Chaos on Deponia
Review
If it ain't broke...
by Matt Porter
reviewed on PC
Home Sick
If you lived on a world that was mostly filled with junk, you would be forgiven for wanting to get off the planet as soon as possible. That is exactly what Rufus wants to do. He is from Deponia, but dreams of making the beautiful Goal fall in love with him and take him away to her home high above the clouds in Elysium. However, despite his hatred of the place, it seems that he is the only person equipped to save the world from destruction. Instead of fleeing, our brave, if a bit misguided hero does everything he can to prevent Deponia from being blown up. Chaos on Deponia is Daedalic Entertainment’s sequel to Deponia, and is available now on PC.
If you played the original game then the plot I described might sound fairly familiar. Rufus may have thwarted the evil Organon’s plans for a short time, but the threat is still there. This latest game continues the story. The plot to destroy Deponia seemed at first to be a simple misunderstanding, but as the story progresses you find out that something slightly more sinister is at work behind the scenes. That is not to say that this is a darker point and click adventure game than the first one. All of the self aware, fourth-wall breaking humour is still there as Rufus bumbles around the world, fixing problems often with a degree more luck than skill.
...Don't Fix It
Not much has changed at all really. This could be viewed as a failing as there is not much in the way of original gameplay here. Equally though, there was not a great deal wrong with the first game, so why should anything be changed? Pretty much the only gameplay change is the introduction of a map system which allows you to fast travel between areas. This partly solves the problem of having to trudge backwards and forwards while solving puzzles, but it still seems like sometimes you are led around needlessly just to add a bit of length to the game.
As with most point and click adventures that continue a series, the main changes come in the form of new characters to entertain you. Chaos on Deponia does not disappoint in that regard as you will meet a great deal of new quirky inhabitants of Deponia. You will come across the robot dog that finds humour a little too overwhelming, the poet who is so anti-society he has no need of possessions, and the restaurant owner who seems to have a strangely strong connection to dark Gods. These and many more join the favourites from the first game like wily old sea captain Bozo, and of course the love interest Goal whose mind is split into three differing personalities stored on cartridges implanted into her head.
Familiar Ground
Even the tutorial is exactly the same as in the first game. Of course, Rufus comments on this and only grudgingly completes the simple tasks given to him like picking up objects and talking to people. From there though, the game provides a short introductory cutscene describing what happened in the first game, then opens up into one of the new locations, the Floating Black Market. It is nice to have a new place to explore, but there are only five fairly small sections to the Floating Black Market and you will spend several hours there before you leave the place, so you do begin to wish for something fresh.
8.0
fun score
Pros
Multiple laugh out loud moments. Interesting puzzles and amusing new characters.
Cons
Feels like there has been too much dialogue crammed in. Not much has changed since the first game.
