Another Code: Two Memories (DS) Review

Well, the first Action game is here for the DS. Another Code: Two Memories is a very interesting game, I must say. With its very unique story line, youll be brought into the sad lives of the Robins. You play as the young lass of the family, Ashley, ...

Well, the first Action game is here for the DS. Another Code: Two Memories is a very interesting game, I must say. With its very unique story line, youll be brought into the sad lives of the Robins.

You play as the young lass of the family, Ashley, as she struggles to come to grips with the fact that her father, Richard Robins, is actually alive and well, and currently living on a deserted island that used to belong to a wealthy family. You travel to the Island with your Aunt (which I might add takes a tad longer than youd think due to the long text cut scenes), and this is where things start to get a little crazy. You meet up with a Ghost-boy, named D. Why is D here? What is his purpose? If hes here, then where are the other ghosts? Whats that mark on Ds chest? These are all the questions that sprung to mind upon discovering this little fellow. And this, hopefully, is what will happen to you upon playing this game.
Dont worry- although it seams Ive revealed a lot of the plot away, theres nothing here you wont read in the instruction manual.
In terms of the DS functionality being used, this game has it all. Youll be moving Ashley with the stylus (as mentioned further on), blowing out candles and blowing dust off dusty (geez, didnt see that coming) objects, even closing the DS physically to solve a puzzle (!), and so and so forth.
All these positives and no negatives I hear you say? Heres something for all of those of you out there who see the glass half-empty. What does disappoint is the lack of game. What I mean by this is that the game is very short. Its a shame really, as it is extremely good fun, while it lasts. Anyway, onto other matters

Visuals
The visual style in this game, are, for lack of a better word, superb. The bottoms screen shows a top-down perspective on where you are; while the top screen shows an area where you can investigate (Ill elaborate on investigating later on.) This is all presented using the DSs beautiful 3D capabilities. Certainly not pushing the system to its limit in terms of visuals, but in this department the game is certainly not lacking. It just goes to show that there is definitely the hardware under the hood to bring the visuals in a DS game to a whole new level. Its more of an achievement for visual style, rather than for raw graphical prowess.

Sound
Sound in Another Code is actually not that bad. Sure, theyre not masterpieces, but they do their job. Theyre rather haunting tunes that will aid you into getting into the whole Im walking around in an old mansion with a ghost trying to find my father that I previously thought was dead story. Definitely not what youre going to remember the game for, but certainly not going to let you down. Headphones highly recommended.

Gameplay
Now this, ladies and gentlemen, is where this game succeeds. The Gameplay here is absolutely brilliant. It is pretty linear, but it needed to be. If this game was open-ended, then youd never finish. Well, you might, but itd be like trying to get 100% in GTA: SA. Know anyone that has accomplished this great feat? Tell me.
As mentioned earlier, all of the DS unique capabilities are used here. A classic example of this being the following: Early on in the piece, you are given a machine that looks exactly like the very DS you will be playing the game in (called, very originally, the DAS) which can take photos, and let you flip, turn and generally manipulate photos, even put them on top of other photos to solve problems. This can actually be great fun, trying to work out how to put there photos together, as mediocre as it sounds.
Heres another example of a scenario: Once again at the start of the game, after you get off the boat to the island, you must get over a draw bridge to get to the other side. But, its just your luck that its currently up in the air. You need to get it down, and suddenly you see the wheel and axle. So you go up to it, using the investigate button. Youll then zoom in, and be able to turn the handle using the stylus. Its little things like this that leaves you with a good, I want to keep playing this game feeling, and luckily, this is repeated all through the game. Excellent

Final Verdict
Another Code: Two Memories, is a very good game. Not a game that will absolutely rock your world, but a game that has done something very good for the world. If we all start buying games like this, that really show off the true potential of the DS, then the Big Boys will start noticing something. That the paying public is prepared to dish out for games that go that extra bit. Lets show them all, together, that this is the direction we want DS games to go in. So cmon, do yourself a favour, and go out and purchase this game. Not only will you help pave the way for future games of this sort, but youll have a damn good game in your hot little hand. A short-lived experience, but boy, it was fun while it lasted.