You're searching for your fortune in the dusty plains with only a few dollars and a bedraggled horse to your name... things are looking grim, and you're out of options. At least, until a strange tornado sweeps down upon you changes your fortune... but for better or worse? That's the situation you find yourself in in the new creepy adventure game from Pastel Games, Aurora. This moody, perplexing tale isn't your ordinary Western, and this isn't your ordinary town. Who is Aurora, and why is everyone so afraid of her? You probably don't want to be around to find out, even though it seems as though she's very interested in meeting you...
Your ultimate goal is to find your way out of town before something happens... easier said than done since there doesn't appear to be any trains coming any time soon, and the locals are at once both scared themselves and more than a little odd. You'll play with the mouse, clicking on people or places to interact when the cursor changes to indicate a hotspot. The bottom of the screen displays your inventory, where you can mouse over objects to get information on them, or click on one to pick it up to use. If you need to take a break, the game autosaves for you, so you can just select "continue" from the main menu when you come back to pick up where you left off.
Play the whole Aurora series:
Analysis: This goes against all logic; westerns are not creepy. They involve women in sixteen pounds of skirt material being smooched by much older men, colourful town drunkards falling into watering troughs, and men mounting their horses in dramatic fashion from the second story of the saloon. And yet, here we have a fantastically moody adventure set in a wild west that feels a lot less welcoming than any town the Duke ever set foot in. Part of this is because the story feels so much like those unsettling urban legends you hear in every culture the world over; whispered snippets of strangers, curses, things that you know couldn't possibly be true but send a shiver up your spine if you think about them late at night when you should be asleep. I spent the majority of the game wandering around with a sense of dread, and that was due in large part to the spot-on choice of music and art.
It's sort of unfortunate, then, that there is one obstacle in the game that requires a solution that most people probably wouldn't come up with on their own... at least not given how most of us aren't 18th century cowboys with extensive knowledge on the many uses of gunpowder. This is due in part to the "adventure game logic" of only being able to use certain items in certain places, and it can be particularly frustrating in Aurora; you don't need all the items the stores sell, and indeed a good number of them are useless. Which, might I add, can really add to your frustration if you've fallen back on the old "click everywhere, on everything, with every item" school of plot advancement as a last resort.
The other issue is that the game just ends. You get an abrupt "to be continued"-sy sort of ending that answers none of the questions the game has raised. Aurora has a massive amount of potential, and if another installment can deliver on the groundwork laid by this one, then its creators will have something really great on their hands. While it lasts, Aurora is a wonderfully creepy little piece of work and is easily worth experiencing for everything it gets right. I want to know more about the mystery the fine craftsmen at Pastel Games have set up because it's a darn fine one. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to start following the next trail of clues.
Walkthrough Guide
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Aurora - Walkthrough
Train Station
Click the door.
Click the money under the bench.
Click the ticket window.
Click the book of matches to the right of the stove.
Click the ticket window. Go through the dialogue. Buy the ticket.
Click the schedule on the wall to the right. Click in again when zoomed in.
Back out of the train station. Click the area in the distance near the upper right corner.
Middle of Town
Click the flyer on the ground to the left.
Click to the right.
Right Side of Town
Girl, Hotel
Click the door farthest from you, the one to the left of the hotel.
Talk to the girl. After the dialogue is finished, click her again and give her the train ticket.
Leave this building.
Click the door to the hotel.
Click the door to the left.
Click the bell.
Completely leave the hotel.
Saloon
Click the door to the saloon.
Click the piano on the right.
Grab the money and the card from the piano.
Click the button on the piano, then go back a screen.
Talk to the bartender.
Leave the saloon.
Hotel
Go back to the hotel. Go into the room where you rang the bell.
Speak to the man at the desk.
Go back one screen. Click the upper flight of stairs.
Click the card and the money.
Click the doors. Use the key on the door on the right. Go through the door.
Click the bible. Click the gun insde.
Leave the hotel.
Go back to the middle of town. Click the left side of the screen.
Left Side of Town
Post Office
Click the key lying on the ground.
Click the door of the building farthest to the left.
Speak with the man twice.
Click the doorway to the right.
Grab the playing card.
Leave the post office.
Sheriff's Office
Click the door of the building the farthest to the right.
Grab the money on the desk.
Click the left side of the screen. Talk to the man.
Leave the sheriff's office
General Store
Enter the middle building. Speak with the man.
Buy the gunpowder and cotton thread. Exit the shop and the building
Combine the gunpowder with the flyer.
Combine the gunpowder wrapped in paper with the cotton thread.
Sheriff's Office
Go back to the sheriff's office. Go to the screen with the jailed man.
Click the lock. Use the bomb on it. Use the matches on the bomb.
Go into the open cell. Grab the playing card. Talk to the man.
Leave the sheriff's office.
The Clocks
The man mentions that you have to set all the clocks to 8 o'clock.
There are four clocks in total.
One in the post office
One in the general store
One in the saloon above the piano
One in the train station
A bell will chime when you have the clock set correctly.
Right Side of Town
Saloon
Head back to the saloon. Click the bartender. Give him the envelope full of money.
Go back one screen.
Click the table to your left.
Click the man twice to speak with him.
Use the four aces on the cards in your hand.
Go back a few screen until you're about to leave the saloon and see a man in the doorway.
Speak with the man.
Buy the key from him. Leave the saloon.
Hotel
Go to the hotel. Go upstairs.
Click the doors. Use the hotel room key on the door on the left.
Click the chest.
Use the chest key on the chest. Open the chest. Take the wheels.
Leave the hotel. Go back to the train station.
Train Station
Click the left side of the screen.
Click the doors of the shed.
Use the shed key on the lock. Enter the shed.
Use the wheels on the trolley.
Click the open doors at the end of the shed.
Secrets
You can do something with Piano Roll 2
Go to the player piano, click the piano roll to remove it. Put Piano Roll 2 in its place and hit the button to play it.
You should notice something new in the saloon.
There's a woman standing at the bar now. Talk to her and she'll give you a book with a little more info about Aurora.
Thanks to Brad for the walkthrough!
Posted by: Dora
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November 26, 2010 11:06 AM