The Mafia ruins Johnny's plans in this action adventure
The Evil Days of Luckless John is a game title that reveals nothing about the graphical adventure that lies behind it, but nevertheless is a name that demands further investigation. The game is billed as a classic 3D graphical adventure game , boasting a blend of different genres and offering plenty of twists and turns in a colourful comic book style and through its witty plot.
I should have known before I began playing this game that it would be a straight hit of miss sort of a title. After all the word classic is so freely used in the world of videogames that it doesn't really mean that much and certainly doesn't guarantee that a title will be of a certain high quality. In fact it more often than not suggests one of three things: it's a potential masterpiece in its particular genre and a game that we'll be talking about in years to come (very unlikely – games are labelled classic by the fans and not the PR team); it's a port of a title that became a classic many years ago and is worth playing for the purposes of nostalgia only; or it's a budget title that will probably only entertain for a brief period before its confined to the Room 101 for videogames. Sadly, The Evil Days of Luckless John falls into the final category, turning out to be a glitch-ridden, poorly designed and unfunny adventure that will more likely be remembered for its punchy title than its classic gameplay.
The Evil Days Of Luckless John follows the plight of penniless Johnny Mayor, who believes that all his dreams have come true after he becomes the sole heir to his dead Uncle's casino. Johnny finds himself heading off to Snake City dreaming of making his fortune and beginning his new lifestyle, but his plans are put on hold after the mafia decide they want to take over your casino and are willing to do anything to get control. Unfortunately, Johnny has nowhere to turn to after finding out that the local sheriff is also in the pockets of the Italian crime family and he ends up finding himself thrown in the slammer, where his mis-fortunate adventure begins.
The developers have attempted to keep the action fresh and make The Evil Days of Luckless John stand out from being just another forgettable adventure by fusing a number of genres together, allowing us to take part in adventuring and platforming elements, car chases, puzzle solving, shoot-outs and action scenarios. Unfortunately, what started of as a decent idea in the development studio many moons ago, hasn't really materialised into anything worthy of praiseand despite the fact that there are approximately 30 different and stylishly drawn locations in the game, including a prison, spooky cemetery and a rat-infested sewer, the quirky graphics aren't enough to distract you from the fact that the gameplay is at best dull and at times completely frustrating.