Infernus: Verse 2

There's always one, isn't there? In every secret underground lair or laboratory, the people responsible always leave at least one poor sod to stumble bewildered and blinking out of their cell long after everyone else has packed up and vamooshed.

While developer Motalen's first-person adventure Infernus: Verse 1 boasted some top-notch production values, it never got beyond that dazed and confused point - you woke up a prisoner not knowing how or why this had happened, you freed yourself, and the game ended.

Verse 2 does continue the story a fair bit, with the same excellent presentation, though it's still short on answers and just as frustratingly obtuse.

Motalen's graphics engine deserves a good deal of praise. Infernus: Verse 2 comes close to matching PlayStation 2 visuals in places, some quality texture work and detailed props enlivening the game world.

In addition, the audio is polished and surprisingly effective, even if the frights you experience exploring the deserted facility are predictable fare - whispering voices, lights going out, smash cuts, and the like.

Controls are a little cumbersome - in particular, rotating the view involves a lot of swiping at the screen - but they're responsive and workable enough.

Unfortunately, this remains a limited old skool adventure game for the most part, and one which seems rather too fond of its nonsensical plot.

Verse 1 was padded out with a lot of awkward pixel-hunting and working out what the developers wanted you to do with seemingly random objects.

Verse 2 is slightly less convoluted, and there are hints handed out for most of your inventory items, yet these only aid you to a certain degree.

Sure, no one wants to be shown the answer to every puzzle straight away, but at the same time banging your head against a brick wall isn't much fun for anyone.

Infernus: Verse 2 is definitely a game, as opposed to Verse 1's tech demo status, but it could still do more in future episodes to broaden its appeal.