Mice On Venus – A Singular Vision

It’s always day time here, especially during the night. The artificial sun rays saturate my room from the surrounding buildings, displaying all the shades of red, blue and green.

Laying here, I stare at the waltz dance of the swaying dust particles illuminated by the hues; it’s not long until my meditation is broken. A repetitious blinking light protrudes from the corner of my room, begging for my attention like a child to their mother. I quickly stand and move to mother the console, for I have heard the child’s cry, the cry of a job… The only cry I receive.

A cry for a missing package. Let’s hope the destination remains the same. To the bar, I go and speak with the client, see if I get any leads from him.

It’s a methodical job; tracking the civilians of this grand city. The mundane lives brought by the industry – wake up, work, home, pub, mistress; the same day in, day out. Not I, I would rather be dead… hell, I actively search it at times.

Stepping into the sunstroke streets, I inhale the dense fog into my lungs, the damp air solidifying on my lungs. The city glows from the neon lights humming in the fog and reflecting from the rain-soaked pavement. An outsider would say it looks beautiful, like a painting of Valhalla.

Yes, video game Mice on Venus is being developed by Callum Hancock. An ambitious project, it’s shaping up to be something interesting.

It’s a detective simulation game about investigating cases with ambiguous morality.

Mankind has left Earth, setting up colonies floating in the upper atmosphere of the planet Venus. You play as a PI, and you need to solve cases assigned to you by the world’s citizens. It’s up to you how to go about solving each of the cases.

Each case plays out as a routine, where the world’s citizens follow their own simulated schedules throughout each day. The player must navigate these routines to intercept targets, follow leads and gain information.

I can’t wait to hear more about Mice on Venus.

Broken Sword 5 Is Hitting The Switch

Paris in the fall, the last months of the year and the end of… Oh sorry, didn’t know you were listening to me then.

Broken Sword is a masterpiece of a franchise with ‘Shadows of the Templars’ sitting as my second favourite game of all time and if I ever have a son, I would name him after George Stobbart.

So, when they originally announced Broken Sword 5 a few years back I was over the moon and when I played it, it was glorious. Enough fan service to make me squeal and enough originality to keep me interested. Originally released as a two-parter on mobile devices and PC, later seeing console ports, we now see it come to Nintendo Switch.

This time George and Nico get mixed up in a shooting at a gallery and in a typical Broken Sword fashion, this ends with a historical conspiracy leaving George and Nico to save the world whilst everyone else is just enjoying tea or Countdown.

You will visit various locations with puzzles just for you to wrap your head around – plus witty dialogue that makes Nathan Drake look like a crappy sitcom. On the way, you’ll meet so familiar faces as well as some new ones, one of which is the best character in the Broken Sword series.

The Switch port will be released on September 21st with a new interface-like touch screen, interviews and behind the scenes clips. This is a must-have for any fan of the franchise or adventure game fans. Let’s hope we see more from Revolution in the future.