Irony Curtain sets forth the uprising of point-and-click adventures released on consoles. Since the genre is doing so well on platforms like steam and GOG, consoles get more and more ports as of lately. Some were successful others not so much. The translation of the point-and-click part of the genre to controllers is often what makes or breaks a game like this.
The big red one
In Irony Curtain you are playing Evan Kovolsky, a young American journalist. Evan has much love for Matryoshka, a fictive communist country with a Stalin look-a-like as a leader. In all his political ignorance and naivety, Evan tries to convince his fellow Americans of the “red” way of life. After giving a speech on live TV about the greatness of Matryoskha and its leader, Evan gets invited to go to Matryoshka. Unbeknownst to Evan, he gets tangled in a cold war spy intrigue between the capitalistic west and the communistic east.
Day of the Monkey Island
as a long time fan of point-and-click adventures, I tend to measure up any new game in the genre with the LucasArts classics ultimately defining the genre. I would fit Irony Curtain in with the likes of Day of the Tentacle and the Monkey Island games. Based on the typical anti-hero protagonist and the silly satirical humor alone. When you take a closer look at the puzzles presented, the resemblance becomes even clearer. Just when you think you’ve found the solution to a normally easy task, you’re again presented with another obstacle. This might feel like a drag to some players. I, on the other hand, loved the fact that Irony Curtain never goes for an easy solution.
On the menu
As mentioned, the translation to consoles is often a breakpoint. Irony Curtain was certainly playable but could benefit from a redo of the interface. Moving the joystick around controls a crosshair pointer like it would on a PC. This way of maneuvering a “mouse” does not work well on consoles. Luckily, developer Artifex Mundi made it possible to control the environment in different ways. The use of the directional buttons lets you control the selection you get each time you “click” on an object. When many objects were in close proximity it became hard to select the right object. Finicking around made me get to where I wanted to be. The game became much more tolerable when I discovered I could use the shoulder buttons to easily switch between objects.
Mini-games
While the puzzles are mostly about finding the right objects and combining them in a certain way, some require something extra. Some puzzles were masked as mini-games. For example, in order to deliver Evan’s speech at the beginning of the game, you have to order his scrambled notes. Luckily the notes where written on pages of a comic book. Putting the comic book’s pages in the right order automatically does the same for the notes. These fun intermezzo mini-games felt fresh and helped to keep going.
View Askew
The slightly faux perspective comic book art style used in Irony Curtain, fits the vibe perfectly. The constant humor present transfers to the scenery too. This gives a heavy subject like the Cold War, a light, fun and obviously very different distinction in comparison with the real deal. The soundtrack also intensifies that. The real star of the game might be the voice-actor behind Evan. The type of smug delivery from him, made me think about Guybrush Threepwood from the Monkey Island games.
Conclusion
Irony Curtain is a fun point-and-click adventure for fans of the classic LucasArts P’n’C games. The navigation on consoles might put you off but after some persistence, I assure you it is fully manageable. I would’ve loved to give this game a whopping 9 but instead, I encountered a game breaking bug which had me restart the game completely. I’m sure Artifex Mundi will patch things up quickly – They did the same with the Steam release a few weeks earlier. But for now, I’m giving this console version a 7.
