Why can't they make adventure games that take place in happy, cheerful, well-adjusted locales? Because they wouldn't be any fun, that's why. And so you have Disaster Report, an adventure that takes place on an artificial island devastated by an earthquake and falling apart at the seams. You, newspaper reporter Keith Helm, are caught in all this, dodging unstable buildings and trying to find a way out before the island finds a way to kill you. The best way to describe Disaster Report is "Silent Hill without the monsters." The city streets are (as you'd expect) completely deserted and straight out of your favorite disaster flick. The effect when everything stands still is perfect, and you'll find yourself going into first-person view just to ogle all the carnage. The animation isn't as hot—characters walk clumsily, and buildings simply thump to the ground instead of crumbling into pieces or ripping themselves apart—but the incredibly disorienting camera is a far graver concern. You'll die many, many times simply because the camera panned in some crazy direction and made you walk into a flaming gas tanker. And yet, despite all these graphic and control issues, the premise (and the silly but engaging story) comes through and makes Disaster Report worth fully exploring to its multiple endings. In a way, this is a good example of what a small company can produce if it tries really, really hard. Just don't expect it to be this easy in real life.
