KONA

Review

Carl Fauberg, a renowned detective, is on his way to Atamipek Lake in the province of Quebec to meet his new employer, Mr. William Hamilton, a rich industrialist. The meeting is set at a small petrol station to discuss several acts of vandalism that his property has recently suffered. The road that leads to the meeting point is narrow and uneven. Suddenly a speeding car appears on the opposite side of the road and surprises both of the drivers.  With their incredible reflexes, they manage to avoid a head-on collision, but not the wall of rocks of each side on the road. After losing consciousness, he wakes up in his car, in the middle of a blizzard!    

Kona is an adventure / survival / first person game where you take control of the detective Carl Fauberg who finds himself investigating the murder of his new employer as well as mysterious events occurring during the blizzard.

What you need to make sure of is that Carl keeps warm somehow, keeps healthy and does not stress himself out too much (I would probably be petrified if it was me!).  Anyway, Carl has access to a map which will show all the known houses known in the area. He can use his car to drive there but he is very low on petrol. On foot he will come across camping spots with fire pits. If he has the right items on him (logs of wood, matches and fire starters) he will be able to create a fire which will bring his heat gauge back to the top. He can also light fires in chimneys (houses) and on some sort of barbecue.  If he neglects to do this, our investigator will be frozen to death! Carl will find items pretty much everywhere; he can store a lot of them in his inventory, and transfer more valuable items to the back of his car.  For example, the medikit, which he will need if he gets injured fighting a wolf! To help manage his stress, bottles of beer or a cigarettes will calm him down. But make sure he does not smoke too much has it will impact on his health straight away. To puzzle up his investigation he will take pictures with a Polaroid camera which will be added to his journal. On some occasions he will see visions, which will also help him in his search.

There are a fair few side objectives or treasures to find in this game, which is fun as long as he keeps warm! Weapons can also be found, but they are not in abundance by any means; neither is the ammunition. Carl might have some issues fighting wolves. The blizzard atmosphere is spectacular and on more than one occasion it is hard to distinguish what is in front of Carl - Just fabulous!

Good graphics and I enjoyed the Quebecois radio tune - makes me laugh every time! I even found an LP of Joe Dassin - nice touch, guys! Very good voice acting in KONA which adds so much to the experience. The controls are very responsive but I still prefer my mouse and keyboard to the gamepad for this title.