Hamilton's Great Adventure preview: Fortune and glory, kid

What use is a great adventure if nobody is around to hear you talk about it? In Hamilton's Great Adventure (coming to the PC and PSN in April), the titular adventurer, Ernest Hamilton, is regaling his granddaughter with tales of his conquests through various regions in the world, such as the jungles of South America, the Himalayas and the deserts of Egypt — each "story" is essentially a chapter, taking players back in time to act out that particular adventure. Each area is set up through a brief comic-style vignette, after which you're thrust into the game.
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Hamilton's not alone, joined by his bird Sasha. You can switch between the two at any time, but the bird's role is mostly utilitarian, gathering berries and hitting switches Hamilton can't reach. Each area the two must explore is a puzzle, requiring a combination of movement and switch control to progress. If Hamilton bolts directly for a key and the end of the level (a locked door that takes him and Sasha on to the next area), he'll clear the level, but only with a bronze rating. To get the gold, players have to gather every coin with Hamilton and use Sasha to find all of the hidden berries on the level.

There are five areas in the game (four standard followed by a hidden Atlantis-like continent that serves as the final destination), each broken down into a series of standard levels and additional expert levels, identified with a star in the level selection screen. As you progress, each area becomes increasingly difficult and introduces new sets of problems, including enemies, new tile types and some precision-based timing moments.

Of all the collapsing floor tiles, dangerous traps and other obstacles awaiting Hamilton, the most problematic (yet strangely compelling) I experienced was The Agent. A shadowy figure who likes to chase after Hamilton for reasons unknown (I like to imagine he wants Hamilton's bitchin' fedora), The Agent can only have his pursuit interrupted by Sasha's squawk, which lures him away so Hamilton can move past him. Using Hamilton and Sasha in this context felt great, like honest-to-goodness teamwork — individually their abilities couldn't overcome this problem, but together they're much stronger.

Going from a multiplayer shooter to a methodical puzzle game is an odd transition, but FatShark has proven to me that it was the right call. Hamilton's Great Adventure is a thinking-person's game, even though it looks like an action game. After my first look, I just winged it and ran through the levels, trying to get to the end, but as I spent more time with it and was eased into some of the tougher maps, I discovered something much deeper. It even gives Lead and Gold a run for its money.