journey into the mysterious underground world and you must solve puzzles and search for clues to help Louis. Events in this game are all pre-sequenced, so that you don’t have to worry about making the wrong move.

Even though the story is intense and dark at times, the writing style is almost comical and tongue-in-cheek, accompanied by gorgeously arranged still images. There are a huge number of locations in FADE. Louis often wakes in a strange house, sometimes with a stranger standing with cloth over his head and a finger pointing at the floor, or worst yet in another country all together. The strange locations help to create the mysterious story. The game screen is divided into two areas with one displaying the game environment like the location or a person, the other for dialog and other actions. You will have a suitcase for all your tools and evidence, a logbook that records the events that have happened and the clues you’ve discovered, and a location selector. The interface is very easy to use. A gamma correction file comes with the game, and I highly recommend that you run it first to adjust the brightness of the screen. There are occasional gruesome bloody scenes and partial nudity.

The sound FX are also well done in FADE. From door opening and closing to paper burning, the sounds will help to draw you into the story deeper and deeper, only to give you a startle with loud scream when you are at the most intense moment in the game. FADE runs fine on both ARM and Xscale devices, and supports MIPS and SH3.

FADE hopes to win the gamers with its stunning graphics, great storyline and cleverly hidden puzzles. If you are a graphical adventure game fan, this is a game you simply must check out.

Playing Hints and Tips

If you ever get stuck somewhere, check your surroundings to see if there are things you can use to help open windows or turn cranks, etc. Always pay attention to your inventory because you will need every single item you picked up in the game.