When GamerNode attended a sit-down showing of upcoming games from SouthPeak Games, one of them was the Nintendo Wii version of point-and-click mystery game The Secret Files: Tanguska. SouthPeak’s PR manager, guided me through the opening section of the game.
The game opened with an elder gentleman slightly resembling Harrison Ford working in his museum when a mysterious cloaked figure seems to render him unconscious. I then assumed the role of the gentleman’s daughter, Nina Kalenkov, as she comes to visit her father only to discover him missing and his office ransacked.
The controls are simple: the 1 button highlights all clues in the area, the B button will examine clues, the A button allows you to pick up clues and put them into your inventory, and the nunchuck’s analog stick moves Nina around the environment. The inventory is easily accessed by pressing up on the Wiimote’s D-pad and will show in a left and right scrolling form on the bottom of the screen.
I navigated my way through the devastated office inspecting every clue. I examined a case filled with different coins, which we were informed would be a puzzle players would need to solve later on in the game’s story. I then used the phone in the office to call the police, where the operator informed Nina that since her father’s life was not definitively in danger, the disappearance wasn’t of their concern.
After leaving the office, music could be heard coming from the neighboring office belonging to Max Gruber, an associate of Nina’s father. After attempting the door, Nina informed me that the music was too loud for Gruber to hear the knocking. After attempting the nearby fuse box, I found that it was locked and a key would be needed in order to cut the power to Gruber’s office.
I then descended the stairs into the museum’s main exhibit, featuring a massive T-Rex display, and proceeded to investigate everything in the area. After finding nothing of help, I walked to the area next to the T-Rex display’s base. While inspecting the area, a hidden door was found in the display base, where one of the museum employees was found curled in a ball. He spoke of these horrible creatures that had come to the museum that sounded like several voices at once.
The employee then fled the museum, but not before leaving behind the key that was needed to open the fuse box. I ascended the stairs and cut the power to the box, which allowed me to get Gruber’s attention for the game’s first dialogue sequence. I went through the options in a row to get information on the situation, then left Gruber to return to scene of the crime.
Upon returning, a decretive was investigating the scene who had apparently heard the call Nina had placed and decided to check out the scene anyway. Following another dialogue sequence, I took Nina out of the museum to find Gruber waiting. Another dialogue sequence ensued, followed by one last section of investigating and gathering evidence.
The demo ended with a cutscene that shows Nina being followed home by a black car. Nina arrived at her father’s house and, after entering her father’s upstairs room, was punched out by a mysterious person behind her in the shadows.
The Secret Files: Tunguska will be released for the Nintendo Wii this June.
