The Spiderwick Chronicles

Playing The Spiderwick Chronicles took me back to old-school adventure games like Alice in Wonderland on the Apple II. It recreates that feeling of being a kid and suspending your disbelief in fantasy. Much of this success in setting a mood and creating an intriguing world to explore is attributable to Holly Black's original books. But I have to give credit to developer Stormfront for creating a fun game to go inside the Spiderwick license. The graphics aren't much to look at, the environments need more variety, and checkpoints don't come along often enough. But there is a big area to delve into, the music is great, and there are lots of options in combat. There's something new to find around every corner, and that's something I can't say about enough games.