Adventure

The PC game download site Gametap updates their library of titles every Thursday and today is no except. This week they are adding the adventure game Runaway: Dream Of The Turtle for their premimum users. Also, the Rebellion-developed action game Rogue Trooper will be free to play via Gametap for the next week.

However the official GameTap blog is reporting some bad news; they are now removing nearly all of the Myst based games from their library of titles. According to the blog the surprise removal of the games was "due to an external conflict between (developer) Cyan Worlds and (publisher) Ubisoft" The one exception is RealMYST, the fully 3D remake of the original game.

The DRM-free web site GoG.com isn't done with us yet this week. The classic PC game site has a couple of extra additions to their growing library to tell you about. One of them is Personal Nightmare, a classic horror-adventure game from developer Adventure Soft. It was released way back in 1989 making this title the oldest in GoG.com's library. You can download and play it now for $5.99.

GoG.com has also added Crystals of Arborea and Ishar III to its Ishar Compilation of RPG games. You can now get all four games in the series for just $5.99. If you already bought the collection when it just had two games, you can now get the two additional titles for free.

Telltale Games has sent over a minute video showing off gameplay from the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island, the upcoming downloadable adventure game series based on the classic LucasArts adventure game franchise. The first chapter in the series will be released on Tuesday, July 4

Download the Tales of Monkey Island gameplay trailer (146 MB) at Big Download

The Underside, Arthur "Podunkian" Lee's magnum opus, has finally released... its second demo. While The Underside has long been in development, the amount of polish and care going into the game is obvious even in the first demo. Now, to tease us some more, Arthur Lee has released the second teaser to his game, vastly expanding upon the previous area players could explore.

Those familiar with games such as Iji or Cave Story will be instantly at home in The Underside. You jump around, move between screens, and attack enemies through an exploratory, semi-non-linear adventure. While the first demo had maybe 5-10 minutes of gameplay, the second has drastically increased the amount, with the new elements seen in the gameplay trailer from last August all present. You can download the second demo from Arthur Lee's official website. You can find new levels as well as give developer feedback on the official forums.

[Via IndieGames]

Earlier this month, the DRM-free web site GoG.com announced they had gotten the exclusive rights to offer downloads of the great Tex Murphy adventure game titles from the now defunct Access Software. Today GoG.com has added the fourth game in the series to its site, The Pandora Directive.

First released in 1996, this game continued the trend of the series having full motion video that started with the previous Tex Murphy title Under an Killing Moon. It also boasts some Hollywood actors in the cast including Tanya Roberts, Barry Corbin and Kevin McCarthy. You can download the full game from GoG.com for just $9.99.

This is the playable demo for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, based on the upcoming movie. The full game is scheduled to release on June 30th for the PC and consoles while the movie is due to hit theaters on July 15th.

Download Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Demo (595 MB)
Check out all Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince downloads

This is the playable demo for Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships, an adventure game from HER Interactive.

"Your friend Bess Marvin is kidnapped and the only chance you have to save her is by solving a 300-year-old Bahamian mystery! Dangerous waters keep treasure hunters from exploring the reefs around Dread Isle, but this remote island might hide the riches of El Toro's lost fleet! Can you, as Nancy Drew, track down the treasure before time runs out?"

Download Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships Demo (240 MB)

This trailer introduces Monty Muzzle, a brand new character debuting in the latest episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - Muzzled! Muzzled is available now for purchase through the TellTale website so get to it... a badger's dinner is at stake! The Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures demo can be downloaded here.

"Monty Muzzle, a newcomer in town, is holding a grand fundraiser to rebuild the local dog shelter. Gromit soon realizes that Muzzle's intentions aren't exactly charitable and he must foil the huckster's plot to save the town's investment and rescue his canine friends."

Download HD Wallace & Gromit Episode 3: Muzzled! Trailer (44 MB)
Download Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures Demo (138 MB)
Check out all Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures downloads

This is the playable demo for the adventure game, Return to Mysterious Island 2, inspired by the Jules Verne novel "The Mysterious Island." In it, players can assume to roles of two different characters - Mena, the young navigator the Jules Verne competition and Jep, her monkey companion. The game can also be synchronized with iPhones so that players can solve puzzles in the game while on the go.

"Return to Mysterious Island 2 begins with the crash of the helicopter that came to rescue Mina. She survived but is once again trapped on the island. All of a sudden, under her very eyes, an unknown disease afflicts the plants first, then the animal life. Mina explores the island to locate the infection source. She searches Captain Nemo's base in vain, then the ruins of an unknown civilization, and finally understands that it is outside pollution that threatens the island. The only way to save this natural wonder is to turn the shield back on. But if Mina makes this decision, she gives up -as Captain Nemo did before her- the idea of returning to civilization..."

Download Return to Mysterious Island 2 Demo (562 MB)

Fans of LucasArts' adventure game classics thought that that era was over when the publisher decided to cancel planned sequels to Sam and Max and Full Throttle. But during E3 LucasArts made those same fans happy again with word of an upcoming downloadable HD remake of Secret of Monkey Island and a new episodic Tales of Monkey Island series developed by Telltale Games.

So what if these games turn out to sell well? The Australian based web site WAToday quotes LucasArts community manager Brooks Brown as saying. "If this sells, there's no one at this company who doesn't want to do these games. It's a matter of showing that there's interest and this market is alive and get people as excited as possible about Monkey Island Special Edition to show that these things can make it." So if you guys buy this remake and the new series, maybe we can get some Grim Fandango-Full Throttle-Day of the Tentacle action going.

Telltale Games continues to release new episodes in their Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures downloadable series and today they have sent out word that the third episode in the four part series featuring the world's goofiest inventor and his very smart dog is now available for purchase and download from their site.

This episode is titled Muzzled and has Wallace and Gromit trying to foil the plans of a con man (named, natch, Monty Muzzle) who is trying to get money under the guise of a fundraiser for the town dog shelter. You can purchase and download the episode for $8.95. You can also still buy the entire four episode "season" for $34.95.

Download the Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures demo at Big Download

Fans of the classic Tex Murphy adventure games from the now defunct Access Software have reason to be happy today. The folks at our favorite DRM-free game download site GoG.com have announced that they have gotten the rights to sell all of the games in this series on their site.

They already have the first three games available for download. The first two titles, Mean Streets and Martian Memorandum, can be bought in a collection for just $5.99. That comes with manuals for both games, avatars, and a Mean Streets info chart and map. The third game in the series, Under a Killing Moon (and the first to use full motion video) can be bought for $9.99 at GoG.com. It comes with the manual, avatars and the in-game soundtrack.

Of course if you want to check out what the creators of the Tex Murphy games are up to now you can download a demo of their newly released game, Three Cards to Midnight, right here at Big Download.

This is the playable demo for Three Cards to Midnight, an adventure game developed by Big Finish Games, which includes Chris Jones, lead designer on the classic Tex Murphy adventure games. The story follows a woman named Jess Silloway, who has subconscious memories awakened by a stranger with tarot cards, beginning an adventure into her past. The trailer can be seen after the jump.

Download Three Cards to Midnight Demo (81 MB)
Download HD Three Cards to Midnight Trailer (21 MB)
Check out all Three Cards to Midnight downloads

Also announced during E3 2009 but only noticed today, Legacy Interactive announced that they have plans to release a PC game based on House, the terrific medical drama on Fox. This means players will be able to play in the guise of perhaps the most sarcastic TV character ever created, Dr. Gregory House.

The game will have players deal with five medical mysteries in an adventure game format. In addition to House himself other characters from the show, including the sexy bi-sexual Dr. Thirteen, will appear. As with the Murder, She Wrote announcement there's no word on if Hugh Laurie or the other actors on the show will reprise their roles for the game.

Announced in the sea of game reveals at E3 2009 last week but missed by us until today, Legacy Interactive has announced plans to release a PC mystery adventure game based on the classic CBS TV series Murder, She Wrote. Yes, you can take on the role of the woman who keeps running into dead bodies, Jessica Fletcher.

The game itself will feature five mysteries with players discovering clues to murders via a light adventure-hidden object gameplay design. Other characters from the show including Dr. Seth Hazlitt and Sherriff Mort Metzger will also appear but there's no word on if Angela Lansbury or other cast members will voice their roles for the game versions.