{"id":4717,"date":"2010-07-02T19:13:32","date_gmt":"2010-07-03T01:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/?p=4717"},"modified":"2010-07-02T19:13:32","modified_gmt":"2010-07-03T01:13:32","slug":"game-review-nelson-tethers-puzzle-agent-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/02\/game-review-nelson-tethers-puzzle-agent-pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Review: Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent (PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Meet Nelson Tethers. He works in the FBI\u2019s Department of Puzzle Research. Needless to say, he hasn\u2019t had a true assignment in years! But when the eraser factory in Scoggins, Minnesota mysteriously shuts down, Puzzle Agent Tethers is assigned to investigate. It\u2019s a national emergency since this particular eraser factory supplies the White House with all of its erasers! It\u2019s up to you to help unravel the mystery and solve mind-bending puzzles in the secluded, snowy town of Scoggins.<\/p>\n

In Puzzle Agent, guide Nelson around in point-and-click adventure fashion, similar to TellTale\u2019s other titles. But that\u2019s where the similarities end. In order to progress the storyline, you\u2019ll need to talk with the locals and help them solve puzzles before they\u2019ll aid your. These brain-teasers are like the ones you\u2019d find in a puzzle magazine or math workbook, and will test your logic and perceptive abilities. Finish the problem correctly to move on. The game keeps track of how many puzzles you\u2019ve solved and scores you (rather humorously) on how fast you were able to figure them out without using hints or failing.<\/p>\n

Nelson is addicted to chewing gum. He loves the stuff and it helps him concentrate to solve puzzles. So, when you need a hint during a puzzle, you can give Nelson a piece of gum in your limited supply in exchange for a clue on how to solve the problem. Unfortunately, the snowbound town of Scoggins is out of gum, and they won\u2019t get another shipment until spring. So, while walking about town, if you see a wad of ABC gum under a counter or on a wall, click on it and Nelson will add it to the gum hint inventory! Eeewwwww!<\/p>\n

If Puzzle Agent is starting to sound a LOT like the Professor Layton series on the DS, that\u2019s because it really is! But if you enjoyed the Prof. Layton titles, you\u2019ll love Puzzle Agent, too. The characters and settings in Puzzle Agent were drawn by Graham Annable, creator of the popular online comic Grickle. I\u2019ve never heard of either of those names, but if you enjoy that kind of stuff, you\u2019ll also appreciate the visuals in Puzzle Agent.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this game has a few stumbling blocks and doesn\u2019t shine as well as TellTale\u2019s other titles because of it. The balancing and pacing of the puzzles is way off. Some are easily solved just by looking at them, while others are downright maniacal! Plus, the hint system isn\u2019t always helpful, and some of the clues are just plain vague. It may not be as good as what it\u2019s trying to imitate, but fans of Prof. Layton should still check out this game. Puzzle Agent is part of TellTale\u2019s \u201cPilot Program,\u201d so they\u2019ll only make more games in the series if this initial one sells well. So if you want to see it succeed, make sure to get it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kid Factor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Puzzle Agent ESRB rating still says \u201cRating Pending\u201d on the main Web site, but I would say it\u2019s best for older kid gamers. Tethers does use a gun to try and shoot some gnomes, a guy gets kidnapped, and there\u2019s some slightly off-color humor in the text. But really, the biggest reason why this game is best for older players is because the puzzles are downright difficult. The game could be considered educational, though, as the problems focus on logic and reasoning skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Nelson Tethers. He works in the FBI\u2019s Department of Puzzle Research. Needless to say, he hasn\u2019t had a true assignment in years! But when the eraser factory in Scoggins, Minnesota mysteriously shuts down, Puzzle Agent Tethers is assigned to investigate. It\u2019s a national emergency since this particular eraser factory supplies the White House with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}