Doctor Who: TARDIS

Now this game I enjoyed!

Like some of my favourite Doctor Who stories, this one has a tiny cast, and is set almost entirely inside the TARDIS. I could detail the plot further, but really what's the point? You already know that it's probably going to involve some disaster in-flight, having to operate the control console, and investigating a bit more of the ship. When the music runs out, we even get to hear the TARDIS sound effects clean, a sense of realism which the TV show just about never achieves these days.

There's also tons of continuity with earlier stories - both from TV and this online series of computer games - and even a multi-choice trivia quiz. That last minigame broke the fourth wall for me though - the Doctor really shouldn't be setting Amy questions about his past, nor using story-titles in them, and she really shouldn't know the answers. Granted, some of the artifacts in the drawing room do offer information windows with the answers, but again, Amy wouldn't see these. Much better here would have been questions purely about Amy's travels with the Doctor.

Not that that's the only instance of the fourth wall getting broken in this one. Once separated, of course the two of them have to start talking out loud to themselves, in the Doctor's case even addressing us directly at one point.


Oh, well, this one does that all the while in spin-offs.

Some of the minigames from earlier instalments are becoming familiar now, but I really have to hand it to the scope of this story's missions:

NEW OBJECTIVE! Build a tachyon feedback loop.
NEW OBJECTIVE! Explore the TARDIS before moving on.
NEW OBJECTIVE! Find out what is happening.

James Moran delivers a good witty script this time, one which had me laughing out loud in places, and making my time on this worth investing. The Doctor appears to skid through the doors of the drawing room in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of Kramer.

And speaking of said room, just who is that woman he prominently displays a portrait of in there?


All this and a cliffhanger into the next one.

Now I feel like I'm watching the TV show! :)