The Best Adventure in Years

Set in a sci-fi universe with a film-noir atmosphere, Gemini Rue splits its time between an ex mob-employed assassin, Azriel, and a man named Charlie, Delta Six, a patient in an unnamed (at first) rehabilitation facility. You switch between both characters in the game as the plot unfolds and slowly connects. The dual storyline helps keep the game moving since when I got stuck on one side of it, I’d switch to another character and pursue their story further.

The world of Gemini Rue matches the story it tells perfectly. The scenery and the game’s characters are simply drawn but detailed where important. The mining town of Pittsburgh is eternally raining thanks to weather control systems created for the industry. Rain constantly gushes, streaming the city’s trash and filth through its streets.  The rehabilitation center is white and sterile but certain parts of it reveal a rusty and corroded infrastructure.

Gemini Rue flows well with an investigative approach to the adventure genre. Light on inventory items, instead you mostly gather information and apply those clues to further the plot.  During the few occasions when I was stuck in Gemini Rue I was always confident that it was because I had overlooked a detail or hadn’t thought things through. The game never had me making odd leaps of logic.

Interspersed in Gemini Rue are action sequences of gun play.  At first these moments of action seem out of place, especially for an adventure game, but as I progressed through Gemini Rue I began to understand their value. Adventure games often have problems with pacing.  It’s hard to convey a sense of urgency in the video game genre because of its basic structure of solving puzzles. Most adventure games speed up the plot or communicate danger to their players through cut-scenes and then dump them into the next moment of calm. Gemini Rue’s action sequences create heart-pounding moments that complement the cerebral mystery-solving parts of the game without taking you out of the experience.

Fantastic voice acting (I heard a few WadjetEye Games veterans in there), intriguing story, and engaging characters all make Gemini Rue a video game that shouldn’t be missed. Joshua Nuenberger, Gemini Rue’s developer and designer, has done an amazing job. Even if you’ve never played an adventure game or don’t like them, go buy this game right now.