There's a very clear reason why I don't really like The Next Big Thing: it has an extremely flawed translation that makes most of the game's dialogue and jokes just weird and miss the target. I do believe, that the English translation for the game's script is somewhat quite literal translation from the original Spanish script and that the translator has just translated all the words, including Spanish idioms as they are, instead of trying to figure out their comparable English versions, thus rendering quite a big chunk of the dialogue incomprehensible.
This is actually the issue I have with all of Pendulo's comedic adventure games I've played. While they are mostly rather nice in terms of graphics and the gameplay is often pretty decent, the scripts are just a mess. Now, granted, I have not played the Spanish originals, as I don't understand a word of Spanish, so I can't really say how well the games work in their mother language. Maybe they are just as bad, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that the English versions a just a result of a botched translation.
In an alternative 1950s America, monster movies are made by genuine monsters. Zombies, vampires, and mutated scientists are the real deal, who use their appearances to make horror entertainment for the masses.
Two reporters, a disinterested sportsman Dan, and an entertainment reporter Liz, are sent to check out the party at the horror movie studio MKO, where the aim is to get interviews from the monster actors and the studio big wig Fitzrandolph. The matters twist when Liz and Dan notice one of the monsters, Big Albert, sneaking into Fitzrandolph's office. Liz smells a propers scoop and heads to investigate.
The next morning, Dan finds out that Liz never made it back home, so he heads back to the studios, only to find out that there's indeed something rotten going on. Fitzrandolph is planning on going into politics and with the help of a brain chip, he is planning on controlling the monster actors and utilizing them in family-friendly movies, to make a better impression on the voting masses.
The game moves forward in a chapter format. Each chapter is played either as Dan or Liz. Dan's goal, in the beginning, is to find Liz, whereas Liz is trying to find evidence of Fitzpatrick's evil plans in terms of his Next Big Thing (title drop). In the rather anticlimactic end, they must find means of thwarting Fitzpatrick.
Like I said, I don't really care about The Next Big Thing that much, mostly because the script just doesn't work for me. I don't find the game funny or clever and the characters come out more as annoying than anything else. Other than that, it's a rather standard point-and-click fare, in all things good and bad.
I can't really recommend it, I can't really recommend any of Pendulo's adventure games. While they do have some good production values, it seems like those values trickled past the translation effort.
The Next Big Thing can be bought from GOG and Steam. I guess, if you are absolutely starved for some pointing and clicking, you could get it. It's often cheap enough, so it's not like you end up in ruination because of it.
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