Prepare to experience the original man-on-the-run thriller in a completely new way. In this digital adaptation by The Story Mechanics, be transported back to 1914 London, where Richard Hannay finds himself framed for a murder he didn't commit. Now he must escape the Capital and stay alive long enough to solve the riddle of The 39 Steps. There are secrets to be discovered, locations to be explored and - above all - an incredible tale to be told in this ground-breaking interactive novel.
I am rating this with the mindset of it being an interactive novel.
The 39 Steps is a "digital adaptation" of the adventure novel of the same name that was published in 1915. I hadn't heard of the novel before getting this "interactive e-book", but it's been adapted a few times into movies and said to the an inspiration to the James Bond stories.
The digital adaptation is divided into Events, like chapters in a book, which you can then go through in order, it's mostly reading with slideshow backgrounds and some animation, with good background music and sound effects. It is not an adventure "game" so you're not making choices are answering questions, what you can do it mostly clicking on items to view details and examine them.
The items you can examine are surprisingly interesting, as many of the items are extremely detailed and you can zoom it on newspapers with articles written in the style of the time period then, and many other items that give you a sense of immersion with England and Scotland as it was in 1914.
The story itself is great even from a modern perspective; lots of action, evading pursuers who seem to have the upper hand, a huge conspiracy, war... though the settings is where there're no fancy spy gadgets, and the main character does not have any gadgets or weapons so to speak, he's very resourceful and it's not predictable as some spy stories/ movies have come to be.
Overall you should give it a try if you got it in a bundle, don't recommend buying unless you're really into this kind of thing. I really enjoyed it, probably will take 4~6 hours, depending on your reading speed. The great thing is that this is an awesome new way to read stories, and I'm looking forward to more digital adaptations like this of literature.
Just finished this. Liked it lots. Not really a game though - more of a visual novel spun out of a book. But really a visual novel... not sure what I should call it.
Very gripping story that had me playing from start to finish and having to know what will happen next
Have you ever heard of a visual novel?
It’s a genre of video games very popular in the East, where you take the place of the protagonist of a story and from your decisions, you build your path toward different endings.
The 39 Steps is a visual novel with the difference that it doesn’t have multiple endings; instead of that, it has an amazing setting in sound and illustration. And tells the story of Richard Hannay and how he goes from his boring visit to London, to be in the center of the events that caused the WWI.
I recommend it only to people that enjoy reading or are looking for an experience unlike most video games, because in the end, it's still a book.