It’s no secret that I’m a huge Doctor Who fan, a Whovian if you will, which only provided more reason for me to be incredibly excited about the release of The Eternity Clock. Dubbed ‘the first mature Doctor Who video game’ by the BBC, it promised a deep immersive gameplay experience evocative of the show itself. Did it deliver? Well, sort of.
The game starts much like all of the Doctor’s adventures should: - the TARDIS is out of control and crashing down to Earth. Unaware of the reason for the crash, the Doctor must figure out what exactly is going on and save the universe from some form of looming threat (probably Daleks, it’s always Daleks).
To its merit, the story is filled with more psychic paper, perception filters and Sonic devices than you can shake a Dalek eye-stalk at. The vocal talents and motion capture of both Matt Smith and Alex Kingston also add a level of authenticity that has been absent in previous games.
Unfortunately, somewhat uninspired side scrolling gameplay quickly limits this experience; did Gallifrey only exist on a 2D plane? The controls almost seem more suited to a mobile platform than a home console.
In single player, the game regularly switches between control of The Doctor and River Song. Equipped with his trademark Sonic Screwdriver, The Doctor’s portions of the game are heavily focused on puzzle solving and opening locked doors with a fun but somewhat repetitive Sonic lock-picking mini-game. Meanwhile, River does what she does best, utilising both her hallucinogenic lipstick and signature Sonic Blaster to take down any foes that stand in the way of the time-travelling duo.
Gameplay is regularly stunted by the game’s adherence to a single 2D plane, often making it hard to even identify where enemies are in relation to your character – and trust me, no amount of psychic paper or witty remarks is going to save you from having to restart the level once caught by a Cyberman.
Environments are gorgeously designed with heaps of detail, from decaying Dalek remnants to glowing toxic Silurian pipes, though this just makes the limitations on exploration all the more irritating. The game also spans three time periods - sixteenth century London, present-day London and a future Dalek-occupied London - so be sure to expect plenty of variation. You’ll also visit the accurately reconstructed TARDIS inbetween each level, which as you’d hope is full of fun whirring levers and buzzing buttons, all of which you can interact with to hear a fun remark from The Doctor.
Movement is controlled with the left stick while control of the Sonic Screwdriver is mapped to the right, granting you the same level of erratic, wild flailing you’ve seen in the show, which is particularly fun for fans. This also applies to River’s Sonic Blaster, though sadly you can only aim left or right, making it awkward to shoot enemies on different planes.
Even when things get a bit rough gameplay-wise, though, the game consistently redeems itself with its excellent scripting. It features a cast of four different Who enemies: Cybermen, Daleks, Silurians and the recently introduced Silence, and even the most mundane of tasks, such as pushing a crate, is bettered by Smith’s witticisms.
It’s a shame that ever-present technical issues ruin the fun even here. The scripting triggers late sometimes, catching up and playing a whole load of now-irrelevant dialog in one go ten minutes later. This isn’t the only technical issue, either – the game is heavily laden with glitches and bugs, most notably River Song’s A.I., which often stuck her on a ladder or in a doorway, regularly forcing me to restart an entire level to progress.
The difficulty scaling of puzzles is also poorly executed. The switch to Hard simply reduces the time you have to complete a puzzle, which often results in a more frustrating than challenging experience. There are also a lot of ‘puzzles’ that would be better described as mini-games, such as moving a ball through a grid while dodging oncoming orbs, requiring more dexterity than puzzle solving ability.
The game does feature a multiplayer option, allowing you to play co-operatively. This alleviates some of the problems you’ll encounter with the AI in single-player, but you still run into issues along the way when playing with a friend.
Spanning 6-8 hours, the game will keep you entertained for a good while. Collectables are also scattered throughout the levels, taking the form of River’s diary pages – spoilers! – and the Doctor’s infamous hat collection. Fortunately these do provide some fun canon and are often easy enough to spot and collect. Reading through River’s diary will also give you additional insight into both the Doctor Who universe and The Eternity Clock’s plot.
Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/25/doctor-who-the-eternity-clock-review
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