Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle

Category: Adventure

Developed by: Pendulo Studios

Published by: 93 Games

Distributed by: Ascaron Entertainment (UK)

Website: Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle

Release date: 19th January 2007

SRP: £29.99

PEGI: 12+

Platform: PC DVD-ROM

The Game

Runaway, a road adventure, (the prequel to Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle) was released in Europe in 2003, it injected adventure games with new life by becoming one the biggest hits of the year with over 600 000 PC units sold in Europe. What the Spanish development studio and game's creators, Pendulo, did that was so successful was to propose a distinctly adult adventure with a duo of charismatic heroes, a cast of highly colourful characters and a good dose of humour. The whole cocktail looked good, and sounded good, served up as it was with an original eye-catching graphic style with the perfect soundtrack.

Aware of the expectations a sequel to Brian & Gina's adventures would trigger a few years after the first release, Pendulo Studios has taken its time to develop and improve this new episode called The Dream of the Turtle. The team has worked hard with a very clear and precise objective: to make the game better than the original in every way and offer an even funnier and captivating gaming experience.

The Great Graphic Adventure

With Runaway 2, Pendulo Studios will once again serve up a highly polished, detailed world. Without detracting from the cartoon adventure graphics that lend the game such charm, Pendulo has also brought in a whole host of technical improvements with changes to the game engine and the use of special effects.

Characters benefit from real time depth and lighting effects; the settings are lively and also feature dynamic lighting, atmospheric effects, real time camera changes and hundreds of animations. All this creates a very unique effect bringing together both game sequences and cartoon phases of which there are more than an hour in total. Runaway 2 gives the impression of experiencing an incredible adventure via a classic cartoon movie. The player progresses and interacts with real living environments crammed with detail. There are superb cinematics to accompany the player's progression through the game that also underpin the plot, its surprise developments and many comic moments.

100 % Runaway

Humour is naturally on the agenda in this new episode and it is crammed with references to cinema, cartoon and video games. Runaway is a real comedy that goes all out crazy at times with great gags and far-out puzzles.

There are thirty or so new characters in the Runaway 2 cast list. Fans of the first episode will be over the moon to discover several cult characters like Joshua the mad professor or Sushi Douglas, the millionaire hacker.

The soundtrack of the first Runaway has stayed chugging round the heads of many players. Runaway 2 will also benefit from a quality original soundtrack. There are new songs from Vera, the ex-singer of Liquor, whose voice was so redolent of the Cranberries in the first Runaway. The main theme of Runaway 2, heard on the game's trailer at Christmas, is a good old booming RnB track sung by Rykc, a young Spanish singer with a promising future ahead of him.

Game features

A great adventure game with excellent production, marvellous scenarios, ever present humour and amazing puzzles.

Up to 100 locations from all four corners of the world, a feast for the eyes to be discovered.

More than 30 3D characters with an appealing cartoon appearance bringing together 2D and 3D in a totally new way.

New game engine with 3D real time special effects: light, atmospheric effects, footprints, camera changes, panoramic views, etc.

High quality 5.1 sound. An excellent soundtrack including songs and instrumentals. Superb brings a great atmosphere and character to the game.

More than an hour of amazing cartoon sequences to underpin the plot, its surprise developments and many comic moments.

"93 Games" is a subsidiary label of FHI France, and in just a few years has become one of the leading publishers and distributors of PC games in France. FHI is critically acclaimed and recognized for its savoir-faire and the numerous successes the company has achieved since its creation.

Focus Home Interactive is a French publishing and distribution company based near Paris, France. Founded in 1996, Focus earned an early success by publishing the music software range eJay. With over 400,000 copies sold in France thanks to strong promotion and a solid marketing campaign, Focus has made eJay one of the most popular brands for contemporary youth.

The last 5 years have been very successful for Focus and many of its PC licences such as Cossacks and Sudden Strike have been sold in thousands of units throughout France. Focus have also discovered and released many original titles that have become true references such as the adventure game Runaway, the notorious Cycling Manager and the famous TrackMania.

Known for the diversity, the quality and the originality of its catalogue, Focus now publishes and distributes most of its titles in numerous European territories and also Worldwide through a performing distributors' network or even digitally for some specific products. In French-speaking territories, Focus Home Interactive also distributes exclusively some famous editors' catalogues.

The coming months will be exciting and full of surprises with the release of quality games such as TrackMania United, Runaway 2, and Sherlock Holmes.

About Ascaron Entertainment

Ascaron Entertainment is one of the pioneers in the development of computer games. It is also one of the leading developers of computer games in Germany and has been prominent in the sales charts for more than a decade with titles such as Patrician, ANSTOSS, Port Royale, DarkStar One and SACRED.

Ascaron is headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany, and maintains a development studio in Aachen (Germany) and Berlin, as well as an international department in Birmingham (UK). The UK office provides a bespoke publishing, sales and marketing function to selected European affiliate label partners. Currently, Ascaron markets its products in more than 30 countries and over 15 languages.

For further information about Ascaron Entertainment visit: http://www.ascaron.com

For UK press enquiries please contact Ruth Fraser or Bec Sands:

ruth@chaloner-associates.co.uk, bec@chaloner-associates.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1954 270599