“BOO! Oh, look. I scared it to death. Wait. No. Hold on. It was already like that.”

Blackwell Unbound represents the second of five parts in the Blackwell series. On its own it is a prequel dealing with the past of the first game. Compared with its predecessor it has a better balance between gameplay and storytelling. Other strong points are the mature characters and their witty dialogues. In addition the puzzles are more logical and the voice acting remains top notch. While the main story is not as strong as in Blackwell Legacy, the underlying storyline profits from this flashback.

Fun fact: The storyline of Blackwell Unbound was originally a part of Blackwell Convergence, but due to budget issues it was decided to release the game content as a stand-alone.
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My rating system consists of six categories in descending order of importance:

- Atmosphere
- Characters
- Details
- Puzzles
- Story
- Controls

Based on the performance each category will receive one of the following grading:

- S-Rank: excellent
- A-Rank: very good
- B-Rank: solid
- C-Rank: satisfactory
- D-Rank: inferior

If the S-Rank is awarded, a quote from the game or personal comment will be added as a token of my respect (in brackets).
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Atmosphere: A-Rank

Characters: A-Rank

Details: B-Rank

Puzzles: A-Rank

Story: C-Rank (A-Rank for the underlying storyline)

Controls: B-Rank
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To conquer all achievements of The Blackwell Legacy, you will most likely spend around 4 hours. A detailed achievement guide can be found on the link below (thanks to nek♥|sorrow (｡◕‿‿◕｡)).

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=115254920

Achievement difficulty: 2 of 10

Common:
- Singleplayer [+1]

Special:
- Trying to Cut Down [+1]
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Blackwell Epiphany (PC) – Adventure game + Point & Click
(Fantasy) – 2014
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Blackwell Deception (PC) – Adventure game + Point & Click
(Fantasy) – 2013
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Blackwell Convergence (PC) – Adventure game + Point & Click
(Fantasy) – 2009
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197968514473/recommended/80350/
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Blackwell Unbound (PC) – Adventure game + Point & Click
(Fantasy) – 2007
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The Blackwell Legacy (PC) – Adventure game + Point & Click
(Fantasy) – 2006
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197968514473/recommended/80330/

This installment of the Blackwell series is a prequel, you take control of Lauren Blackwell (Rosa's aunt) and Joey!

This game was a bit shorter than Legacy, most likely because there were fewer places to go and less items to pick up.
However, don't let the length of this entry deter you, it's just as good as Legacy.

I liked the dynamic and dialogue between Lauren and Joey; and it was also a fun and unique twist to be given the ability to play as Joey. As Joey, he not only speaks to other spirits but he can also go through walls and inspect areas/items and make observations that helps with the investigation.

I also appreciated the extended explanation (albeit brief) of how spirits and mediums work, I had worried that that part of the Blackwell story would be left out.

The one complaint I have, although minor, is the fact that you are only able to access the bonus galleries after the credits roll. I had to save my game as soon as the credits finished rolling in order to have infinite access - by loading my save file.
So, I hope that feature has been improved upon in the later installments.

Blackwell Legacy & Unbound

Background: Love Point & clicks. Stumbled across this as a reddit recommend during the summer sale. Played shortly after Perfidious Petrol Station (similar style game) so was in the mood for retro gaming.

Reviewing both the first and second game as they are very similar and i played them back to back.

Impressions: Anyone whose played the first two Blackwell games will point to their lo-fi charm.. Blackwell captures the days of SCUMM/Lucasarts perfectly... all too perfectly with it's qwerks, dead-ends, glitches and clunky interface. But as ever it's the story and characters that need to stand-out and within 5minutes I was hooked on the plot and invested in the characters.

The Good:
* Superb story in a world that feels lived in.
* Original gameplay ideas that are fun to explore.
* Great characters and cases that make logical sense.
* The Notepad mechanic is genius.
* Recaptures the days of Monkey Island.
* Achievements make replay more fun.
* Commentary is fun and enlightening.

The Bad:
* Voice acting can be a little off (part of the charm).
* Can get deadended because you missed clicking one thing.
* Save/Load interface is awkward.
* Can't ALT+TAB on Win 7 without locking up and CTRL+DEL.
* Some visuals are stretched by widescreen monitors.
* Some lines unvoiced or used in error (very few).
* Commentary is spoliery don't listen on first play-through.
* Short length but value when bought as a pack.
* Bonus features has audio swearing not in the main game.

Recommended for: Old school P n' C fans who value plot and characters over glitz. Ideal for nostalgia hounds and teens who like the supernatural.

Conclusion.
7/10. It won't blow you away but it's a solid set of games and deserves to be played.

Well done point-and-click adventure.
Totally worth time and money.

I've played several other Wadjet Eye games and I've enjoyed all of them. This one however was a disappointment. It lacks the good storytelling in which the others excel and the color scheme is often jarring. Also figuring out what to do is really annoying at times (having to do something repeatedly, up to six times, annoys me.)

If you like the Blackwell series skip this one. If you are obsessed try it but don't expect much.

If you're a fan of point'n'click adventures: This is your game series.

+ Amazing writing/dialouges
+ Lovely animated and sophisticated characters/background stories
+ Adult humor
+ Great Story development/excitement curve
+ Awesome voice acting
+ Additional "Behind the Scenes" material and commentary
+ Convincing all-over-atmosphere
+ Fitting music

The story can get quite emotional without relying on heavy romances.
The games are still more of a detective story involving ghosts, personal
tragedies, intrigues, murder and envy.

The series is easily one of the best modern point'n'click productions and
you can really feel the commitment and engagement that was used to produce these games.

If you liked this series, you will probably also like other games from Wadjet Eye:
- Gemini Rue
- Resonance
- Primordia
- The Shivah