Tandem: A Tale of Shadows

Review

"The disappearance of Thomas Kane, the only son of the famous Kane illusionists, still hasn't been solved by Scotland Yard. Ten-year-old Emma, intrigued, is determined to investigate.

As Emma walks the streets of London towards the mansion, a carriage passes by at full speed and a teddy bear falls out the window unexpectedly. Fenton the Teddy bear jumps onto his feet and sets off in pursuit of the vehicle. Without thinking twice, Emma joins the race launching after him.

Okay, Fenton, we don't know each other much, but we're going to have to help each other find Thomas. Can I count on you?"

You play as Emma and along with Fenton the Teddy Bear you arrive at the Kane mansion; your investigation begins in The Gardens (Chapter One Upside Down). You switch between Emma and Fenton as you make your way through each chapter. However, Emma moves around in the light, where you are looking down on her movements, while Fenton moves in the shadows and his movements are in the way of a side scrolling view.

Between the both of them, you will have to use both the light and shadows as you look for a Crystal which can only be collected by Fenton. The collection of the Crystal will bring an end to the current chapter, allowing you to move onto the next chapter. There are five chapters: The Gardens, Boiler Room, The Kitchen, Clockwork and Greenhouse with a combined total of forty-four levels between them.

As Emma you have a lantern which you use to create shadows so that Fenton can move safely around on the shadows produced. Each area has its own theme and puzzles; you will have to figure out how each of the puzzles is to be completed. At first glance, this might not be visible to you, and you cannot move around the level to find the Crystal and plan your movements. You will also have to use the environment around you, which changes with each area you visit. For example, the Boiler Room will have you dealing with pipes, turning the pipes on and off so that a liquid can flow through, which will allow Fenton to walk on the liquid.

There are other objects in your way, and some of them will require you to stand on a button, which will then open a door or turn other objects on and off. There are spiders that are able to scan the space in front of them, and should you enter their field of vision they’ll rush after you, wrapping you up in a cocoon with their sticky web. They are hard to escape from once they get you in their sights but there are ways to get past them. You can also move some objects, such as Cubelings, which you can drag around by the tongue and place in certain places to help you.  They can also be used to eat through walls or carts that can only move on a rail, allowing you to create shadows.

Each Crystal you gain will become part of a Key, and once completed you will be able to enter the final level of the chapter. Completing the final level will allow you to use the key and move on to the next area.

You’ll have to keep your mince pies open for hidden secrets; there are eighteen hidden secrets scattered around the levels. Finding the secrets will also unlock Steam achievements and each of them can be found along with a picture in The Artworks, found on the main menu screen.

In the settings there are options for Video (Quality, Post Process, Textures, Visual Effects, Resolution, Screen and V-Sync), Controls (Key Binds for both Keyboard & Mouse and Gamepad), Language –(English, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portugues and Russian), Audio (Music and Effects Volume Sliders).

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows is a fun puzzle platformer game; I liked the little story which unlocks as you progress through each chapter investigating the disappearance of Thomas Kane. I did finish the game in about 8 hours or so, taking my time and getting stuck a few times on one or two of the levels. I liked the ending of the game; I didn’t expect that at all!

The puzzles aren’t very hard for the most part, but sometimes you needed to be perfect in your application of swapping between characters back and forth, moving them around in order to complete the puzzle.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows Steam Store Page