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Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock Review
It is one of the biggest and most popular series in British television history. Dr. Who has been running on screens for nearly 50 years (albeit with a sizable sabbatical in the middle) and has a very large and very loyal following. It is no huge surprise then to see that everyone’s favourite Time Lord (granted possibly not everyone’s favourite incarnation of said Time Lord) head to a more interactive medium, gaming.
The game begins with the standard epic beginning tune that Dr. Who fans know and love from the television series, and throughout the game, music creates a mood befitting of both the situation and the title.
Sound is actually one of the few places that The Eternity Clock actually excels. Using the backing of the BBC license to full effect, the game comes stuffed with voice acting from the actors from the real life series - Daleks are their normal exterminatory selves, whilst Dr. Who’s lines are done surprisingly well.
The storyline starts with The Doctor hurtling through space and time, having lost control of the Tardis. Controlling The Doctor and River Song, you traverse through levels based over several time periods (Dr. Who staple) attempting to for the most part avoid some of the nastier enemies that may be familiar to fans of the series.
The Eternity Clock goes back to a simple 2D platformer style of gameplay. You will jump, crawl and climb your way through the levels, solving the puzzles that appear in your way.
As the Doctor, you will encounter doors that you will need to unlock with your sonic screwdriver, by combining pitch and direction of waves to match that of the lock. On a few occasions there are puzzles on how to best utilise boxes in a standard adventure fayre. Most other puzzles are presented as minigames, such as mind-maps (a personal anti-favourite of mine), re-routers and data links. They’re quite simplistic, but can be quite frustrating.
Graphically, The Eternity Clock isn’t up to much, even in the simple style of 2D. The characters and scenery in the foreground lack the fine polish and definition that is expected of this generation, looking more like something that would be expected on the PS2. Animations also appear dated. For example, grabbing edges looks dreadful, with the character locking into position well before they reach the edge, or hitting the wall above the corner, and falling into place. It grinded for me, getting slightly more annoying as the game went on.
One of the main issues that has irritated me during my time with The Eternity Clock has been the awful AI. Within some sections where both The Doctor and River are required to work together, it must be said that often River has other ideas. Using an example from my own playthrough, in one of the later levels, you must push a box in tandem with River to be able to reach a ledge. At this point, River ran past the box and off the left side of the screen, only to appear off the right hand side of the screen, jump over the box and continue in a loop that only stopped after I chased her to stop her respawning. An extreme example, perhaps, but not at all uncommon.
I really wanted the Dr. Who game to be good, I honestly did. But it’s not. I wanted to be able to recommend this game to Dr. Who fans across the spectrum. But I can’t. I wanted the supposed beginning of a trilogy be the platform for a wave of BBC licensed video gaming gold. Unfortunately, it would appear that this is only the beginning of another disappointing series that, due to the low quality of the game itself, may prevent that potential.
In summary, Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock is a woeful entry into the 2D platforming genre, and one that fans of gaming and Dr. Who alike are best to avoid. Whilst the voice acting coming from the stars of the show itself is a redeeming feature, a lack of either ambition or aptitude from the game’s developers has resulted in a clunky, unsatisfying and overall tedious experience.
Score: 2.2/10
It is one of the biggest and most popular series in British television history. Dr. Who has been running on screens for nearly 50 years (albeit with a sizable sabbatical in the middle) and has a very large and very loyal following. It is no huge surprise then to see that everyone’s favourite Time Lord (granted possibly not everyone’s favourite incarnation of said Time Lord) head to a more interactive medium, gaming.
The game begins with the standard epic beginning tune that Dr. Who fans know and love from the television series, and throughout the game, music creates a mood befitting of both the situation and the title.
Sound is actually one of the few places that The Eternity Clock actually excels. Using the backing of the BBC license to full effect, the game comes stuffed with voice acting from the actors from the real life series - Daleks are their normal exterminatory selves, whilst Dr. Who’s lines are done surprisingly well.
The storyline starts with The Doctor hurtling through space and time, having lost control of the Tardis. Controlling The Doctor and River Song, you traverse through levels based over several time periods (Dr. Who staple) attempting to for the most part avoid some of the nastier enemies that may be familiar to fans of the series.
The Eternity Clock goes back to a simple 2D platformer style of gameplay. You will jump, crawl and climb your way through the levels, solving the puzzles that appear in your way.
As the Doctor, you will encounter doors that you will need to unlock with your sonic screwdriver, by combining pitch and direction of waves to match that of the lock. On a few occasions there are puzzles on how to best utilise boxes in a standard adventure fayre. Most other puzzles are presented as minigames, such as mind-maps (a personal anti-favourite of mine), re-routers and data links. They’re quite simplistic, but can be quite frustrating.
Graphically, The Eternity Clock isn’t up to much, even in the simple style of 2D. The characters and scenery in the foreground lack the fine polish and definition that is expected of this generation, looking more like something that would be expected on the PS2. Animations also appear dated. For example, grabbing edges looks dreadful, with the character locking into position well before they reach the edge, or hitting the wall above the corner, and falling into place. It grinded for me, getting slightly more annoying as the game went on.
One of the main issues that has irritated me during my time with The Eternity Clock has been the awful AI. Within some sections where both The Doctor and River are required to work together, it must be said that often River has other ideas. Using an example from my own playthrough, in one of the later levels, you must push a box in tandem with River to be able to reach a ledge. At this point, River ran past the box and off the left side of the screen, only to appear off the right hand side of the screen, jump over the box and continue in a loop that only stopped after I chased her to stop her respawning. An extreme example, perhaps, but not at all uncommon.
I really wanted the Dr. Who game to be good, I honestly did. But it’s not. I wanted to be able to recommend this game to Dr. Who fans across the spectrum. But I can’t. I wanted the supposed beginning of a trilogy be the platform for a wave of BBC licensed video gaming gold. Unfortunately, it would appear that this is only the beginning of another disappointing series that, due to the low quality of the game itself, may prevent that potential.
In summary, Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock is a woeful entry into the 2D platforming genre, and one that fans of gaming and Dr. Who alike are best to avoid. Whilst the voice acting coming from the stars of the show itself is a redeeming feature, a lack of either ambition or aptitude from the game’s developers has resulted in a clunky, unsatisfying and overall tedious experience.
Score: 2.2/10
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Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock Review
It is one of the biggest and most popular series in British television history. Dr. Who has been running on screens for nearly 50 years (albeit with a sizable sabbatical in the middle) and has a very large and very loyal following. It is no huge surprise then to see that everyone’s favourite Time Lord (granted possibly not everyone’s favourite incarnation of said Time Lord) head to a more interactive medium, gaming.
The game begins with the standard epic beginning tune that Dr. Who fans know and love from the television series, and throughout the game, music creates a mood befitting of both the situation and the title.
Sound is actually one of the few places that The Eternity Clock actually excels. Using the backing of the BBC license to full effect, the game comes stuffed with voice acting from the actors from the real life series - Daleks are their normal exterminatory selves, whilst Dr. Who’s lines are done surprisingly well.
The storyline starts with The Doctor hurtling through space and time, having lost control of the Tardis. Controlling The Doctor and River Song, you traverse through levels based over several time periods (Dr. Who staple) attempting to for the most part avoid some of the nastier enemies that may be familiar to fans of the series.
The Eternity Clock goes back to a simple 2D platformer style of gameplay. You will jump, crawl and climb your way through the levels, solving the puzzles that appear in your way.
As the Doctor, you will encounter doors that you will need to unlock with your sonic screwdriver, by combining pitch and direction of waves to match that of the lock. On a few occasions there are puzzles on how to best utilise boxes in a standard adventure fayre. Most other puzzles are presented as minigames, such as mind-maps (a personal anti-favourite of mine), re-routers and data links. They’re quite simplistic, but can be quite frustrating.
Graphically, The Eternity Clock isn’t up to much, even in the simple style of 2D. The characters and scenery in the foreground lack the fine polish and definition that is expected of this generation, looking more like something that would be expected on the PS2. Animations also appear dated. For example, grabbing edges looks dreadful, with the character locking into position well before they reach the edge, or hitting the wall above the corner, and falling into place. It grinded for me, getting slightly more annoying as the game went on.
One of the main issues that has irritated me during my time with The Eternity Clock has been the awful AI. Within some sections where both The Doctor and River are required to work together, it must be said that often River has other ideas. Using an example from my own playthrough, in one of the later levels, you must push a box in tandem with River to be able to reach a ledge. At this point, River ran past the box and off the left side of the screen, only to appear off the right hand side of the screen, jump over the box and continue in a loop that only stopped after I chased her to stop her respawning. An extreme example, perhaps, but not at all uncommon.
I really wanted the Dr. Who game to be good, I honestly did. But it’s not. I wanted to be able to recommend this game to Dr. Who fans across the spectrum. But I can’t. I wanted the supposed beginning of a trilogy be the platform for a wave of BBC licensed video gaming gold. Unfortunately, it would appear that this is only the beginning of another disappointing series that, due to the low quality of the game itself, may prevent that potential.
In summary, Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock is a woeful entry into the 2D platforming genre, and one that fans of gaming and Dr. Who alike are best to avoid. Whilst the voice acting coming from the stars of the show itself is a redeeming feature, a lack of either ambition or aptitude from the game’s developers has resulted in a clunky, unsatisfying and overall tedious experience.
Score: 2.2/10
It is one of the biggest and most popular series in British television history. Dr. Who has been running on screens for nearly 50 years (albeit with a sizable sabbatical in the middle) and has a very large and very loyal following. It is no huge surprise then to see that everyone’s favourite Time Lord (granted possibly not everyone’s favourite incarnation of said Time Lord) head to a more interactive medium, gaming.
The game begins with the standard epic beginning tune that Dr. Who fans know and love from the television series, and throughout the game, music creates a mood befitting of both the situation and the title.
Sound is actually one of the few places that The Eternity Clock actually excels. Using the backing of the BBC license to full effect, the game comes stuffed with voice acting from the actors from the real life series - Daleks are their normal exterminatory selves, whilst Dr. Who’s lines are done surprisingly well.
The storyline starts with The Doctor hurtling through space and time, having lost control of the Tardis. Controlling The Doctor and River Song, you traverse through levels based over several time periods (Dr. Who staple) attempting to for the most part avoid some of the nastier enemies that may be familiar to fans of the series.
The Eternity Clock goes back to a simple 2D platformer style of gameplay. You will jump, crawl and climb your way through the levels, solving the puzzles that appear in your way.
As the Doctor, you will encounter doors that you will need to unlock with your sonic screwdriver, by combining pitch and direction of waves to match that of the lock. On a few occasions there are puzzles on how to best utilise boxes in a standard adventure fayre. Most other puzzles are presented as minigames, such as mind-maps (a personal anti-favourite of mine), re-routers and data links. They’re quite simplistic, but can be quite frustrating.
Graphically, The Eternity Clock isn’t up to much, even in the simple style of 2D. The characters and scenery in the foreground lack the fine polish and definition that is expected of this generation, looking more like something that would be expected on the PS2. Animations also appear dated. For example, grabbing edges looks dreadful, with the character locking into position well before they reach the edge, or hitting the wall above the corner, and falling into place. It grinded for me, getting slightly more annoying as the game went on.
One of the main issues that has irritated me during my time with The Eternity Clock has been the awful AI. Within some sections where both The Doctor and River are required to work together, it must be said that often River has other ideas. Using an example from my own playthrough, in one of the later levels, you must push a box in tandem with River to be able to reach a ledge. At this point, River ran past the box and off the left side of the screen, only to appear off the right hand side of the screen, jump over the box and continue in a loop that only stopped after I chased her to stop her respawning. An extreme example, perhaps, but not at all uncommon.
I really wanted the Dr. Who game to be good, I honestly did. But it’s not. I wanted to be able to recommend this game to Dr. Who fans across the spectrum. But I can’t. I wanted the supposed beginning of a trilogy be the platform for a wave of BBC licensed video gaming gold. Unfortunately, it would appear that this is only the beginning of another disappointing series that, due to the low quality of the game itself, may prevent that potential.
In summary, Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock is a woeful entry into the 2D platforming genre, and one that fans of gaming and Dr. Who alike are best to avoid. Whilst the voice acting coming from the stars of the show itself is a redeeming feature, a lack of either ambition or aptitude from the game’s developers has resulted in a clunky, unsatisfying and overall tedious experience.
Score: 2.2/10