Indie Spotlight - Drawn: Dark Flight.

The first game is covered in beautifully detailed hand-drawn backdrops that bring the world of Drawn to life. When creating a point-and-click adventure, the designers must create a great setting that users will enjoy looking at for long periods of time. The designers of Drawn have done that elegantly by using soft, dark pastel colors throughout the entire game, which gives you a sense of mystery, and then when bright colors are introduced, through Iris's paintings, the colors take you deeper into the game. That said, the game lacks that random interactive element that I like in point-and-click adventures. There are so many things in the game that you want to click and see some animation happen, but nothing occurs, and instead you are pushed to follow the story rather than explore this amazing world.

In Drawn: Dark Flight you explore the town that you caught glimpses of in the first game, and your new task is to help Iris light mystical torches that will help her repel the evil king from her land. From what I’ve played so far, the game has more detail in the art style than the previous installment. With that detail come more interactive elements, which were lacking in the first game. The story now allows you to explore your settings instead of pushing directly to your next objective. The puzzles have become more elaborate and are delivered in a grand scale making them more fun to solve. The help system has been improved. In the first game you were given three hints to each puzzle, but you had to wait after each hint you asked for because a timer was activated between hints. In Drawn II, the three-hint system is still in place, but you now have no time limit between hints. Although the first parts of the game have delivered minimal story advancements, Drawn II is said to have six to eight hours of gameplay, so I expect more story elements and complex puzzles as I progress further.

If you haven’t checked out Drawn: The Painted Tower, go online and try out the demo at Big Fish Games. Plus, the full version of the game is on sale now for $6.99 down from $10. Drawn: Dark Flight will come out toward the end of September, so you still have time to catch up on the story. For more games like Drawn: Dark Flight, check out the Downloads blog on the GameSpot Downloads page.