Covert Front Episode 1
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Kicking off a brand new series of point-and-click adventures, Mateusz Skutnik, creator of the Submachine series, has just sent word of the immediate release of Covert Front Episode 1: All Quiet on the Covert Front. You play Kara, a spy in a world where World War I is triggered in 1901 instead of 1914, in which technology is more advanced and your target, physicist Karl von Toten, is on the verge of a revolutionary discovery. Your task is to break into von Toten's house and find clues to his secret.
Controls are the usual point-and-click fare, with inventory items stored in opaque bubbles at the top of the screen. Just like Mateusz's Submachine games, Covert Front is dripping with lush visuals and a deep atmosphere. It also contains a number of red herrings — items, scenes and other oddities that look like important clues but serve no real purpose other than to enliven the environment.
The key to progressing in Covert Front is to have a sharp eye for details. Don't just dash through the corridors looking for blatantly obvious clues; you'll miss the subtle nuances of the game. Instead, take your time, breathe in each scene and look in the shadows for odd shapes in the dark. Eventually your unanswered questions will begin to make sense.
It's rare for me to enjoy point-and-click games —they usually make me feel incredibly stupid (I have a contract out on Bart Bonte's head) and I almost always fly to the walkthrough if I keep playing at all. Covert Front, however, is logical both as a game and as an alternative-reality story.
The puzzles all make perfect sense, with the possible exception of the library and that one is rather easy. I was assisted by some hints around the web, but at the time of writing there was no complete walkthrough anywhere. The artwork is absolutely incredible, reminiscent of Mike Mignola's work on Hellboy (waits for shouts of "Blasphemy!"). Best of all, this is Episode 1, meaning that there's more to come.
Read the review of Covert Front Episode 2.
You can also play the game at the author's newly launched games site, Pastel Games.

Walkthrough Guide
Complete Walkthrough
Honestly, it wasn't that hard. Because if I can solve it, everyone else should be able to.
.....although I wouldn't be surprised if somehow I missed something.
Now, I've organized this thing by floor, sort of like an intuitive 'if I were playing this step-by-step' format, rather than the "go here and grab this, and then here, and then go to this room and put it all together" taking all of the exploration out. That also makes it awfully hard to just use a Walkthrough as a guide of hints if you're stuck on just one problem. So, hopefully this gives you just a little help right as you need it...and hopefully I didn't miss any secrets or anything.
Intro:
First Floor:
First Floor:
Congrats! You made it (with help)! All in All, a short game by comparison, I mean...no secrets, not a lot of excess stuff, puzzles pretty straightforward--unless I missed something. I'm sure we're just being lulled into a false sense of security, and the later chapters will be completely bewildering.
Posted by: *Jacob*
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July 18, 2007 4:25 AM