Xbox 360 - Backwards Compatibility & Dreamfall

With my recent purchase of an Xbox 360 I was eager to get hold of a copy of 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey' for Xbox (see my earlier post about Dreamfall, among other games).

'Dreamfall TLJ' for Xbox has always been very difficult to get in Australia, and although I've been watching out for it since it was released in April 2006, I've never seen it in the flesh. But today, as I was browsing through the shelves at my local branch of GAME and hoping to come across maybe a used copy, there it was, a NEW copy of 'Dreamfall TLJ' for Xbox! When I took it to the counter I found it was marked down from the $AU19.95 ticketed price to $AU9.95, and in Aussie currency that's one hell of a cheap new game, the equivalent of around $US8.95! ($AU19.95 was cheap anyway...)

The remaining question was whether my late '07 Xbox 360 had built-in backwards compatibility support for that game. I'd already downloaded the November '07 updater but was yet to install it, but in the event it wasn't needed as the game runs fine. So I have to amend my earlier comment about backwards compatibility support as it only needs to be updated for games that have been added to the supported games list, not for those already compatible!

Although I've not gone far yet, I can give my first impressions. I'm running this game through HDMI to a 66cm (26") 16:9 LCD widescreen, and it does show its Xbox background, with some pixellation and slightly less sophisticated, although quite detailed, terrain (in this case a temple, ice-cap, and city - the former two are a short intro section that leads to the main character, Zoë Castillo, in her city home). I've not gone far yet, but although the graphics are naturally limited by the original Xbox capabilities, and the character animations are a little stilted, the world is quite interesting and even at this early stage, the story quite detailed. Zoë can interact with other people and many items, and it's worth taking the time to do this so you can learn about the world Zoë, and the player, inhabit.

This is a 3rd person full 3D action-adventure game with a female lead, but not like 'Tomb Raider' - it has more in common with 'Beyond Good & Evil' (see my earlier post about that one as well), in that there's a lot more non-playable-character interaction in a busier, more everyday world, although in other ways it resembles neither.

'Dreamfall TLJ' has a good reputation with both players and critics, and happens to be a sequel to the original 'The Longest Journey', which was PC-only. Aspyr have recently released a PC-only 'Dreamfall TLJ Game of the Year Ed.' which contains both the original 'TLJ' and the 'Dreamfall TLJ' sequel. That game would be great value, but unless they port the original 'TLJ' to Xbox or both to other platforms, it will remain PC-only...