Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

  • Summary: The Journey Down is a classic point 'n click saga with a black African twist, owing much of its character and pattern design to traditional central African arts such as carvings and masks from the Makonde and Chokwe tribes. Mixed with an all original jazzy reggae soundtrack, feedback-oriented puzzles and tons of hand painted environments, the unique cultural fusion of The Journey Down is bound to draw you in. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. May 28, 2012
    84
    Unique presentation, flawless voice acting, interesting plot, many promises for a sequel, plentiful puzzles, smooth design and memorable characters: in a nutshell, that's the first episode of Journey Down. [June 2012]
  2. Jul 26, 2012
    83
    If you got a weak spot for goofy slapstick comedy, you are in for a treat! A smooth interface complements the old-school approach, although puzzles should have been more of a challenge.
  3. Jul 5, 2012
    80
    The 3D models are simple, but effective, and the cut scenes add a lot of extra life to the proceedings.
  4. Jan 18, 2013
    70
    The Journey Down: Chapter One combines an intuitive control scheme, HD graphics, and classic point-and-click adventure gameplay to set up an intriguing story. The first episode lags a bit, and the voice acting doesn't add nearly as much as the improved visuals, but still shows a lot of promise for a potentially great series.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. Don't listen to bad critics, the game is simply amazing, great voice acting, great story, great music, the only bad thing of this game is that its simply short, probably 2-3 hours of game , but come on, its first chapter, the price is even low for this game, some puzzles are easy and theres is a lot of good humor in the game, i enjoyed too much of this game and i dont really like Point n click, just give it a try, im sure you will find a piece of gold in Journey Down. Expand
  2. 10
    Great effort, love that the game is available on iOS and Mac OSX too, this game is a gem. Thanks for putting this together and making a REAL adventure that is worthy of Monkey Island, etc. Can't wait for the next episodes! Expand
  3. Quite good, and even better now with the reduced price. I love the graphics, I love the music, and the gameplay is decent classic adventure fair. And the story is quite good, but really seemed to only give you a hint at what you will discover in episode 2. Collapse
  4. This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Full disclosure: I am not a big fan of puzzle games. The journey down has some slick design elements, good voice acting and seems well made with a lot of attention to detail. However it failed to engage me on any level. The first chapter is short and does not have a decent story arc or characters that rise above one-dimensional. The puzzles are weak and lack any kind of logic. (bread sticks for ladder rungs....really?) There should be some sense to a puzzle or else it is just arbitrary and pointless. The player should be able to figure it out rather that just button-mash within the limited options. (See Machinurium for how to do it right.) The exploration is also lacking. The avatar is slow, there are very few characters to interact with, the connectivity is poor and the areas are small. This game combines the worst of a rail shooter with the worst of a lame puzzler. Too bad because there many good elements as well; nice music good graphics. Nothing here to make me want to buy chapter two...regardless of price. Expand

See all 5 User Reviews