Posted in: Games, Review, Video Games | Tagged: Alliance Digital Media, Cosmo D, game review, indie dev, indiedev, The Norwood Suite

I've Had Better Adventures In Garry's Mod: We Review The Norwood Suite

Published Sat, 16 Dec 2017 12:45:14 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

Last updated Sat, 16 Dec 2017 19:30:56 -0600

Comments

The Norwood Suite is the spiritual successor to Cosmo D's first title, Off Peak. The game puts you in the first-person position of a visitor to a mountain hotel filled with secrets that are up to you to uncover. The game feels like a hybrid of Myst and every fan-made Garry's Mod adventure you've ever played, forced together into one giant mystery game. The big thing you'll notice and have to deal with for most of the game is that people don't really move around much and speak in 3D-text that appears around them with robotic voices. While it works for the game itself, it becomes off-putting and annoying in key situations.

I've Had Better Adventures In Garry's Mod: We Review The Norwood Suite — credit//Alliance Digital Media

You'll make your way through the hotel and the outer areas, talking to people and solving puzzles to unlock as much as you can and figure out what the hell is actually going on here. And I say "what the hell" with extra gusto because The Norwood Suite is about as non-linear and occasionally pointless as you can get. I would often find myself rummaging around or making my way across the grounds for long periods of time, trying to divulge what hidden meanings there were behind some of the conversations. Only to discover what was there was just for show and meant absolutely nothing and wasted my time. Meanwhile, there are a few quests for items that end up being super short because the item you need is within a few feet of what it needs to go to.

At a certain point in time, The Norwood Suite stops being a game and is more of a weird story for you to follow. I recommend it for people who enjoy the truly weird, but by much as this is the kind of game that will eventually drive you insane if you let it. To a degree, this isn't even really a game. If you were asked to find a piece of the Triforce in a Zelda game, and that piece was in the cave next door, did you really find it or were you simply led to it for some other purpose? That's the kind of question you'll be asking yourself a lot in this one.

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