Before wrapping up an actual review, I have to declare that I'm literature major. Thus, I have read and reread both [i]Iliad[/i] and [i]Odyssey[/i] more times than I can remember in my years. As being classical epics of Homer, they portray the Trojan War - a tremendously detailed bloody narration of never-ending epic carnages and its political attachments - and Odysseus' journey back home to Ithaca from the Trojan War: both a mythological and psychoanalytical journey of transcendence and growing up. This little HOG, coming from a small Russian developer basically butchers the epic of Odyssey.
The game starts up with a narration of the Trojan War and the presentation of the legendary product of Odysseus' famous wits and wisdom: the Trojan horse. We take on the joy of watching Odysseus and Agamemnon as best buddies. Then, we follow Odysseus through his many journeys, solving his famous adventures through HOGs and basic puzzle scenes. We see him becoming a chef for the cyclops, a friendly visitor for Helios, Poseidon and Circe; and finally, a returning hero who'd use a bee coven to get rid of the suitors of Penelope! Sorry for presenting spoilers on that part, but it really hit some nerve for me.
As you can see, the epic is HEAVILY watered down to be reimagined as child friendly - no violence, sexual encounter or political subtext - which I found to be greatly distasteful specifically for this tale. Any original tale, epic or story can be watered down to be kid friendly. I do not have any major problems with the idea, considering that Disney has been doing so for decades and pulling it off as marvelous work. Yet, the Odyssey is really a bad choice to be retold through a HOG for a new developer. It is an established tale that would create specific expectations - contrary to many other tales from Greek mythology - and picking such cumbersome work without much subtext or experience usually ends up as a disappointment. In my opinion, such was the case for this game. If this would be a completely new tale without the name of Odysseus, I'd probably be at least okay with it.
As a HOG, [i]Odysseus: Long Way Home[/i] isn't anything masterful either. It sure is buggy, works quite slowly and aside the beautiful artwork, animations act so clunky and unnatural that you'd be creeped out watching Odysseus move or Circe talk. There is no voice acting. Puzzles are ordinary - not hard, not easy. HOG scenes are a bit repetitive, using same 2 scenes per act over and over again. There is no map, because there is only 3-4 areas for each chapter and a lazily done audio song swirling in the background.
Over all, I'll pass and give a down vote for the butchered storyline, pretty yet slow display, run-of-the-mill gameplay and distorted animations. There are many great HOGs out there for your enjoyment, hailing from A+ developers or small firms telling original stories. [i]Odysseus: Long Way Home[/i] is not one of them.
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