Ah, the world of Storm Winds. Some of you are getting flashbacks just reading that title. Your head is swimming with fixed cannons firing endlessly as wave after wave of strange flying machines bare down on you. Right now you're just waiting for me to tell you how awesome the game is so you can get to some hot, steampunk-esque defense action. Well, it's time for the old good news/bad news thing. Bad news is that this isn't your normal Storm Winds game, it's a point-and-click adventure. The good news is that Storm Winds: The Mary Reed Chronicles is just as well made as the other entries in the Storm Winds series.
The Mary Reed Chronicles puts you in the shoes of Mary Reed as she tries to rescue Princess Ann from a Demon airship (for non-Storm Winds fans, that's not demon as in monsters, but Demons as in people from Demo). You'll use your mouse to interact with the environment. Along with the puzzles, you'll also be doing some point-and-click gun slinging. When the time comes just click on the enemy you want to take down and Mary Reed will take care of the rest.
The Mary Reed Chronicles isn't a very long game, but it is good, especially considering this is Hero Interactive's first foray into point-and-click adventure. The puzzles aren't extremely tough, but there will be times when you'll have to take some time to think about what to do next and there's not a lot of item combing. However, this keeps things moving and with the gun play it makes the game into something like a fast-paced action point-and-click adventure. You'll be doing quite a bit of shooting, which will appeal to those who are tired of the more cutesy kind of point-and-click. You'll be spilling a lot of blood on your way to find Princess Anne. There is some extra content in the way of an alternate ending that you can unlock by finding all the hidden letters.
The game looks pretty good and it has a distinct style. It seems brighter and cleaner compared to the style present in the Storm Winds defense games. While it might have been nice to have some of that grit here, it doesn't detract at all. On the sound front, the sound effects are good, but what's odd is that there's not much music while you're playing through the game. While this won't bother anyone who usually turns off music in a game, it would be nice to have a little bit of a score during some of the more exciting scenes in the game to compliment the action.
Storm Winds: The Mary Reed Chronicles is a quick, fun adventure game. It will especially appeal to those who have always wanted to get into the Storm Winds universe, but aren't very good with defense games or defense game junkies who don't usually like adventure games. Hardcore point-and-click fans won't find a lot of meat here, but it's still worth a play, particularly if you've been looking for a point-and-click with some blood in it. Whether you're a fan of Storm Winds or not, The Mary Reed Chronicles is worth playing.
Walkthrough Guide
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Storm Winds: The Mary Reed Chronicles Walkthrough
The Pond
Click the rock
Click the pond
Click the bush behind the remaining guard
Click the guard
Click the guard
Click the gyrocopter
Gyrocopter
Click the third lever from the left
Click the fourth lever from the left
Click the yellow lever
Open up the compartment on the left
Grab the red valve and put the valve on the empty space
Click the valve
Open up the compartment on the right
Grab the missing part and attach it to the device that came down after you spun the valve
Click the handles in this order: water, furnace, steam release, steam lock, engine, rotary
Airship Roof
Click the smokestack
Click the chain
Click the red valve on the left
Click the hose twice
Click the hatch
The hatch is still broken so the combination doesn't matter. You can punch in 405 in order to find a letter
Furnace Room
Click the railing on the far left
Open the middle locker
Click the glue
Open the locker on the left
Click the hook
Click the hatch on the left
Click the red lever
Grab the shovel
Use it on the square plate next to the hook
Click the open area
Click the area of the tube that has steam coming out
Grab the shovel, click the furnace grate and click the coal
Go back to the room with the lockers, click the hatch
Click the guard
Go back to the furnace, shovel more coal
Click the open area again
Go back to the room with the lockers and down the hatch
Click Rusty
Click the bar in Rusty's hand, give it to Windchill
The Shootout
Click the first and second soldiers from the left
Grab the gear on the ground in front of you
Put it in the machine in the upper right corner
Pull one of the levers in front of you
Grab the hose on the ground and use it on the closest guard
Very quickly click Rusty
End Game
Quickly shoot the two guards standing behind the captain
Hit the red button beside you
Go into the armory, grab the dynamite. Exit the armory
Grab the rope on the far left
Click the body of the soldier
Pull the lever
Shoot the captain
Alternate Ending
Is accessed during the End Game portion, after you shoot the two soldiers and go below decks
Click the crates in the background
Go into the armory, grab the dynamite, exit the armory
Click Stella
Click the device to the right of the rope nearest you.
Click the Captain
Letter Locations
One drops from the pocket of the guard Rusty takes care of on the first screen
Another can be found in the same compartment you find the valve in on the gyrocopter
Enter 405 as the combination to the hatch on the top of the Demon airship, the letter will be on the left side of the ladder going down
There's a letter in the furnace room. It's to the left of the pink paper, but above the green paper that overlaps the pink paper
After you free Princess Anne and General Windchill, hit one of the red levers beside you to close the prison door. The letter is on the wall to the right of Rusty
When you use the crane to move the crate of explosives there will be a letter left where the crate once was
In the room where you get the dynamite, there's a letter on top of the lockers on the right side.
Posted by: Brad | November 2, 2010 2:12 PM