Review by Ian Abbott

Mining structures and concepts from his 1987 Commodore 64 adventure title Maniac Mansion Ron Gilbert, with the help of Double Fine, has created seven characters that traverse, plunge and try to escape the morbid depths of The Cave in order to bury some of their own dark and personal secrets. Selecting three of the seven characters, my quest was to navigate through the cavernous 2D tunnel network whilst solving puzzles that were specific to each character’s unique abilities, all the while listening to the witty banter of the titular narrator, The Cave.

Of the three characters I chose (a pair of orphaned twins, a wicker hat wearing hillbilly and a monk who was the spitting image of Dhalsim from Street Fighter II), the only one I developed any connection with was the monk. To fulfil his spiritual tasks, which felt like they had been genuinely and accurately considered, I actually had to pause, think and reflect on how I was going to solve his puzzles. Donning my monk thinking habit (my surname is Abbott after all) I realised at times I had to alter the speed of my movement; choosing between the purity of stillness and the temptation of motion in order to progress. These were satisfying encounters with a character that had had some thought and care put into his creation, unlike the other pair of nondescripts who were trailing behind. The other two could have been mere stick figures with a special ability of yawning such was their relationship to their parts of the cave, character development and physical authenticity. The hillbilly whose special ability allows him to be a sub-aqua diver with a goldfish bowl on his head must collect fairground tokens to offer his true love a prize whilst the twins are planning a poisonous supper. Their puzzles are all of the generic find-the-right-object-to-use kind.

A crucial format feature of any adventure game is the puzzle – a taxing little blighter that makes you scratch your head and furrow your brow that when eventually solved makes you feel like crying out with joy as the pay-off for that momentary intellectual blockage is hugely satisfying. In The Cave, instead of difficult puzzles, I was presented with a series of odious time wasting activities that brought no challenge and not even the mildest threat or peril. I felt like a dog, retrieving a bone in a beautifully presented game of fetch. Constantly treading and retreading the same paths and stairways within a relatively small area began to build a sense of frustration. Of the four and half hours I spent completing the game, I estimate two hours of it was spent frittering away in the endless corridors. One of my cardinal gaming revulsions is when a game wastes my time. Even though it was a relatively short gaming experience, it has left me with that bad taste in my mouth and on my fingers.The Cave has immense visual beauty in its art style (courtesy of Double Fine) and I genuinely enjoyed the attention to detail of the environments and props. I loved the fact that between my three characters I could carry a series of absolute folly props like a postcard or a bratwurst or a broken can of corn throughout the whole game. Locating each of the characters cave paintings which over the course of the game revealed (through eight anime screenshots) the chronology of instrumental events which made them into the malevolent characters they are was also entertaining.

The Cave, as an audio narrator, delivered a number of sharp interjections within each level - but I wanted to hear more commentary and further droll musings to add extra texture to the game as the infrequency of those funny moments were not enough to sustain my interest in that character either.

Although structurally there are another four characters I could take through the game and explore new areas with, after a disappointing ending, my first completion leaves me cold and not wanting to replay. For me two major failings were poor character development and the fact I had little else to do other than keep traversing over well-trodden ground with a single, un-transformable object to keep my company in between puzzles. The Cave is an adventure game that’s been 25 years in the making but sadly reveals no true spirit of adventure.

The Cave is available to download now via PSN, Xbox Live, Wii U eShop, Steam