STORY
Dr Abraham Lutz is an eccentric scientist who is obsessed with dinosaurs. His dream is to travel back in time to the Cretaceous Period, and witness for himself how and why the dinosaurs REALLY died out. Not to mention, he will get one up on his rival Dr Gunnarson. But how does one travel back in time? The good doctor has spent the last few years locked in his basement, working on his greatest invention to date - the Time Machine. It is almost complete, but it just needs a few finishing touches...
Of course, nothing is ever that easy, and Dr Lutz experiences a few problems along the way. Even after he manages to finish the Time Machine, things are not exactly plain sailing, and he must overcome many obstacles. So will he ever witness the demise of the mighty dinosaurs? There's only one way to find out. Although I enjoyed this game immensely, I felt that the ending was a bit... unexpected. I won't tell you what happened, but the ending just felt very sudden after such an enjoyable game.
GAMEPLAY
This is a hilarious game, and you will have plenty of laughs along the way. The whole game is mouse-controlled, and is very easy to play. Right-click to cycle through the various actions - Look, Take, Walk, Talk, etc - and then left-click to use that action. If you want to look at the door, simply right-click until you see 'Look', and then click on the door to get a description of it. You can Save or Load your game at any time by clicking on the appropriate buttons displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Your inventory is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and you can scroll through it by clicking on the Up and Down arrows.
GRAPHICS
Dr Lutz And The Time Travel Machine looks very similar to the old Lucas Arts adventure games, such as Day Of The Tentacle. Everything is very bright and colourful, and it makes the game fun to play. Backgrounds have a zany 'crooked' look to them which adds a lot of appeal. Nearly everything you look at will reward you with a witty comment. I especially love the giant candlesticks which are used as wall-lights in the past. There are even things happening through the windows, such as a boy on a bike, or a kite flying.
MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS
The music for this game is very appealing. It is quite suspenseful, and carries on throughout the game. I enjoyed all the different sound effects; Things like the sound of the fridge opening, Dr Lutz's footsteps, water pouring into the jug were all interesting to hear. I loved the 'swiping' noise as you pick things up, as well as all the beeps and buzzes from the Replicator at the end.
SUMMARY
If you like the old Lucas Arts games, then you will love Dr Lutz And The Time Travel Machine. The story is well written, and the dialogue will make you laugh. Sometimes I wondered if he would ever get to see the dinosaurs. The game is controlled entirely by the mouse, which makes things nice and simple. The graphics are very cartoony, and add a lot of fun to the game. The music and sound effects are spot on, and some of them are quite funny to hear. I was slightly disappointed with the ending though. It felt a bit rushed, as though the author had run out of ideas. But don't let that put you off, this is an excellent game that I highly recommend.
Note: If the game is in Italian after download, it can be switched to English. To do this, open the game folder, double-click on WinSetup, and set the language to 'Game Default'.
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