A recent IGN preview takes a look at Bone: Out From Boneville, TellTale Game's adventure game adaptation of Jeff Smith's comic series of the same name. The first in a planned four episode arc, Bone will closely follow the events in the comic series. Along with giving specifics about the game, the preview gives insight into Telltale's design philosophy and reveals how closely Jeff Smith has worked with the project developers.

From the preview:

One thing that Telltale really wants to nail down is that they're very interested in making games that aren't about the "normal" gaming you see today. No guns, no bare breasted ladies, just a good sense of humor and style to go along with the telling of a story. As with projects of theirs in the past, the team that has credits on games like Sam & Max, Grim Fandango, and Full Throttle continue on with traditional point and click adventure. Though the story is linear and follows the books pretty closely, there's plenty to see and do. Conversations, for one, are fully interactive. Players are allowed to push their way through the experience how they wish with dialogue from the books and some extra tidbits written for the expanded conversations in the game. On top of that, players will have the chance to participate in roundtable conversations with more than one individual. It's easy enough to switch between the characters to talk to and select one of the questions to ask.

For example, the first level of the game finds the trio of bones out in the desert after they've been kicked out of town thanks to some shady business deals that made Phoney rich. After some point and click adventure to find a clue in the environment to help the story along, Fone gets into a conversation with Phoney and Smiley that allows him to direct questions between the two for different responses. Some will get you where you want to go in order to progress while others will reward you with a smart quip or two.

The voicework provided for these verbalizations is certainly good from what we had a chance to hear. The choice of talent used to voice the characters was Jeff Smith's, so everything uttered in the game will sound as close to what's in the creator's head as possible. There's certainly a very cartoony feel to each of the voices that keeps the good mood fun, even as the trio becomes lost and alone.

IGN: Bone Preview

Telltale Games

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