Like so many others, I wish there was a thumb-sideways recommendation. This game has a lot going for it, and it is certainly not a "bad" game....there were just too many niggling issues that added up to a generally poor impression for me.

Pros - Good graphics
- Good music
- Good dialogue (well, it's not exceptional, but it's not awful either)
- Smooth interface

Cons - Puzzles are occasionally obtuse and/or rely on outer-space logic. This is a common flaw in point-and-click adventures, and the game generally avoids the more bat-s**t solutions that plague games of this ilk, but when a game "lectures" the player on a fairly regular basis about how ridiculous you're being when you try to combine certain items or try certain solutions to problems and then turns around and has you escape from the bottom of a swimming pool by wrapping a fire-hose around a metal frame to use it as a trampoline (not kidding!) then there's a disconnect from in-game reality.

Other eggregious examples include being unable to retrieve a rubber boot from the bottom of a well with a hook and line, but successfully being able to shoot an arrow with a rope attached into said boot.....a rubber fishing boot that somehow contains a laptop inside it.....that you miss with the arrow.

Let's not neglect the bottom of the pool scene where there is a metal pipe stuck in a water outlet that you cannot reach in to grab yourself because the outlet is too narrow....but you can reach into this narrow hole with a set of birthing foreceps?!?!? Sorry, but words fail me......

Those are just examples, and while that sort of goofiness/lack of any sense of realism works in some games, it just didn't seem to work in this game. In fact, I found it really irritating. I have been led to believe that the other two entries in the series were even worse in this regard, which I find stupefying.....

-The dialogue, while generally well written (at the very least servicable!) isn't as sparkling and clever/funny as it thinks it is. I smiled and smirked a few times, but that was about it; I certainly never laughed or even chuckled out loud. And sometimes the characters were actively grating/annoying.

- The scene/chapter transistions can be quite jarring and disjointed, e.g. the chapter where you find yourself in a cabin investigating a supposed suicide, with no clue as to who the character is or how I got roped into the task. You just kinda start the scene with a whole bunch of assumptions in place. I suspect that those who played the previous games in the series won't find the introduction of new characters and events quite so jarring, but I don't know for sure.

- I don't have a problem with occasionally consulting a walkthrough/using the hint system when stumped, but I found myself having no clue as to what to do next, and basically alt-tabbing to a walkthrough four or five times a chapter. Some chapters are better than others, but generally speaking I found the objectives and things necessary to move the plot forward to be vague at best and opaque at worst. There are of course exceptions, times where you know just what to do and how you should probably proceed, but there were way too many times where I had gathered up a bunch of inventory items, solved the initial problem and then had NO idea of what I was supposed to do/where I was supposed to go next to move the plot forward.

- No tutorial as to how to navigate the game; it took me awhile to figure out that I could (with one more click of the mouse) physically interact with objects rather than just look at them. Is it a common approach in point-and-click games? Yes, it sure is. Should there have been an initial tutorial explaining it for people who haven't necessarily played a lot of these games? Yup, there sure should have been.

- The ending (not the climax, the actual last three or four minutes of the game.....although the climax was pretty weak too) is painfully lackluster, and is so damned cheesy (like a slice of cheddar with provolone on top, sprinkled with shredded mozza and powdered parmesan) that it left a completely bad taste in my mouth, which when dealing with a game I was a little iffy on to begin with, pretty much ensured that I wasn't leaving a positive review. The ending of a game should be memorable and leave the player on a high note, or at least have an impact.....this was weak like soggy toilet paper.

So, tldr, the game isn't awful or anything, but I increasingly found myself enjoying the experience less and less and less and just trying to finish the darned thing (and I have played my fair share of point and click adventures). There were just too many little annoyances and contrivances and smarmy dialogue (not to mention that awfully banal, insipid, CHEESY ending) to make it a "fun" game.

I Must have missed something along the way, because when this game came along I was all psyched for the continuation of the series. A point and click adventure puzzle game series with a nice complex plot that felt like someone's imagination had runaway with them (with a nice sci/fi twist that kept you guessing.) Then came this game.

Essentially, this game says: Nope! Sorry. We made up the other two. They were interpretive fantasies of the main character. Nothing actually happened the way you spent hours figuring out and playing through. It was a terrible let down. Some of the puzzles were a bit obscure in the others, however they (their stories) were entertaining enough to keep my interest and make me into a hopeful for this game. With the onset of A Twist of Fate, I've personally decided not to buy another game from Pendulo Studios.

The voice cast is completely different for starters, as it sort of grinds at your ears after getting to know the other characters in the other two games in the series. Not enough to be game breaking, but enough that you notice.. repeatedly. I'm not saying they're not a good cast, they did do a good job, but you can't get by without noticing within the first 5-10 mins. The artwork is nicely done, and very enjoyable. The color tones of the various areas help set the mood of each chapter splendidly.

All in all, taken as an individual game it is enjoyable. The puzzles are difficult without being impossible and usually very intuitive. (I did run into a few places where descriptions or items were referenced without having previously been seen, something that I did not run into in the other games in the series.) In particular, A Twist of Fate seems somewhat easier than the other two Runaway games - something I wouldn't mention if it wasn't very noticable. Sadly, it seemed almost dumbed down and changed around for the masses, appealing to a wider audience by compromising story plot and introducing a larger number of cutscenes.

I'm certain someone out there will point out some major flaws in my review for whatever reason, but in summation: I don't like or recommend the game. The game by itself is nice, well thought out, and the plot is interesting- bringing an entertaining conclusion to the series... (that being said, -again in summation- in relation to the rest of the series, the game sucks.)

Played Runaway 1 and 2 waaaay back in the days, so bought the trilogy to complete the experience.

Pros:
1. Better graphic and animation.
2. A conclusion to a game (However bad it was).
3. The plot made more sense, if compare to past installments. important if you have established that Bosco's adventure happened in our universe. I have established that his adventure happened in parallel universe so I don't mind the wackiness of 2nd installment. but those who hate 2nd installment, rejoice! This installment is meant for you.

Cons:
1. Seriously? they change the voice actors again?
2. The confusing beginning made me search the web couple of times, thinking that I might have missed some DLC or something. I get it that the game is trying to tell the story in a non linear way, but the way they unfold the plot is really bad.
3. Everything that I have done and achieved in Runaway 2, POOF! gone. The developer axed most of the story in Runaway 2 due to an outcry of fans, which i totally understand. but the explanation that they gave in Runaway 3 is just... lazy. And bad. God It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
4. So many memorable characters didn't reoccur, and the developer made no effort to conclude their relationship with Bosco.

In conclusion, you should still buy this if you want to complete your experience. but this game, on its own, is bad.

Seems like a nice game, but it just doesn't run for me. I can't tab out (it instantly crashes) and I can't play for too long because that, too, leads to crashes. Combined with the fact of missing (or very far spread, I never reached any before crashing) auto-saves, I'm just not willing to play the first 30 minutes of the game for a third time.

Acts like you have a choice to change things but there is only one real way to choose if you want to progress..

I may play through it for fun but its nothing like the trailer made it out to be..

This game's not bad. It did give me a few laughs, and it wasn't a complete waste of time... but it was just missing the magic spark that games like The Secret of Monkey Island have. At times it felt very cookie-cutter. It's also quite buggy, and the bugs should have been hammered out years ago. In one case I lost a fair bit of progress and had to replay that part of the game.

This game is the third Runaway game, which I wasn't aware of when I bought it. Sometimes it makes no difference if you start a series at the beginning or not, but I definitely got the feeling more than once that I was missing something by starting in the middle. But I don't feel any strong urge to play the other two Runaway games.

If you've already played all the classic point-and-click adventure games, then you might as well give this one a go, but otherwise you've probably got better choices, like the Monkey Island games, or Deponia, or (if you're an adult) Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail.

Great game if you can finish it, but it keeps crashing at the same point in chapter 4 where the dialogue keeps repeating itself over and over and i have to either start from the beginning or my last save point at the start of chapter 2 even though when i choose my profile at the start it says chapter 4 next to my name, yet it won't let me load to that point.

A fix to this error would make this game something that i could recommend.

Silly combinations, a lack of humor or interesting story, this is one of the weaker "click everywhere" games I've played.

I'll try most all "puzzle" games in the quest to find something akin to Myst. This is just awful to the point where I quit. Did not find any puzzles. No logic at all in the things you had to do.

Another bad, combine everything and exhaust all conversations game. Being told 'naa' to what is actually a fine idea grates very quickly. Having previously played Deponia, at least combining things and actions resulted in some tongue in cheek feedback and a reason why that won't work.

Why can nobody make any interesting puzzles anymore?

another poor entry