Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island
Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island is an adventure game about pirates developed by Autumn Moon Entertainment. Original concept and design was written by William 'Bill' Tiller, who was also responsible for the visual look of the Monkey Island game, The Curse of Monkey Island. The game was released in November 2009 in Germany, throughout the rest of Europe on February 19, 2010, and finally in the United States on August 30, 2010 by German publisher dtp entertainment. The game is built on the open-source Panda3D game engine.
Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island | |
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Developer(s) | Autumn Moon Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Dtp entertainment |
Designer(s) | Bill Tiller |
Composer(s) | Pedro Macedo Camacho Eduardo Tarilonte Jonathan vd Wijngaarden |
Engine | Panda3D |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Graphic adventure game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Due to the game's tepid commercial success, Tiller has been thus far unable to secure financing for his envisioned sequel, Ghost Pirates and the Galleon of Doom. The team has nonetheless been able to crowdfund a small spinoff game, Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler!
Gameplay
The gameplay follows standard point-and-click adventure games but with a twist. Having been cursed, the three protagonists are able to interact with the world as either themselves normally or leave their bodies and interact as ghosts. As ghosts, they are capable of moving through walls and manipulating things without being seen or heard by most characters. However, due to being ghosts, they are unfortunately unable to pass through or touch certain ghost warding barriers such as a line of salt. To pass, they thus have to find ways to clear the barriers away through other means.
Along with the ghost mechanics, each individual character is equipped with a set of skills. In relation to the curse, they are also able to communicate with each other telepathically and able to use each other's body in order to solve certain puzzles that each one alone is incapable of solving. Papa Doc is a strong "Vooju" priest and is an expert in most Vooju related areas such as reading certain hieroglyphics. Jane Starling is a nimble pirate and is an expert in most pirate techniques such as forging papers. Blue Belly is fat little pirate and is an expert in cooking and other related matters.
Plot
The game follows the exploits of the game's three main protagonists, Papa Doc, Jane Starling, and Blue Belly, as they try to stop the resurrection of a demon god, which is orchestrated by Papa Doc's treacherous wife, the Vooju witch Queen Zimbi aided by the pirate crew of Greenbeard and an army of zombies. After she captures the pirate king Flint and knocks out the three protagonists, the three find themselves cursed with their souls separated from their bodies.
In the first part of the game, the three protagonists have to find a way to reacquire their bodies, a method of reattaching their souls, and a ship in order to leave Vooju island and seek help. They have to do so before they are turned into zombies or before the cock crows thrice, otherwise they would be forever lost as ghosts.
In the second part of the game, the three have to gather allies and stop Greenbeard's attempt to attack Blue Belly's home port with the aid of their ghostly powers. In the final part of the game, with their allies, the three heroes have to defeat Zimbi's evil mother Mama Malidei and stop the demon god's resurrection.
Reception
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This game has received mixed reviews. GameRankings gave it a 69% based on 12 reviews,[2] and Metacritic gave it a 66 out of 100 based on 14 reviews.[3]
References
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island Release Information for PC". GameFAQs. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- Kleinberg, Dante (2010-02-22). "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island". GamesTM: 126. April 2010.
- Miller, Jordan (2010-09-26). "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island review". GameZone. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island". PC Format (232): 95. March 2010.
- Cobbett, Richard (July 2010). "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island review". PC Gamer UK: 91. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- "Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island". PC Zone: 90. May 2010.
External links
- Official website (in German)