Gateway 2 - Classic Mystery and Puzzle Game

Reviewed By: Craig Stern
Play Gateway 2

Gateway 2

Among mystery and puzzle games in Flash, Gateway 2 stands out as an instant classic. The very first thing you'll notice are the graphics. For a flash game, Gateway 2's visuals are simply superb. Combine this with atmospheric music and you'll quickly find yourself immersed in a strange and creepy parallel universe.

You begin in a room suspended in an inky darkness, bare but for a staticky tv and four doors. From there, you must pass through a series of gateways into more mysterious rooms and discover where you are and what you're doing there. You don't quite realize what's going on until near the end of the game, and frankly, it's a little eerie when you do.

The basic game play in Gateway 2 is virtually unchanged from Gateway 1: you click on-screen to tell your character to move, pick up items, and interact with the environment. The game even features the same tutorial. There is a major difference with Gateway 2, however. While in Gateway 1, most of the puzzles involved sequences of colors, Gateway 2 features mostly puzzles involving a twisted psychological element that plays into the game's unusual plot.

Speaking of the plot, you'll be spending most of the game unraveling a disturbing tale of relationships gone bad and psychological trauma via a series of video tapes. You find the tapes out of order, and must gradually piece the story together yourself as you progress. When you're not doing that, you're searching for more tapes and trying to evade the watchful gaze of the game's seemingly omnipresent antagonist.

The bottom line: play it for the great mood, play it for the wonderful puzzles--but whatever you do, play Gateway 2.

10/10 -- "My Gateway brings all the boys to the yard"


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