Rode Kill: A Day in the Life

Rode Kill: A Day in The Life is the first adventure game by Zombie Chow (Shawn Guzzo), and already quite an achievement. It evolved along with his knowledge of the engine and his abilities. The game gets better the further you get. There is a lot of humor in Rodney Kill (full name of Rode Kill). The reason for this lies partially in the two main influences for it, Space Quest and Monkey Island. The game borrows from them in a fairly transparent way. The main character for example is a janitor, and his adventures take place in deep space. The backgrounds and characters are drawn in a similar style to Escape from Monkey Island. In particular, the characters look so stunning you'll forget you are playing an amateur adventure game.

The interface is SCUMM-like, so it shouldn't give anyone any trouble although the menu lacks some of the functionalities. For the record: F5 saves, F7 restores, and CTRL-Q quits.

The game and puzzles were developed a bit on the fly, which means that the story doesn't go anywhere specific. It just tells you about a day in the life of Rodney Kill. A rather hectic day, yes. But there's no evil maniacs to dispose of in this one, nor are there any frail young ladies to be rescued. There is however one constant in this game, and that is garbage. Most puzzles involve garbage, and just about every room in the game has some. It's not likely you'll find a dirtier game than this one that doesn't have an adults-only rating.

It all starts with Rodney Kill wanting to go on shore leave. He has just woken up (after a very nice introduction sequence) and can't leave until he has finished his chores for the day. The rest of the story is better left unspoiled... Suffice it to say things don't go exactly as planned.

The puzzles are quite good. Most of them won't give you any trouble, as they are pretty standard and linear. Some puzzles, particularly in the later part of the game, will give you trouble. And this is where the game falls a bit short, especially because the solution is not always hinted at. However, they make perfectly logical sense after you find the solution, and that is what a good adventure puzzle should be like.

There are a few more flaws, such as a rather long loading time between rooms, and a bit of a strange interface, but this doesn't affect the overall gameplay, which is very good. Anyone who enjoys a humorous adventure game will surely enjoy playing this one. Two thumbs up!

Review by HOTUD