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Review for The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure

Perry Rhodan
Perry Rhodan

Perry Rhodan may be a newcomer to the adventure game scene, but he’s actually been around for a long time. Like about 3,000 years. He’s an immortal, after all, the fortuitous result of being the first human being to encounter an alien race, and his experiences have been chronicled in thousands of German novels in a series that’s been around almost 50 years itself. At long last, Rhodan is finally ready for his first interactive adventure in the form of The Immortals of Terra, or Myth of the Illochim in Europe. Fortunately for gamers, it’s an auspicious debut that should appeal to sci-fi adventure fans, even if you’re not familiar with the American astronaut and his “Perryverse”.

In an all-new story created specifically for the game, Immortals takes place in a distant future, beginning on a world called Terrania. We are introduced to this world during an attack on the Solar Residence, which is the seat of power for the Terranian government. The assailants are what appear to be an army of robots, trained with malicious intent. Enter Perry Rhodan, the charismatic and popular Regent of Terrania. After surviving the assault, Rhodan is determined to find out who was behind it. The devastation wrought by the robots, however, becomes more acute when he discovers Mondra Diamond, his closest friend and mother of their long-lost son, is kidnapped during the attack. The only clues to her disappearance lie in her office, which is sealed but somehow avoids damage. However, in order to piece together the mystery, Rhodan first needs to overcome his strict confinement, imposed on him for his own protection.

The opening sequence might lead players into thinking the game will play out as a traditional tale of hero saving the damsel in distress. But while Immortals is in many ways a conventional point-and-click adventure game, it is also one with far more depth than the introduction suggests. The “damsel” proves to be a tough-minded researcher who has uncovered a dark secret, and the “hero” is a fallible but mature leader of an alien world who has seen and experienced much in his long lifetime. The emotions displayed through the dialogue are also more sophisticated than other typical futuristic, interplanetary stories. Interactions between characters are neither simplistic nor obvious, but instead demonstrate an understanding of real-life personalities. Although it’s certainly not necessary to know their backstories coming in, it’s clear even to newcomers that many of the 60-odd characters in the game are already well-established personalities, offering a refreshing departure from common stereotypes.

This same surprising depth applies to the plot of Immortals, as its storyline continually leaves players guessing as to what type of adventure it’s going to be. In many cases, this would be a significant drawback. However, here it generates a compelling epic that plays as part detective mystery, part high adventure, and part espionage thriller, all wrapped up seamlessly in its science fiction setting. Throughout the game, players will guide Rhodan as he visits such places as a scientific academy, a museum for robotics, and other intergalactic sites. The Solar Residence is explored extensively as your investigation leads you to procure clues throughout the building. At one point, Rhodan even has a chance to explore a museum about himself. Most of the offices are devoid of inhabitants, but many have puzzles that unlock further clues to solving the mystery behind the attack.

Despite being Regent (and sometimes because of it), Rhodan must travel incognito at times to continue his journey uninterrupted. Fortunately, he soon gains the ability to change his DNA, allowing him to become another person seamlessly. His change in appearance fools other characters and machines as well, though it’s not entirely foolproof. Along the way, players will encounter allies as well as enemies, including of a professor whose entire being is now a brain without a body. Of course, Rhodan interacts with a number of different alien species. Most of the creatures he comes into contact with, while not openly hostile, are certainly not pleased with his presence, so players will need to find ways to placate them. In many locations, Rhodan seems to be followed by an evil force of some kind. This force manifests itself in a throaty, angry voice, periodically sending obscure messages through computers and robots. This adds another layer of intrigue, leaving players wondering about the purpose and nature of its source, and what the relationship is to the attack.

Beyond the usual adventure game challenge of determining which objects can be manipulated is figuring out how they are used, which is often a problem in alien settings. The developers of Immortals have addressed both problems through the game's highly detailed graphics and the addition of a few helpful features. The environments often display a clear background/foreground placement of objects so that it is obvious which are out of bounds for the character. If you do find yourself having difficulty, the game also features a hotspot highlighter that reveals the interactive objects on screen, which is very helpful although a little too slow, as it runs through a complete “scan” animation before returning control to the player.

Once found, determining the use of objects is just as easy thanks to the use of a unique positronics machine. Available in a number of places throughout the game, this is the intergalactic equivalent of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This proves to be an invaluable resource, as the player can place any collected object, name of a character, or even alien phrase into the machine for a quick who/what/when/where/why description. It’s simple to use, and players really cannot avoid doing so, as there is much to be learned from the information provided. Not all of it is necessary to complete the game, but it’s an impressive amount of detail that fleshes out the “Perryverse” for those who want to learn more.

The prerendered graphics are not only helpful in distinguishing hotspots, but a highlight in their own right. The environments are fairly dynamic and the settings often reminiscent of the likes of Star Wars, with highways in the sky and many moons looming in the background. Simply staring out the windows and admiring the views is something I did more than once. The main problem I saw with the graphics is the characters. Rhodan and a number of other characters sometimes stand in awkward positions, with their backs unnaturally arched as they speak to others. Further, the 3D characters have a “dead stare”, where their eyes are glazed over and they perpetually stare into space, as if they died from a drug overdose (maybe it’s from one-too many zero gravity space missions). Nevertheless, the crisp visuals are a definite highlight of the game.

The orchestral music varies according to the locations, and unobtrusively sets the appropriate mood. Voicework is generally solid, although at times I found the dialogues choppy, with sentences occasionally shortened as if mistakenly cut off by an over-anxious editor. The acting is also pretty good overall, as each actor sounds appropriate for the character they are asked to perform. Rhodan himself is quite convincing, displaying a confident but not arrogant air about him. The only criticism I have of the dialogues is an issue of design, as sometimes characters who should know something about a topic act like they don’t know what Rhodan is asking them. There is a lot of information to be acquired in this game, so this felt like either an unnaturally contrived obstacle to slow the player down or a sloppy sequencing issue when doing things outside of the expected order.

Puzzles in Immortals are not overly difficult once you look past the sci-fi window dressing that makes them seem more complicated. Most involve inventory applications, and experienced adventure gamers will find object combinations to be fairly straightforward. Fortunately, puzzle clues follow a logical sequence for the most part, though some require to moving from one location to another to piece them all together. Blending nicely into the storyline, these clues also provide the “big picture” information, as players must read through journals, examine video recordings, and inspect robot parts in order to gradually understand the reasons behind the attack on the Solar Residence and the abduction of Mondra.

The point-and-click controls are entirely traditional, but the interface does include a few nice details. Hovering the cursor over an exit, for example, will bring up a small image of the room beyond it (assuming you’ve explored it at least once), just in case all the doors start looking the same after a while. And when right-clicking on inventory items to examine them in more detail, you’ll see Rhodan punching keys on his wristband gadgetry as if accessing the information along with you. From the ever-visible inventory you’ll also find Rhodan’s journal, which keeps track of your current challenges and even provides some useful tips for achieving them. One feature I did miss was subtitles for hotspots. While all dialogue includes subtitles automatically, there is no way to determine the nature of a hotspot without clicking on it, and since many active hotspots are larger than the actual items, this led to a lot of unintentional clicking on the same object. It’s hardly a deal-breaker, but it’s one area that’s less user-friendly than it could have been.

Overall, The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure is an entertaining, well-developed game that should take players about eight hours of solid gameplay. It is not without its lack of polish in some areas, and it rarely exceeds its very conservative gameplay ambitions. However, the graphics make it one of the more visually appealing adventures today, and the storyline manages to be both engaging in its own right and a gentle introduction to a much deeper, more diverse world than many sci-fi offerings, without requiring any intimate previous knowledge of the fictional “Perryverse”. I can easily recommend this game to adventure fans, and while this is only the first game for Perry Rhodan, I hope we see more like this one, preferably before thousands more books have been written.

WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure

The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure is available at:

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Our Verdict:

Perry Rhodan’s transition to gaming is a largely successful one, as The Immortals of Terra is a solid title that should appeal to sci-fi and adventure fans alike.

GAME INFO The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure is an adventure game by 3d-io released in 20082008 for PC. It has a Illustrated realism style and is played in a Third-Person perspective.

The Good:

  • Interesting storyline
  • Excellent graphics and helpful features to discern alien objects
  • Plenty of optional background information available
  • Impressive overall ambiance nicely combines sci-fi elements with suspense and mystery

The Bad:

  • Dialogue sometimes cut off and occasionally out of sequence with events
  • Distracting “dead stare&rdquo
  • On characters

The Good:

  • Interesting storyline
  • Excellent graphics and helpful features to discern alien objects
  • Plenty of optional background information available
  • Impressive overall ambiance nicely combines sci-fi elements with suspense and mystery

The Bad:

  • Dialogue sometimes cut off and occasionally out of sequence with events
  • Distracting “dead stare&rdquo
  • On characters
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