Uncover the truth behind a deadly sickness in Unforeseen Incidents, a point-and-click adventure game that mixes a serious storyline with moments of humor.
Unforeseen Incidents
Backwoods Entertainment and Application Systems Heidelberg
Price: $19.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Mac, Linux
MonsterVine was provided with a free PC code for review.
Unforeseen Incidents begins in a small town where a mysterious, deadly virus has broken out. Assuring the people not to panic, a health organization called RHC steps in to contain and cure the disease. However, when handyman Harper Pendrell encounters an infected woman who begs him not to call RHC, he soon realizes there is something much worse at work.
Inspired by classic point-and-click adventure games, Unforeseen Incidents has a fairly standard control scheme where you click on the screen to move to a specific spot or to interact with the environment, as well as an inventory located at the top of the screen from which you can drag down items to use. You can click on characters to talk to them, with more dialogue options opening up once you have additional information. It also has a couple features built in for convenience, such as a button that shows everything you can interact with and the ability to instantly move to an area’s exit.
Most of the puzzles are logic-based: figuring out which items to use together to get past obstacles, finding ways to distract characters so you can get past them, etc. A few require more creative thinking, and a couple riddle-like puzzles can be quite challenging. There is also a hacking mini-game that shows up between the story’s chapters, although why it’s there is never quite clear.
Unforeseen Incidents has a unique, sketchy sort of art style that makes it stand out, along with excellent voice acting that brings the characters to life. The story is told across four major chapters, each of which involves new locations to explore and characters to meet. A mystery about a strange virus and a sinister organization isn’t groundbreaking, but even though many of the plot points played out like I expected them to, it still took some intriguing turns along the way. There is one scene near the end that is presented in a more confusing way than it needs to be, but overall the story is straightforward enough to follow.
Harper’s role as an accidental hero adds an interesting twist in itself. He generally comes across as a regular guy caught up in events way beyond what he’s used to dealing with, despite one or two occasions where his emotional reactions to the situation didn’t feel strong enough. In contrast to the serious storyline, Harper’s commentary is often humorous, which occasionally feels like it’s trying too hard to be funny, but there are also some pretty entertaining lines and references. There is a number of entertaining supporting characters, whom I enjoyed interacting with as I saw their story through to its conclusion.
The Final Word
The story in Unforeseen Incidents might feel familiar at times, but it tells its tale well while also providing a satisfying selection of adventure game puzzles and a high-quality presentation.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
