3 Minutes to Midnight® - A Comedy Graphic Adventure

Completed 3 Minutes to Midnight last year, spent around 20 hours, and I enjoyed it. A fun and humorous point-and-click with a light tone that works well throughout. The puzzles are varied and kept me engaged, and the overall flow makes it easy to keep playing. The story is strong, with good humor and engaging characters that kept me interested all the way through, even with a relatively long playtime for the genre. It never felt like it dragged. What stood out to me is how much personality it has. The humor lands well without feeling forced, and it feels like a game that knows exactly what it wants to be. I’ll likely play it again to explore other choices and pick up the achievements I missed. Recommended for fans of point-and-click games.

Whilst I will praise the game for having some interesting and well crafted puzzles I can't really recommend the game. It is a long game so anyone with around 10 hours in the game probably haven't gotten to the end, the length of the game is a problem not because it is long but because the length is just bloated dialogue, cutscenes and inane references to other media that did not need to be in the game. The opening few hours were fine but the longer you went into the game the more you forgot what the game was or why Betty was doing anything that she was doing because you were constantly in 10 minute long jokes that stopped being funny after the first 30 seconds. There are very few characters that are likeable in the game, Betty is not a fun character to play as then they switch you to a worse character nearer the end of the game and it just continues to grate on your nerves how much you don't care what happens to this town. If they stripped all the unnecessary dialogue back and toned Betty down a little from complete idiot to a loveable rogue like Guybrush Threepwood was then it wouldn't be so bad. Sadly a good 10 hours of this game is just bloat that will tire you out, which isn't a wonder not many people seem to have gotten to the final chapter let alone completed it. I had to take a 5+ month break from the game because it bored me to tears but I decided I wanted to finish it and the ending isn't even worth the trudge through the tedium. If you are ready to hunker down and listen to pointless dialogue that goes nowhere (and WAY too much fourth wall breaking) for 20 hours for some good puzzles then sure pick it up, otherwise there are many better modern point and click games to choose from.

[h1]3 Minutes to Burnout[/h1] Kennt ihr das, wenn ein Freund / Comedian / der Partner irgendwas Lustiges erzählen will und nach einer gefühlt unendlichen Weile immer noch nicht zur Pointe kommt? Willkommen bei "3 Minutes to Midnight" - einem P&C-Adventure aus spanischer Hand - und gleichzeitig dem Erstlingswerk vom Scarecrow Studio. Wer jetzt aber euphorisch aufspringt: "Hey, ein Studio, das der damaligen Legende Péndulo Studios alle Ehre macht!" verfehlt ordentlich. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3569710415 Worum geht's? Nicht so leicht zu sagen, da sich die Geschichte immer wieder mit unendlichen Unzulänglichkeiten im Storytelling verfranst. Wir steuern das junge, naive, recht blöde, aber auch sehr draufgängerische Cheerleader Betty in den 40er Jahren in New Mexiko. Da spinnen die Bewohner nämlich in letzter Zeit plötzlich, haben leuchtend blaue Augen und wirken wie ferngesteuert. Da das Spiel aber bis zu 20h Spielzeit beinhaltet und sich immer wieder selbst das Bein stellt, indem es Witze bis zur absoluten Unkenntlichkeit auf dem Weg zur Pointe zerstümmelt, zieht sich alles unfassbar in die Länge. Jedes Gespräch mit einem NPC triggert ausufernde Unterhaltungen, die einfach kein Ende nehmen. Es gibt ZU viele NPCs, die rumstehen - und spätestens im zweiten Drittel geistert man zum bereits 10ten Mal durch immer wieder dieselben Panels (die Kleinstadt), dass einem die Augen zu bluten anfangen. Das Spiel und seine "Rätsel" sind selbst nie sonderlich schwer - es gibt lediglich Item-Kombinations- und verwendungsrätsel, alles Weitere wie bspw. Schloss-, Wort- bzw. Mechanikrätsel gibt's quasi nicht. Man findet schon irgendwie den Weg und trägt meistens auch nicht tausend Gegenstände mit sich rum, aber bis man erstmal alle NPCs getriggert, alles versucht und dabei wieder unzählige doofe Jokes durchgemacht hat, geht's dann VIELLEICHT irgendwann mal weiter. In gemächlichem Erzähltempo - aber Hauptsache irgendjemand redet sehr lang und sagt dabei wie immer nix. Es gibt bspw. eine Szene, die man auslöst indem man einen Diamanten im Inventar mehrmals anschaut. Macht man das führt es zu einer sehr langen Sequenz, wo Betty in der Mine zu Gollum wird und hypnotisiert vom Diamanten ist. Das führt dann dazu, dass sie durch die gleiche Sméagol-Gollum-Entwicklung für immer in der Höhle bleibt, von Menschen geborgen, therapiert wird und dann wieder an der Break-Stelle fortgesetzt werden kann - mit dem Joke am Ende, dass sie manchmal immer noch "meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeein Schaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" sagt. Oh wow. Vielen Dank für den Diebstahl von 5 belanglosen Minuten Lebenszeit hier einen Witz bis zum letzten Tropfen leer zu melken. Und das passiert immer mal wieder. Ständig gibt's popkulturelle Anspielungen durch die gesamte Szene hinweg (Jurassic Park, Evil Dead, irgendwelche sprechenden C*ckroaches werden kurz eingeführt und labern zu lange). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3569504008 Das führte irgendwann dazu, dass ich reihenweise Gespräche geskipped hab, weil sie wirklich ALLE nur noch charakterlosen Blödsinn von sich gegeben haben - doch das für mich absolute Killerkriterium an dem Spiel zeigte sich da erst: IMMER (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) wenn ein Charakter VOR oder NACH dem Absatz eine Animation darstellen muss, ist genau dieser Absatz NICHT skipbar - da wird schön oben in der Ecke ein Verbotszeichen dargestellt, damit der Spieler weiß: Geht gerade nicht. Aber das ist nicht nur 1x pro Spielstunde so, sondern STÄNDIG! Gesprächsfetzen schneller skippen, sobald man mit dem Lesen schon schneller fertig ist, geht also nur total inkonsequent - und da alle SO VIEL und dazu noch SO VIEL SCHE*ßE labern, wird man immer wieder extremst ausgebremst im möglichen Fortschrittstempo. Als hätte man auf einer Autobahn alle 200m für 50m alle Fahrstreifen anstatt aus Asphalt mit Sandgruben bestückt. Das macht mich schon aggressiv, wenn ich nur daran denke. Und da das andere Adventures BESTENS hinbekommen (Animationen werden halt stückweise mitgeskipped, sodass der geskippte Text immer zur aktuellen Animationszeit passt), attestiere ich den Entwicklern einfach nur zweifelsfrei programmiertechnische Unfähigkeit. Dass es hier "mehrere Lösungswege" gibt und die Grafik sehr hübsch ist, hilft dem Spiel leider nicht mehr. Es fehlt der sympathische Charakter, tolle Charaktere, eine spannende Story, nicht zu viel Gelaber und wenn on point und witzig. Es sieht vielversprechend aus - und kann davon fast gar nichts einlösen. Und das hab ich in diesem Ausmaß - zusammen mit der unendlichen Spielzeit - schon lange nicht mehr bei einem P&C erlebt. Da ist ja "Simon the Sorcerer 3D" sogar noch besser^^ [b][u]Bottom Line:[/u][/b] Wer müde werden will, um endlich friedlich einschlafen zu können, spielt 3 Minutes to Midnight. Ein P&C Adventure Blender der ganz besonderen Art. Optisch lockend, aber dann doch nur eine Laberlawine aus Kaugummi-gedehnten Witzen, die nur in 1% der Fälle wirklich zünden. Ich fühle mich ausgebrannt. Um mal die KTM-Gang zu zitieren: Ich kann nicht mehr. Ihr Blutsauger... 🔫 Pew Pew Pew! 💥 Bock auf mehr Reviews? 🔎 🏃💨 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42792002/]Folge mir persönlich[/url] und/oder folge [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/875292/]diesem coolen Reviewer-Konglomerat[/url], in dem ich auch bin - und verpass' keine weiteren Neuigkeiten! ⚡

TL;DR – 3 Minutes to Midnight is a surprisingly long game for a point'n'click adventure. Even without chasing the alternative endings, you’re looking at 20+ hours of gameplay. If you don’t like long conversations (often punny and over the top), this might not be a game for you. But if you want a modern adventure that plays like a silly cartoon, filled with quirky characters, puzzles with multiple (equally goofy) solutions, and an art style straight out of late 90s cartoons… give Betty a call! You play as Betty (and later her mom, Eliza). She's a quirky teen who delights in being a menace to everyone around her, and you get to help her do it. Her character has a weird charisma that is only trampled by her voice actor that often pulls a screetchy voice. That said, once you realize nothing about this game is serious (not even the game takes itself serious) it becomes clear that Betty fits perfectly into this 40's world. Eliza, on the other hand... is a horrible, cold, selfish individual that won't spend a second thinking about anything than how to get ahead of others. Her game-time is also presented by humorous situations, but there are instances where it felt "wrong" to play her - mostly due to her character and the fact she has ZERO emotions. Not even for her daughter she doesn't even call by her name. The story starts with an explosion, erasing memories from the entire town and it's up to you to figure out what happened. This will take you on a journey through multiple gorgeously drawn locations filled with puzzles that will rarely leave you stumped even if most of them have completely silly solutions that, again, somehow fit the narrative perfectly. You'll never get stuck (probably), since the game does a good job of introducing you to items and characters that are either important for you to progress, OR make you go "thefuq is this" only to become completely clear later on as you stumble upon the next puzzle. The music and sound design are spot-on, matching both the environments and the ridiculous situations. Background effects are exaggerated in just the right way (though sometimes a little too much). There are TONS of easter eggs and references to various movies, games and characters that you'll find all over the place as you spend your time with Betty. UI and controls are near perfect! The hotspot button is especially useful, since everything blends seamlessly into the backgrounds. Animations can be stiff or awkward at times, but they still feel at home in this cartoony world. The only bad thing is the actual ending… I'm honestly not a big fan of "multiple-endings" in adventure games even if you have branching dialogues. It's just not worth your time to go through the full game only to branch a few times to get a slightly different ending and unlock an achievement. I'm also not really happy how the game goes COMPLETELLY off the rails in the last chapter leaving you with more questions than answers - especially since the first 3/4 of the game were consistent. Teeeeechnically - it's still goofy and silly as the rest of the game, but after 20+h of gameplay, I did expect some closure or at least some explanation what happened to Betty during "that" time instead of just pulling the same thing Janeway did to end the Voyager series. All in all - looking forward to the next game (or a sequel?) from these devs, as titles like these are quite rare in today's world where true adventure games are scarce

I wish I could leave a mixed review on Steam. Because although I enjoyed this game...it's a mixed bag. The Good: This is the first game I played that really captures that 90s LucasArts feeling for me. Telltale and Double Fine came close. But they always feel like a imitation. Betty is the perfect P&C protagonist. Clueless like Guybrush. Chaotic like Max. The puzzles aren't challenging. (whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you) I never really felt like I had to make some crazy logical leap to get the exact right solution like so many other P&C games. Often there are multiple ways to solve puzzles, with plenty of hints placed in dialogue. And I enjoyed the dialogue. It's silly and there's plenty of it. It's kind of insane that this game is fully voiced! The bad: Halfway through the game you switch main characters to Betty's mom. She is unpleasant and humorless. Terrible choice for a protagonist. And this character switch is fully half the game! And several of the later sections have extended cut-scenes or even just hand-waved title cards to say what happened. It feels like they were running low on money and had to cut content. Wish they had cut the Mother's section and given us more Betty! But Betty does bounce back to finish off the game. So that's good. Overall a fun game for Point & Click fans.

Halfway thru the story and up to now, only motivation is to get it over with, I just hate not finishing story games... Characters are dull and generaly annoying, the story is way too long wand inflated with a bunch of long boring dialogs that isn't remotely interesting to read and even less to hear. Voice acting is ok at best, with the 2 main characters becoming annoying AF. Its an attempt to copy old school Lucasart game humour but fails to do so. The story could have been interesting but once you get to chapter 3, it just becomes tedious with 90% of the dialogs being about "who where you before all this", but the thing is you don't really care at all about the characters enough to want to listen to hours of stories that have no impact on the main story. Just feels like a bunch of forced filling to pump completion time. graphics are nice though, animations are ok, its a nice attempt but to be honest, I feel more like replaying Day of the Tentacle than finishing the rest of this game at this point.

Nice one

Loved that there were so many alternative solutions to the puzzles

If you grew up on Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle, this is the high-definition love letter you’ve been waiting for. It captures that classic "Golden Era" spirit while actually fixing the frustrations of the 90s. The Breakdown Pros: Visual Masterclass: Stunning hand-painted art that looks like a high-budget 1940s cartoon. Smart Puzzle Design: Say goodbye to "moon logic." The puzzles are logical and—amazingly—often have multiple solutions depending on how you play. Massive Script: Every single item interaction has unique, witty dialogue. It’s packed with 4th-wall breaks and genre-savvy humor. Protagonist Dynamic: Swapping between two polar-opposite characters in a doomsday conspiracy keeps the pacing tight. Branching Paths: Genuine replayability, which is a rarity for this genre. Cons (Not Really Cons): Length: It’s a long journey (15+ hours), so it requires a bit of a time commitment. Inventory Management: Like any classic adventure, your pockets will get very full of bizarre items. The Verdict It’s rare to find an adventure game with this much "soul" and polish. It doesn't hold your hand, but it also won't leave you stuck for hours on a nonsensical solution. 9/10 — A must-play for anyone who misses the glory days of LucasArts.

Top, muito engraçado e criativo. Recomendo a todos os fãs de point&click!