As Bermuda Triangle Escape begins, you find yourself behind the wheel of a white yacht. Your mission is to investigate a crashed airplane in the Bermuda Triangle and figure out why it crashed. You take a moment to gather your diving gear and review your captain's log, when suddenly and for no apparent reason your vessel goes nuts and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Before you floats a mysterious and gigantic sphere, probably of alien origin (and possibly inspired by the previously reviewed "Core" games).
Well, at least that's one less problem you have to solve, but it brings up another: how are you going to get back home to New Providence?
It's not hard to deduce that Bermuda Triangle Escape is the new point-and-click adventure from Mateusz Skutnik's studio. The smooth inventory system, the method of navigating forwards and back by clicking in appropriate locations, the environmental components that are fun to play with despite their lack of function, the puzzles rooted in logic and experimentation. These are all hallmarks of a Pastel Games production. What surprised me was that the game's story and art are by Barbara Jarosik, the lead designer and artist for the much daintier Escape Artist and Charger Escape.
There are a few problems with the game, including a somewhat abrupt ending. The quality of the puzzles fluctuates between hitting the sweet spot of difficulty and being either a little too obvious or a little too obscure. The second cube puzzle, case in point, requires some trial and error before any clues are to be found.
But pushing that aside, Bermuda Triangle Escape is an excellent game if I've ever seen one, with attractive artwork and a compelling story. It will easily eat up a good fifteen minutes of your time.
Walkthrough Guide
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Bermuda Triangle Escape Walkthrough
Click on the boat to start the game.
There are two inventories in this game, your regular inventory and your scuba inventory. Access the scuba inventory by clicking on the little swimmer symbol in the upper left corner of the screen.
On the dashboard is a mask and a knife. Take them both. They will go into your scuba inventory.
Open the left cupboard and take the book. Click on the book to open it and turn the pages until you reach the broken tile piece. Take the tile piece. Turn the page again and notice the strange shape. screenshot. Click outside the book to put it down.
Open the right cupboard. Take the wetsuit and the swimming vest. At this point the boat systems will go into catastrophic failure and the boat will sink.
Once the boat has sunk turn to the right and open the cupboard. Take all the objects in the cupboard. The fins will go into your scuba inventory and the octopus (breather) will go into your regular inventory. Pick up the octopus and attach it to the oxygen tank. screenshot. Pick up the assembly and it will now go into your scuba inventory. Click on your scuba inventory and it should say "ready to go".
Go out of the broken window. On the left you will see the wreckage of an airplane. Click on it.
Click on the stingrays scattered on the bottom until one of them reveals an object in the sand. Click on the object. You now have an unbroken tile. Examine the plane wreckage under the wing that is buried in the sand. There is a small ball there, click on it (crystal ball). screenshot. Go back.
Now go to the right. Examine the seaweed closely, there is an object in it, click on it (broken tile piece). Examine the rocks closely, there is a pattern of three symbols that you will need later. screenshot. Pick up one of the broken tile pieces in your inventory and place it on the other. You should now have two complete tile pieces. Go back.
Click on the sphere in the center of the screen, surrounded by circling sharks. Click on the sphere again. Click on the sphere a third time to get a close-up of the central circular window, surrounded by two square areas. Place the tiles in the squares on either side of the window. Click on the window to enter the sphere.
You are now in a room with wet suits hanging in alcoves in the wall. Take the ball on the floor on the lower left. In the three circles on the wall in the center reproduce the pattern you saw on the rock, from top to bottom: 4 diamonds, circle, large diamond. The door will open. Go through.
In this puzzle each cube needs to be turned until you have reproduced the strange symbol from the book on the boat. screenshot. Once this is done a blue matrix piece will come out of the floor. Take it. Go forward to the next puzzle.
In this puzzle each cube needs to be turned until three symbols are intersecting at a center point. In the upper left three cubes the squares need to intersect, in the upper right three cubes the circles need to intersect, and in the bottom three cubes the triangles need to intersect. When each section has properly intersected a glowing symbol will appear at the intersection. screenshot. Take the red matrix which appears from the floor and move forward to the next puzzle.
In this puzzle you are recreating a 3D "twisted" triangle pattern. screenshot. Take the green matrix which appears. The door will open. Before you move forward examine the walls. On the lower right there will be a ball embedded in the wall. screenshot. Take the ball. Move forward.
Take the ball on the floor on the right. Place the blue matrix in the top circle. Take the cube that appears. Place the red matrix in the middle circle. Take the cube that appears. Place the green matrix in the bottom circle. Take the cube. Go forward.
Take the ball on the floor on the left. Place the blue cube in the lower left cube space, place the red cube in the middle cube space, and place the green cube in the lower right cube space. Doors will open on the right and left.
Go through the right door. On the wall in the corridor between the purple stripes you will see rectangles on both sides of the wall. Click on the rectangles to open them until you find the ball. Take the ball. screenshot. Go back.
Go through the left door. On the wall are a large number of "bouncy" balls. You will also notice 6 small empty circles on the walls, floor, and ceiling. Pick up one of the balls in your inventory (you should have six) and click it in the circles until you find where it goes. When you find the right place it will attach itself to the wall/floor/ceiling. Repeat the process with the other five balls until all circles are filled. A symbol will appear (key code). Take it. Go back.
Go through the right door again. Continue down the corridor until you reach a room with six spheres that are floating in the water. On the floor next to each sphere is a symbol. Find the symbol that matches the one you just picked up in the rubber ball room and lay the symbol on the space in the floor (lower right). screenshot. The sphere next to that symbol will light up.
Click on the round window in the lighted sphere to enter. Once in the sphere click on the window to close. You are about to go on a little trip. Enjoy!
Posted by: grinnyp | August 1, 2009 12:03 PM